phers.

The need of a Police Matron in Indianapolis was so obvious and it had
been so impossible to persuade the authorities of this fact, that in
November, 1890, the Meridian W. C. T. U. obtained permission from the
Mayor and Commissioners to place one on duty at the central station
house at their own expense. This was continued until March, 1891, when
a change in the city charter vested the authority in a Board of
Safety. The matron, Mrs. Annie M. Buchanan, had given such
satisfaction that on petition of the Woman's Local Council she was
regularly employed by the city, with full police powers, at a salary
of $60 per month and two furnished rooms for her occupancy. The first
year 852 women and children came into her charge, 24 of the latter
being under five years of age.

The State W. C. T. U. appointed Mrs. Buchanan as the head of a
movement to secure Police Matrons in all cities of 7,000 inhabitants.
A bill for this purpose was presented in 1893 but failed to pass. In
1895 the Local Council of Women also made this a special line of work,
and to Mrs. Buchanan's petition, signed by one hundred of the leading
men and women of the State and the entire Common Council, were added
the names of the presidents of the forty-nine societies composing the
Council of Women, representing 8,000 members. It asked for a law
compelling the appointment of Police Matrons in all cities of 10,000
inhabitants. This time the bill passed both Houses but so altered as
to merely permit the Mayor and Commissioners to appoint such Matrons,
a power they already possessed.

Mrs. Buchanan remained in office seven years, until her marriage. The
experiment in Indianapolis has been so successful that matrons are now
employed in Evansville, Terre Haute, Richmond and Lafayette, but these
by no means include all of the cities of over 10,000 inhabitants.

OCCUPATIONS: The only occupations forbidden to women are those of
working in mines and selling liquor. Women have served as bank
cashiers and directors for twenty years.

In 1875 Miss Elizabeth Eaglesfield was admitted to practice law at
the Vigo County bar, through the efforts of Judge William Mack, and
had a number of cases in the courts of Indianapolis. Eighteen years
later Mrs. Antoinette D. Leach, although properly qualified, was
refused a license to practice in Greene County. The lower court based
its refusal on a clause in the State Constitution which says: "Every
person of good moral charact