Struggling with Copy Preparation

As she moved into this work, adding it to her already heavy program of travel, speaking, and writing, Ellen at first seemed to flounder. The secular public had been promised that the journal would be free of denominational bias, and this was quite limiting to Ellen White. The March, 1871, issue was the first to carry Mrs. White's Department. Following a two-verse selected poem, “Sowing and Reaping,” her opening article is titled “Spring Has Come.” She wrote:2BIO 308.3

Spring has come again. The earth has thrown off her white shroud, and nature is waking to life. The birds are returning to cheer us again with their happy songs in the glorious sunshine.2BIO 308.4

All, both young and old, should be in the open air as much as possible....2BIO 308.5

Every family should have a plot of ground for cultivation and for beauty. Parents, a flower garden will be a blessing to your children.... Your children need active exercise in order to be healthy and happy. Parents, it will pay to expend a small sum yearly in purchasing flower seeds and shrubs. We have purchased these of James Vick, Rochester, New York, and have ever felt more than satisfied with the means we thus invested.—The Health Reformer, March 1, 1871.2BIO 308.6

The two-column article is editorially signed “E.G.W.” It is followed with a selected item, “Make Home Pleasant,” and then an E.G.W. paragraph, “Tobacco Spitters in Cars.” Her department in this issue closed with a two-column selected article, “The Perils of Travel.”2BIO 309.1