St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1907-02-16

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Active daily newspaper work is a
hotbed for the development of the
best intellectual qualities. It is a
life Of untiring perseverance, of I'M
failing patience, of abasement of self
at times to an abnormal degree, yet
upon the whole decidedly beneficial.
frequently it comes to pass that the
woman writer, while maintaining her
dignity of brains, must entirely oblit-
crate her individuality, unless she
means to fall by the wayside and be
laid in the potters field of failures.
For some people she must ever be-
come mere listening machine. Alb
solutely this and nothing more il she
means to achieve success, for she
must listen to all manners of woes
and tribulations, and have positively
none of her own to relate in ex-
change. The role of Punchinello is
to leave it out of the curriculum at
times very materially interferes with
achieving the desired end.
OF all arts of which she must be-
come mistress that of learning to
draw people out that their best points
may be brought into play, is the most
important. The acquisition of this
accomplishment has in turn it's re-
f1ex good effect upon her work, as nine
times out of ten it will enable her
to turn an opening negative into d
closing affirmative.
The branch of newspaper work in
which women excel in Washington,
in which in fact they have the almost
exclusive field, is that of social report
ing. To greater or less degree dur
ing the last half dozen years the So
ciety reporter has come to have a
place upon the staff of nearly every
large journal in the United States
and Europe But it is in Washington
that she rises to her greatest heights
of usefulness, and, therefore, because
Of the broader opportunities among
the official and political element, Of
greater Importance.
In this particular phase Of work,
woman's great success lies in the cult.
walton Of the power to keep her own
counsel regarding much that must
necessarily be seen and heard in
the discharge of her work. And in
this respect, scott as unbelievers may,
she has achieved success. From
the experience of years / can truth
fully assert that the woman writer's
of the daily press do not gossip even
among themselves of the vast num-
Der of secrets that come to their
knowledge concerning prominent PEG.
pie of the world of society in which
their lives are spent.
At the start Of society report
ing woman's presence on the reg.
ular stats of newspapers was re-
garded in the light of necessary evil.
She not infrequently in masculine es-
timation sunk far below this level,
rarely in the eye of the general pub
lie did she rise above it. Just why
this should have been is enigmatfcal,
as the copy of the average woman
correspondent requires less revising
than that of her brother of the pen.
Further, she represents commercial
value that the man does not and in
the nature of things cannot. Her
value is incalculab1e as an adyertis-
ing medium. This is something she
comes in time to understand and ap-
preciate.
The best society column on local
paper is quick to be noted by fash
ionable women. The reliability of
this column once recognized means a
tremendous valuation to the propri-
etor. The advertisers, especially
those having Women's apparel and be-
longings for sale, soon grow to know
and patronize the paper in accordance
with its social rating.
There is literally at the present time
no department of newspaper work
in which women have not practically
exemplified the fact that they stand
equal with men as reporters. AS war
correspondents, for nerve and accu.
racy they made enviable records in
the Spanish-American and South AT.
rican wars. But it is as an inter-
viewer that the woman newspaper
writer is beginning to excel. In this
lies her unQuestioned success. It is
here that natural patience stands
her friend in the hour of need. It is
here also that her intuition serves
her well.
The average woman does not I'M
derstand politics. Possibly the rea-
son for this may lie in the fact that
up to the present time she has taken
little active part in the workings Of
the great machine which turns some
presidents in and others out of the
White House. But this does not mill
itate against her availability and
strength as an interviewer, because a
woman more naturally than a man
carries out instructions. When de-
tailed to some important work of this
nature she is quick to add to her
current knowledge such specific in.
formation as is essential In the case.
She rarely returns empty-handed
from an assignment, and the newspa.
per woman of standing is recognized
for accuracy of detail.
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In the Matter of Friends.