ELDER, Susan Blanchard, author, born in Fort Jessup, La., about 1835. Her childhood was passed at an extensive frontier military post, where her father, General Albert G. Blanchard, then a captain in the army, was stationed. She was educated in St. Michael's convent of the sacred heart, New Orleans, and was married at an early age to Charles D. Elder, of that City. After the capture of New Orleans she went with her husband to Selma, Ala., where she turned her cottage into a hospital for wounded soldiers. After the war she became professor of natural science in the New Orleans high school, and editor of the "Morning Star" newspaper of that City. When sixteen years of age she began to write for the press under the name of " Hermine." Her writings comprise poems, histories, and several dramas intended for representation in Roman Catholic Colleges. She has published " The Loss of the Papacy"; " James the Second"; "Savonarola" ; and "Ellen Fitzgerald," a tale, dealing with southern scenes and incidents. She has also contributed extensively to Roman Catholic publications, and her devotional poems are very popular among her coreligionists.