The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17
MRS. M'GAHAN,
The Woman who Tells Russia All
About Is.

| Living quietly in New York, so quietly
that she is not even a member of a
woman's club, is lady who fills the i'm
| pOrtant post of political correspondent in
/ the United States for a leading Russian
! journal. The journal is the 'Moskovskya
| Viedomosti.' the lady Mrs. Barbara Mac
I Gahan, widow of the war correspondent,
! j. A. MacGahan.
AT the close of the Prussian
war MacGahan, who had been with the
French army reporter for the New
York Herald" went to the Crimea for a
breathing spell. The Crimea is the Ri
viera of the Russians. There till JAN
: uary / the weather is warm and delight
full 1t was to the Crimea that the Rus
sian Car went during his convalescence
last autumn. There MacGahaii mingled
in society and met many Russians of the
upper class. There, too, he met his fate
in young lady of noble family who had
come with her relatives from their home
near Moscow for the autumn:
Il never cared much for books. she
remarks of herself, says Clara Brans-
coInbe in the Columbus Press-Post." Il
don't think much of book education, any
how 1t makes girl priggish.' Although
she denies being educated in the common
meaning of the word, Mrs. MacGahan
knows Familiarity four languages-her ma
tive tongue. French, English. and Ger
man. Her husband wrote out his war
letters and sent them by courier from
the mountains to her at Biarrttz. They
were in English. The French telegraph
operators refused to cable the correSpon-
dence unless 1t was translated into THEN
language. Consequently every one OF
MacGahan's letters had to be turned
into French by his wife and then cabled
to New York, where they were rendered
back into English before publication. At
ter Mrs. MacGahan translated her hus-
bands war dispatches she was aecus-
toned to prepare a summary IN Russian
and telegraph 1t to the st. Petersburg
Goios' Thus she became a war corre-
spundent by proxy.
Wars and more wharf.-the Russo-Turkish
struggle began in 1871, and to the front
went MacGahan. his brilliant young Rus
sian wife with him, camping out. associat-
ing with the war correspondents of all ma
tions, learning, enjoying, suffering, but
never whining. What an education Ii was
for the girl! No wonder the woman does
not think too highly of book learning.
But | saw none of the glory and eX-
element of war" said she. II was in the
rear, where l saw all the suffering, the
wounded, the sick, the dying
Among these, helping all she could, Mrs.
MacGahan worked. AT last came the
thunderbolt that shattered even such do
nestle life as she had enjoyed. Her IA
nous young husband was stricken with
black typhus before Constantinople and
died
Mrs. MacGahan was already a fun
ledged newspaper writer. and successful
one. The st. Petersburg Golos' sent for
change editor She fii't,i this post ill
1880. Then the paper sent her to the
United States to report the Garfield cam
paign, and here she has been most of the
time since Her son, now a fine young
man. is an electrical engineer and an
American citizen.
The name "GolOs' means words, and
the words of the Golos became presently
too hot for the Russian Government,
which accordingly suppressed them and
it. Another journal then secured Mrs
MacGahan's services. She reports for her
paper economic. social. and political
movements in the United States. These
matters interest her more than any 9TH
ers. Linguist, writer. traveller. and OBJ
server. she understands herself and 9TH
ers. Keen-eyed, critical, and logical, she
watches our public events, and her bril-
liant Russian intellect sometimes catches
the undertow in American politics and
society before we feel it ourselves. She
makes and holds friends among the lead
ers of all ranks, from the Socialist to the
official of a trust. She reports for the
newspaper readers of the worlds greatest
despotism the experiment of self-govern-
ment in the worlds greatest Republic.