Rensselaer Union, Volume 8, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1876 — Two Remarkable Women. [ARTICLE]

Two Remarkable Women.

Two notable women now at Philadelphia are mentioned at length in the Press. One of them runs the steam engine in the Women’s Pavilion which works four looms and a printing press. There, says the Press, in a light brown, neatly-trimmed dress, really dainty in its delicate texture, and as smooth ana clean as though the wearer were a flower-girl instead of an engineer, coaid be seen a young, mediumsized lady, whose regular features, intelligent conversation and refined manner proclaimed at once the presence of a daughter of American nobleness and culture. The steam engine with its undeniable heat ahd imaginary dust and smoke, together with its palpable noise, was there in all its blackness and power, bat in the place of the average enginetender, with his dusky skin, matted hair and dirty blue overalls, was to be seen a lady who could have passed directly from the engine-house into a’ drawing-room, and graced the occasion to perfection without change of diem or manner. In a conversation Mias Allison said that she had been brought up in a Uttle place near St. Catherines, in Ontario, and that from a child she had been a lover of machinery and spent much of her time in the large saw and grist mills which her father then owned. These were run by engines of from 200 to 800 horse-power, ana though she sometimes pretended to run them tor an hour or two she did not think any lady would have sufficient strength to perform all the work of managing such monsters. In answer to a question relative to the possibility of women running engines as a regular business, she stated that there were thousands Of small engines in use in various parts of the country, and

that there was no reason whatever why women should not be employed to manage them. The work was less tedious than almost any of the usual vocations adopted by women, and an engine Required far less attention than any womaj'gi ves daily to a child under her care. W her part, she said that though this was her first practical experience, she found it less tiresome than any other work she had been called upon to perform since adverse fortune bad made it necessary for her to earn her own living. In addition to the fact that the father ot the lady owned large mills in which she spent much of her time, she received a thorough scientific education and learned much from her brother, who had made engineering a profession. She learned the method of operating the engine used at the Women’s Pavilion ia a few moments, and now does all the work, from starting the fire in the morning to blowing off steam at night. Another lady whose natural ability naa taken an entirely different, yet equally effective direction, is Mrs. Maxwell, of Bolder, Col. This lady was brought up at Denver, and after her marriage moved to the frontier settlement in which she now resides. She early acquired a taste for hunting, and as she had every opportunity of gratifying this desire she soon became an excellent marksman, or, rather, markswoman. She roamed the forests about her home, sometimes in company with her husband, but more often alone, and within the past ten years has shot and killed over 400 wild animals, such as bears, wolves, panthers, foxes, etc. She learned the art of stuffing the animals thus brought down, and many of the specimens now exhibited in eastern museums were killed and prepared by this lady. She has, however, saved abont 200 of the finest specimens, besides a large number of stuffed birds, and thsse will soon be exhibited in the Colorado building, the collection having been secured and sent on at the expense of the State. During the ten yeans in which Mrs. Maxwell has been acting the role of the mighty hunter, or huntress, she has raised a family of children, and attended to her house hold duties without assistance. In appearance she is of small, but lithe, form, and has that peculiar half nervous, half stolid organization, which indicates a combination of activity, strength and intrepidity. She has dark hair, an intellectual forehead, clear, piercing gray eyes, a small but firm mouth and a delicate, womanly chin. Her age is about thirtyfive, but she looks almost ten years younger.