Women are of necessity upon the staff of every paper to meet the new demands, and some hold editorial positions and have founded periodicals.

The first woman's daily paper was "La Fronde," started in Paris by Madame Durant about 1897, and it was edited and written, exclusively by women.

In China several papers have been written and edited by Chinese women - notably "The Pekin Woman's Paper," edited by that remarkable woman of her nation, Mrs. Chang. Norway has celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Norwegian women's paper, "Nylaende," which has been edited since its foundation by Miss Gina Krog.

That women have triumphed in the higher walks of journalism as leaders of thought is proved by the lasting work of Harriet Martineau and Frances Power Cobbe as leader-writers for a London daily, while Mrs. Emily Crawford remains the doyen of women journalists. Mrs. Crawford was the first woman to hold a staff appointment of front rank as foreign correspondent for a daily paper. Her work as Paris correspondent for the "Daily News," the "Pall Mall Gazette," "Truth," and the "New York Tribune," simultaneously, is a brilliant record in the annals of journalism.

The stirring, fascinating drama of the French capital has been an open book to her for nearly a lifetime. She has danced at the Tuileries, and witnessed the terrors of the siege of Paris and of the Commune. One of her most notable journalistic feats was gaining admittance to the seances held in the French Parliament at Versailles, immediately after the Franco-prussian War, and reporting the speeches from memory. Notes were not permitted to be taken. She often sat for seven hours through those momentous debates.

An Excellent Motto

When Mrs. Crawford started on her journalistic career, she took for her motto: "Observe, reflect, and be genuine." She derived inspiration for trying to do some work in the world by reading, when a young girl, a quaint old "Dictionary of the Lives of Illustrious Women." Mrs. Crawford's work as a journalist was acknowledged by the French Government with the offer of the Legion d'honneur, out she refused to accept the distinction for herself, requesting that it might be given to her son.

The position of women in journalism has been accorded professional recognition by their admission to the Institute of Journalists on the same terms as men, and by the founding of the Society of Women Journalists, which includes amongst its members some of the best-known names in the literary profession.

The Woman In Blue

Amongst such names should be mentioned that of Mrs. Bedford Fenwick, President of the Society of Women Journalists and editor of the British Journal of Nursing, as well as the founder and first member of the British Nurses Association. This very able woman is also an enthusiast in the cause of woman suffrage.

A further tribute of the increasing power of the woman writer is the flourishing state of those clubs which are devoted to literature and admit as members only those actively engaged in literary pursuits.

As these clubs are not philanthropic institutions, their financial success proves that the work of their members is, in the true sense of the word, serious, and of sufficient importance to merit adequate acknowledgment from editors and publishers. Even "at the top" there is room for the really able woman. And in literature the "top" is very high up indeed.

It seems not improbable in the future that women will be employed as custodians of law and order. Already the "female" constabulary of the United States has reached (1912) fourteen, including two sheriffs.

Indianapolis has recently appointed two policewomen, and Los Angeles has decided, after a year's trial, that Policewoman Mrs. Alice Stebbins Wells is quite indispensable, and the local chief inspector is high in her praise.

Stuttgart has appointed her first policewoman, and possibly ere long London may have its "lady in blue" to deal specially with the care of women and children

Women are also much needed as park keepers to supplement the men on duty. The appointment of a matron to look after the children in the playground at Kensington Gardens is a step in the right direction.

Those who have seen our public parks on Bank Holidays will confess that in tending the countless women and children there assembled a trained woman is in her true element. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the governing bodies will see their way to appointing women equally with men in suitable positions in parks and pleasure grounds.