The Black Hills union and western stock review. [volume] (Rapid City, S.D.) 1904-19??, 1904-05-27
RECOGNITION WON
BY AMERICAN GIRL
Elizabeth Banks, a Wisconsin
Girl Gained Reputation
by Unique Method.
NOW FAMOUS IN LONDON
Began Her Career by Sweeping Streets
Working as Domestic, Laundress,
Later as Polished Jour
nalist.

! New York special: Miss Elizabeth
Banks of London. England. who is a
| guest at Milwaukee, Downer college,
and In whose honor Miss Helen c. Sa
= bin will give an informal reception this
afternoon. is the Wisconsin girl who
won worldwide renown by the unique
methods which she used in winning sue
J cess as a newspaper and magazine
! writer. 1t Will be remembered that
! Miss Banks went to England eleven
years ago. hired out as Il servant girl
| swept street crossings, sold flowers in
| Piccadiliy circus. worked in Il laundry,
| and posed as an American heiress in
! England searching for pedigree and
| introductiOns ut court making her eX-
| periences the subject of newspap per ar
| ticles and of her first book, "Campa.gns
| Of Curiosity"
1t is said that Miss Banks caused
such a sensation by her exposures Of
the power of money among English
aristocracy that Queen Victoria read
the book and made some new rules con-
corning the admission of rich Ameri-
| cans to the roya! presence. Miss Banks
is the proud possessor OF gold medal
lion which was presented to her BY Ii
Hung Chang, she having been the first
Journalist TO interview him on his ar
rival IN London.
Spent Childhood in DeansviIIe, Wis.
Miss Banks childhood was spent in
DeansVile Wis. Il little village fifteen
miles from Madison. She was gradu-
ated from Downer college in Fox Lake.
and began her career in st. Paul, first
as a stenogra pher and later as the So
| ciety reporter of the st. Paul Globe.
| She then went to Peru as secretary to
| the then American minister, John
| Hicks Of Oshkosh, being the first Amer
| lean girl to hold II diplomatic position.
For the last eleven years she has lived
| in London, and her last book THE Au-
| TOPOGRAPHY Of a Newspaper Girl" has
| had q phenomenal success. She writes
exclusively for English newspa pers.
and for the leading magazines. includ-
ing the Fortnighty Review, Nineteenth
Century, and Academy. She is now
| engaged on a commission to write
| book on the Anglc-American servant
girl problem for Methuen & CO.. Eng
| land.
| Servant Problem Here Most Serious.
English women think they have a
| great servant girl problem, but it IS
| nothing to what 1t Is in this country"
| said Miss Banks who is u gracious lit
| tie woman With Il low voice and charm
ing manner. The English people have
| been so good to me that | am fond of
| them, but while | love London, | must
| come to America once in a while to
get in touch With things. My success
| in England was largely the result of
an accident. l was there on a visit and
at the time Rudyard I<ipling was writ
ing a series OF articles in the London
| Times crticising American women.
| II wrote a reply and sent it to the
editor of the Times with Il request that
| 1t be published the next day. When it
| did not appear ] wrote and asked for
the manuscript. but he answered with
| n courteous letter, saying that he wish
ed to retian it to publish later. II APP
peared in Il few days, and then the eve
ming papers made all sorts of fun Of It,
1t seems that l had accomplished some
| thing wonderful in breaking into the
| columns of the conservative Times but
to me it seemed no greater than the
| Oshkosh Northwestern, for which
| used to be = correspondent
| Is Not a Yellow Journalist.
"Then l went broke and chose going
| out as a servant girl. because it would
keep me from starving to death, and
| thought the experience would win i'm
| mediate recognition in the newSpa pers
| Orders from other papers led to the
| crossing and sweeping and other things
which ! did for two years, but the
| work was too hard and l never liked it.
l am as far removed as possible from
| yellow journalism. although l have
done some unusual things
| i am tired of experiencing, although
| | can not seem to get away from It,
| want to turn my attention to fiction
| and to my novel, which, of course |
expect will be the great American
novel; Its scenes are laid in Wiscon-
sin, for l love even the name of the
| state. l was forced to come to Cali
| fornia for my health, as l broke down
| with nervous proStration last summer
| Foremost among the kind things which
| have been said about me by the news
| papers | prize an article written by
Priscilla f. Moulder. because she was
| once an English factory girl and so far
as know she is the only English wom-
| an who has risen from this occupation.
She is now doing newspaper work and
is anxious to come to the United States.
| am greatly interested in her.