Across The Fence: Phileas Fogg gets bested by a girl

One hundred and fifty years ago, on the fifth day of May, 1865, Judge Michael Cochran and his wife Mary Jane celebrated the birth of a daughter. Born in Cochran Mills, Penn., (the town was named for her father), Elizabeth Jane would become the most daring and famous female newspaper reporter of the nineteenth century.

The judge was a prominent and successful man and the family was quite large. Judge Cochran had 10 children from a previous marriage and there were five more with Mary. Among the children, Elizabeth was the independent rebel with dreams of one day becoming a writer. Her father, the Judge, died when she was only six years old, and three years later her mother was compelled to remarry in order to support the family. Tragically, the new stepfather was abusive and Elizabeth's mother had to endure the shame of divorce.

Mary and the children moved from Cochran Mills to Pittsburg in 1880 where she opened a boarding house to support the family. It was during those times when Elizabeth learned first-hand the hardships faced by women trying to earn a living. Elizabeth had attended the Illinois Normal School in hopes of becoming a teacher but, after the first semester, was unable to afford the ongoing tuition and so she remained with her mother.

In 1885 the Pittsburg Dispatch ran a blatantly sexist column entitled, "What Girls Are Good For", written by Erasmus Wilson. He condemned the concept of a working woman, calling the very idea a "monstrosity." He commented at length, with painful detail, on the mundane household chores that women should do and the responsibilities the must endure. He advised women to not even consider the possibility of an education or career and made it clear what he thought girls were good for.

Elizabeth was appalled with Wilson's narrow minded, sexist opinions and responded with a scathing letter to the editor and signed her response, "Little Orphan Girl." George Madden, editor for the Dispatch, was impressed with the letter and ran an advertisement asking the "Little Orphan Girl" to call on him at his office. When Elizabeth responded, Madden asked her to write a column in response to Wilson's article with the possibility of publication. Elizabeth welcomed the opportunity and wrote her first newspaper column entitled, "The Girl Puzzle." Madden immediately offered her a full time job as a reporter for $5 a week.

At that time, most female newspaper reporters wrote under a pen name, and Madden asked for suggestions of a suitable pen name for Elizabeth. One of the office staff suggested the name of the girl from a famous Stephen Foster song, and Elizabeth Jane Cochran, at the young age of twenty years, became "Nellie Bly."

Nellie's early columns continued to focus on the plight of the working woman, the poor and those who suffered under the prejudices of the times. Although her work was popular with the paper's subscribers it also brought criticism from some in the business community and when they threatened to pull their advertising, Nellie was asked to write a gardening column. Being the dutiful employee, Nellie abided by Madden's directive and when she turned in her first gardening column she accompanied it with her resignation.

Madden responded with an assignment for Nellie to take a six-month trip to Mexico and write about her travels, which he published in the Dispatch. Before long, Nellie's columns began to criticize the corrupt Mexican government and when she was threatened with arrest she returned to the states.

Nellie left Pittsburg and traveled to New York, where after much perseverance she landed a job with The New York World. Her first assignment there was an undercover operation where she convinced doctors and judges that she was insane. She was committed to the Blackwell Island asylum and endured the inhumane treatment for ten days. Her subsequent articles on the physical abuse, antiquated medical practices and inhumane living conditions resulted in awareness and improved conditions for those in the asylum.

Nellie followed that assignment with stories of improper treatment of inmates in New York jails and mistreatment of factory workers. She uncovered corruption in the state legislature and other situations of abuse of power and authority.

By 1889 Nellie Bly was well known as a first rate investigative reporter, perhaps one of the best.

However, all the investigative and undercover reporting that Nellie Bly did to provide fodder for her journalistic career, none would equal the fame and acclaim that she gained during her solo trip around the world.

In 1873 French author Jules Verne wrote and published "Around the World in Eighty Days," wherein the fictional character, Phileas Fogg circumnavigates the earth by balloon, camel, ship and other modes of transportation. Inspired by the thought of traveling around the world Nellie proposed to her editor that she could do the same thing but it would take her only 75 days and that during her trip she would send dispatches, whenever possible, back to the World.

Of course everyone tried to convince her that she could not possibly travel around the world in 75 days or even 75 months. After all, she was just a woman! No woman should travel alone! Think of all the dangers! Who would carry her luggage? But Nellie persevered and eventually was given the approval and backing of The New York World.

Nellie Bly left New York on Nov. 14, 1889, aboard the Augusta Victoria, bound for Southampton, London. One of the highlights of her trip was a meeting in Paris with Jules Verne and his wife. Although neither could speak the others language, Nellie reported that her visit was most pleasant and the Verne's were wonderful hosts. She was however made to understand that Mr. Verne thought it impossible that she could make the trip in 75 days.

Traveling by steamship, camel, mule, rickshaw and other modes of transport, Nellie traveled across the Pacific to journey through England, Egypt, Ceylon, Singapore, Hong Kong and Japan then back across the Pacific to San Francisco and across the continent to New York.

When Miss Bly arrived in San Francisco the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad had arranged a special train to transport her across the continent. Heavy snows, as much as 120 inches had blocked the California mountain passes and the original intention of traveling the Union Pacific Transcontinental Railroad had to be scrapped in favor of a more southern route. There had already been several delays from violent weather across the Pacific and there was no time to wait for the rails to be cleared.

Leaving San Francisco on the Nellie Bly Special, the AT&SF headed south through the San Joaquin Valley then east to Arizona. Passing through Prescott, Winslow and other Arizona towns the Special made its way into New Mexico. When the train was about three miles east of Gallup, the Nellie Bly Special nearly ended its cross-country race in disaster. Work crews were replacing the stringers of a trestle that towered above a ravine more than one hundred feet deep. The rail ties rest on stringers and in order to replace the stringers the rails had to be temporarily supported by jackscrews. The Nelly Bly Special was traveling at over 50 mph and not knowing the crew was working on the trestle was unable to slow down or stop. When the engineer realized that the work was being done it was too late. The weight of the engine bent the rails but passed miraculously over safely.

From New Mexico the Special traveled north through Raton Pass to Denver then east through Kansas toward Kansas City. On one long, straight stretch across Kansas, near Dodge City, the train reached a constant speed of 75 mph, considerably faster than its usual 50 mph.

Naturally, the rerouting of the train from the UP to the AT&SF left hopeful newspaper reporters and cheering fans waiting expectantly at towns and stations across Utah, Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa. The Kearney Daily Enterprise had arranged for Miss Maud Marston to interview Miss Bly when the train stopped at Kearney. However, while other reporters were shaking their heads in disgust at their bad luck, Miss Marston arranged for her father to take her to Kansas City to meet the Nellie Bly Special there. Traveling the nearly 600 miles to Kansas City, Miss Marston was able to obtain permission to ride with Miss Bly to Chicago and gained an exclusive interview with the soon to be famous Miss Nellie Bly. Every newspaper in the country was 'scooped' by the newspaper girl from Kearney, Nebraska.

The Nellie Bly Special had set a new speed record for travel between San Francisco and Chicago with a time of 69 hours to cover the 2,577 miles, an average speed of 37 mph.

Arriving in New York the following day, January 25, 1890 Miss Nellie Bly had traveled around the world in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes. She arrived well ahead of her 75-day goal and beat Phileas Fogg.

M. Timothy Nolting is an award winning Nebraska columnist and freelance writer. To contact Tim, email: [email protected]