Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1877-03-03

hills. Liz uIOIc pluS Iul VI Cuo Iattic'
have q coaxing way of asking tn.
President to write his name upo1
their cards under the picture of the
White House, and bear them away
as mementOes.
AN INITIATION TO DINE AT THE EXECUTIVE
MANSION
Takes precedence of every other, and
is binding as command. Hence
the state dinners are announced
some days in advance, through the
public prints, that other ontereainefl
may not be disappointed of theil
guests.
On this occasion I had the small
satisfaction of knowing how the
august couples were mated an houl
before they knew themselves. The
list ran thus: The President and
Mrs. Clifford, (NIrs. Chief Justice
Waite being absent through illness)
Justice Swayne and Mrs. Field
Mrs. Field was q fortunate lady,
for Justice Swayne is called the
finest table-talker in Washington);
Justice Bradley and Mrs. Phil. Sher-
idan, who. with her gallant hus-
band, is a guests of the Grants this
week; Senator Edmonds and Mrs.
Randle; Simon B. Chittenden and
Mrs. Colonel Grant; U. S. Grant,
Jr., and Jesse Grant, the youngest
boy-these being at the foot of the
table. It is a feature of the Presi-
dents household management that
he always has his entire family pres
ent at his dinners of state. This has
been variously commented upon, but
people have grown used to it now.
Next, Justice Hunt and Mrs. Sharp,
sister of Mrs. Grant; Justice Strong
and Mrs. Taft, wife of the Attorney
General; Justice Clifford and Mrs.
Bradley; Mrs. Grant and the Chief
Justice; Justice Field and Mrs. Mil
Ter. Mrs. Miller is a fat, coquet-
ish dowager, with ponderous neck
and arms, which she wears uncovered
on state occasions. She boards at
the National. She is very lively,
and flirts mildly with the Admins
tration himself across the solemn
dinner table of state. Next were
seated General Sheriden and Mrs.
Sartoris; Speaker Randall and Mrs.
Edmonds; Col. Fred Grant and Mrs.
Chittenden; Mr.. Sartoris and Mrs.
Casey-the latter another sister of
Mrs. Grant. Then the Attorney
General and Mrs. Hunt, and the
President of the Senate with Mrs.
Strong, made up the goodly cam.
PAYNE. Mrs. Hunt is beautiful,
old-time lady, who dresses with
subdued and antiquated elegance.
Everybody loves her. Senator and
Mrs. Edmunds, with Mr.. and Mrs.
Chittendon, were invited to make
up the full number of thirty-six-
the two gentlemen being eminent in
either house of Congress. There
will be only two more state dinners
at the Presidents this winter. When
the social season is longer there are
usually four in all.
THE DINNERS
Generally last at the table from halt
past 7 to half past 10, the President
entering first, with his assigned lady,
followed by Mrs. Grant, with her
escort, and the others in their order
of seating. After leaving the table,
the party disperses into the various
parlors, servants following them
with coffee. Such guests as choose
to smoke retire with the Presi dent
to the family dining-room, improv-
ised as smoking-room, and in due
time rejoin the company for q
promenade in the great east parlor,
which was originally designed for a
banqueting room, in the stately
days when the mansion was planned
and which lies across the long
vestibule from the suit of west parlors
and the state dining-room. Mrs.
Fred Grant has introduced a chatty
custom of serving tea just before the
breakup, which gathers the company
together, and nightly relieves the
ponderousness of the occasion. Alto
gether it is not so trying an ordeal
but that most of us, dear friends,
would be willing to undergo it, at
least once in life time.
A CURIOSITY OF NUMBERs.-The
multiplication of 9S7654321 by As
givs 4444444445. Reversing the or
der of the digits and multiplying
123456789 by 45 We get the result
equally curious, $3.50, sos sos. II
We take 123456789 as the multipli.
cand, and interchanging the figures
of IS, take 81 as the multiplier, we
obtain another remarkable product
666, ,666, ,666, COG. Returning to the
multiplicand first used, 9S7654321
and taking 54 as the multiplier again
we get IS, ,333. .3S3334-all three ex'
cept the first and Last fguresi which
read together "a, the multipler. TAX
ing the same multiplicand and using
~, the half of As, as the multiplier