hern
letters. She wrote much for the _Picayune_ and wrote herself
into love as well as fame. She was married to Col. Holbrook,
the proprietor of the paper, and after his death in 1876,
she succeeded to the ownership. This was a trying position
for a woman. The South had not recovered from the
devastation of the war, and the _Picayune_ was involved in
embarrassments. Friends even advised her to dispose of the
property and not to undertake so formidable a task as the
conduct of a daily paper under existing complications. Brave
and true-hearted, with a profound and abiding conviction of
her duty in the matter, she assumed the control of the
paper. She wisely surrounded herself with able and devoted
assistants, and with their help has gallantly and
successfully surmounted many formidable obstacles, until she
has seen the _Picayune_ reestablished on a sound and
prosperous basis. Mr. George Nicholson had acquired a
proprietorship in it, and when Mrs. Holbrook assumed control
the firm name was E. J. Holbrook & Co. On June 28, 1878, the
interests of the two copartners were further consolidated by
marriage. Since then the _Picayune_ has been published under
the firm name of Nicholson & Co., and the columns daily
attest the energy, enterprise and ability with which it is
conducted, while its advertising patronage speaks for
itself.

Mrs. Martha R. Field is a member of the editorial staff of the
_Picayune_. She has charge of the Sunday woman's column, besides
her regular column over the _nom de plume_ of Catherine Cole.

The _Times-Democrat_ is owned by Mrs. Burke, who however leaves
its management to her husband, Col. Burke. Miss Bessie Bisland,
under the name of B. L. R. Dane, contributes to the Sunday paper,
and edits the "_Bric-a-Brac_ column" which consists of criticisms
and reviews of the leading magazines. This paper boasts the most
clever "Society column" in the country; it is edited by Mrs.
Jennie Coldwell Nixon who is now, 1886, superintendent of the
Woman's Department of the Exposition.

Mrs. J. Pinkney Smith edits the "Social Melange" of the _States_.
Among the regular Sunday contributors are Miss Corrinne
Cast