Nellie Bly
On 14th November 1889, the New York World reporter, Elizabeth Cochrane, known as Nellie Bly, began her attempt to surpass the fictitious journey of Jules Verne's Phileas Fogg by traveling around the world in under 80 days.
Born in May 1864, she was a newspaper reporter ahead of her time.
She would stop at nothing to get her story, one time even getting herself committed to the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island. On this undercover assignment, she feigned insanity to investigate reports of brutality and neglect.
After one night of practising demented expressions, she was reported as being crazy at the boarding house she was staying. At court, she was examined by several doctors, who all declared her insane - a hopeless case - recommending her committal.
Once committed, Nellie experienced the deplorable conditions first hand. The food and drink were barely edible, and the dangerous patients were tied together with ropes. It was dreadfully dirty, and the nursing staff were cruel and obnoxious.
Knowing how swiftly the doctors had acted in committing herself to the institution, she spoke with many of her fellow patients, who she was convinced were as 'sane' as she was.
After enduring ten days of sheer hell, the asylum released Nellie at the bidding of the New York World. She published her experience as a book, titled Ten Days in an Mad-House, which ultimately resulted in an investigation into the care of the insane, and an increase in the budget for the department of corrections.
On another occasion, Nellie had herself arrested for Grand Larceny, to gain entry to a station house to uncover how women - particularly innocent women - were treated, and what necessity, if any, there was to provide station house matrons. She concluded that albeit quite unpleasant, innocent women who fell into the hands of the police were not necessarily ill treated.
When she came across Jules Verne's book Around the World in Eighty Days she wagered that she could do it in less than that maintaining, "a woman can do anything and go anywhere in perfect safety as long as she behaves in a ladylike manner."
So with just two days' notice, she boarded the Augusta Victoria, a steamer of the Hamburg America Line, and began her 24,899-mile journey.
She took with her the dress she was wearing, a sturdy overcoat, several changes of underwear, and a small travel bag carrying her toiletry essentials. She carried most of her money (£200 in English bank notes and gold, as well as some American currency) in a bag tied around her neck.
I won't spoil the story with telling you more, but I'd really recommend you listen to Nellie's story from the Cavalcade of America, called Nellie Was A Lady.
You can also listen to several adaptations of Jules Verne's tale, Around the World in Eighty Days, on RUSC, from Mercury Theater On Air, This Is My Best, Favorite Story, and Hallmark Playhouse.
Happy listening my friends,
