The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1912-11-18
DOROTHY DIX, 42 TO-DAY, IS
 A FEMININE tsBR, DOOLEY

The homely and cheerful philosophy of MT. Dooley" has given Finley Pe- ter Dunne an international reputation honestly won, which nobody will deny Yet MT. Dunne is not without his r1- vals. and not the least formidable is Dorothy Dix, creator of the immortal isis Mirandy." During her sixteen active years in the Journalistic field, Dorothy Dix has exhibited tremendous
 versatility and has covered" about every phase of news, from social func-
 tions to murder trials. As- the fore-
 most newspaper woman of America
 fame. na1 a but i 1t is her .Mirandy" that
 has won for her place among. the
 immortals and entities her to rank as
 the feminine stMr. Dooley.'
 The gifted writer, whose real name
 is Elizabeth MerIwether GI1mer, was
 born forty3two years ago today in was that of the average southern couri-
 try girl. and she was only a few days past eighteen when she became the
 bride of George o. Gilmer. at Clarks-
 vile, Tenn As wife and mother,
 busy with the duties of domesttcify, she yet found time to write occasional publisLed in southern journals. This work eventually led to the appoint ment as editor of the woman's page Of the New Orleans Picayune, place she held for five years, from 1s96 to 1901.
 Not so many years ago the woman's page Of the average Qd1ly newspaper was edited and compiled by members of the city staff. and everybody, in- cluding the sporting editor and the copy boys had a wnack ar ,+1e It. q. dd that the intellectual interests of the fair sex were confined to the subjects of clothes, cooking and children ana they acted accordingly. Recipes Tor making what-nots out of old cheese boxes were 1aboriously concocted by the massive masculine inteiiects as oh fG a17 society functions. Nothing resembling humor was ever permitted to creep in to the woman's page. Dorothy DIX held a better opinion of her sex. The Dorothy Dix Talks which she con- tributed to the Picayune were very different from the dry-as-dust dr1Vel fair readers, and made a great hit in New Orleans and throughout the South.
 Dorothy Dix's fame spread all over America, and in 1900 she was offered and accepted position as special starr writer on the New Eork Journal, MT Mrs. Gilmer has since entered the mag azine field. and in her Mlrandy stories gives expression to a philisophy of life that is as origsnal as it is hu- morous In .Our Friends, the Eene- my" she says:
 aOne real hefty, able bodied enemy Tiil do %at y9u aa mo risoSa goSa do odn for you Dey come and eat up our vittles, an borry our new flower bonnets, an little change dat dey forgits to pay back, but our enemies ain't got de privilege of conin' an settlin down on us. so dey's money in our pocket. Popularity is de fust mile post on de road to de po' house But enemies is cheap. You don't have to buy no drinks for 'em nor waste no time en- tertainin' 'em, nor set up wid 'em when dey is sick. All dat dey expect from you is des to give 'em de cold shoulder an a discontenptuous look when you pases 'en by. :. An de funny thing is dat we'll do more for our enemies dan we will for our friends. I know how dat is myself. When Sis Sally Sue, what me an her has been Iak twins ever since we were born, is coming to see me, des sort of gives de house a lick an promise kind of c1eanin up. and des lets her take pot-1uck dinner. But when Sis Marietta, what she an me has hated each odder Iikep isen ..... is gwine to drap in am pay me a call I sweeps under de beds an' dutsts be- hind de pictures. an puts fresh tidies on de chairs an I has some cake an wine settin' round handy lak I ain't used to eatin' nuthin' else, for ain gwine to have dat long-tongued snake a-ewine tellin' dat ole Mirandy is sin F1ouesRiSeener. |