Clare begins her column by mentioning that she is re-reading Mrs. Gaskell's My Lady Ludlow and notes that the novel's style serves as a model for her own writing. Clare claims that last month's Harper's Monthly must have been "so dull and inane" in order to make way for the current month's issue. Clare praises "The Atoms of Chladhi," "How the Snow Melted on Mount Washington," and "Behave Yourself" (2). At the end of her column, Clare remembers to mention Rose Terry's "Mrs. Authon's Christmas Present," but criticizes the story's moral pose. Clare also discusses The Unequal Match and Laura Keene's performance in the play. The largest section of Clare's column is devoted to the description of a scene she witnessed from the window of a gentleman's office on a by-street near the East River. After describing the street in general, Clare claims she was most disturbed by the physical fight she witnessed taking place among the members of a family who lived on the second floor of a boarding-house. The fight continued into the street and was witnessed by several other residents and children, none of whom interfered in the violent dispute.
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Though much of her early life, including her real name and exact date of birth, remains in shadow, Laura Keene is thought to have come from a well-to-do background.
