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 409 THE WORLD OF WOMEN In this section will be included articles which will place in array before the reader women born to fill thrones and great positions, and women who, through their own genius, have achieved fame. It will also deal with great societies that are working in the interests of women. fVoman's Who^s Who The Queens of the World Famous Women of the Past Women^s Societies Great Writers, Artists, Actresses Women of Wealth Women^s Clubs and Wives of Great Men Mothers of Great Men^ etc., etc. WOMAM'S WHO'S WHO Miss Alice Balfour IVa rscha-wski MISS ALICE BALFOUR jWIiss Alice Balfour and her brother, the '^*- ex-Premier, have been inseparables since their childhood days at Whittingehame, in Haddingtonshire, and for many years past she has acted as her brother's housekeeper and trusted adviser. She is v^-ell fitted for the post, inasmuch that she was brought up by a mother — Lady Blanche Balfour — io firmly believed in home training for her children. The kitchen was handed over to Miss Balfour, and she has often been chaffed about the dishes she was wont to prepare when her knowledge of cookery was of a [somewhat elementary character. Miss Balfour manages most of her brother's affairs, in order l^that he may not be distracted from his poli- tical work, and has also found time to travel md to write. In 1895 she journeyed through )uth Africa in a bullock waggon, the record )f her journey being afterwards published under 'le title of " Twelve Hundred Miles in a 'Waggon." She rarely leaves London, however, when Parliament is sitting. MRS. ELLA WHEELER WILCOX poK many years Mrs. Wheeler "* Wilcox, "the most popular f^woman poet that America has produced," struggled hard as a journalist. To-day she is one of the highest-paid poets in the world. And yet her first book, " Poems of Passion," was denounced in the Press and the pulpit, and, since it was the work merely of a young girl, created a tremendous sensation. And all because she wrote of the tender passion of love. Looking ' ack on those days, Mrs. Wilcox ». ^ ^l^^ andidly confesses that she would Er,uuH^MiUs not express herself so to-day. But at that time she was passionately fond of Ouida's books. " They seemed full of fire and poetry to me," she says, and " Poems of Passion " was the result. Since then she has written a poem almost every day of her life, and they are read by millions in two hemispheres. Three times a week her messages of hope and comfort are a feature of five large American dailies, and are syndicated after- wards among 250 smaller papers in the States. No one has a better understand- ing of the senti- ^rs. Ella Wheeler Wilcox mental side of human Guy &■ Hancock copyright nature, and that is why the writings of Mrs. Wilcox are so popular. MISS ELIZABETH ROBINS IT was in " dear old Kentucky " that Miss Elizabeth Robins, famous in New York and London literary and theatrical circles, first saw light of day. Precocious as a child, her relatives prophesied a great future for her. Before she had reached her teens she had proved herself a delightful little actress, and even in her " pina- fore " days had a pcission for scribbling. It was behind the footlights, however, that she first proved her cleverness, and her magnificent interpretations of many of Ibsen's characters have never been equalled. Then, in the year 1894, she turned her attention to novel-writing. Her first story, " George Mandeville's Husband," was quickly followed b/ other novels, which proved highly successful. In private life Miss Robins is Mrs. George Richmond Parks. She is an ardent advocate of the extension of the franchise to women, and her play, " Votes for Women," produced a few years ago, did not a little to help forward the ^ '^°tv"WA' cause of woman's suffrage.