The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1886-04-28
THE PRESIDENTS MARRIAGE.
The Social Leaders OF the National Cap
ital Generally ncredulous about Recent
Reports of his Engagement.

(WGshiagton Letter to the Ncr York Hrrdtd.)
Curiousa as it may seem, the talk about
the Presidents marriage to Miss Fol
som has not yet produced any agita-
ton here. The simple truth is, nobody
believes il, else there would be q fer
mcnl. The sensation has been worked
up from Buffalo, and for the benefit of
certain social interests there. When
the subject was first preached, about
ten days ago, q very nca and personal
friend Of the President authorized a
positive denial of the report. Miss
Cleveland, prior to her departure for
Atlantic City, also gave it a most m
equivocal contradiction, though it is
untrue that she expressed any disap-
prevail OF such an alliance for her
brother. Miss Folsom and she are
warm friends, and the younger lady
White House last fall. There might
at that time. Net that the engagement
is by any means unlikely to be true,
but because of the mannc in which
the story has been circulated is any
real doubt cast upon it. The union
would certainly be a desirable one for
Miss Folsom. That may go without
saying. TO be raised to the position
of first lady Of the land by such an
alliance would charm any w0mau's
Imagination. The close personal friend
ship that existed between Mr.. Clevc-
land and his now deceased law part
ncr is known to every citizen Of Buff
ialO. Nothing could he more natural
than that the former should interest
himself in the welfare Of the widow
and the daughter of his friend. If the
most positive dcmlalS given here go for
nought, and if President Cleveland
really is to be married in June, there
will be a social upturniuy here such
us Washington never before has seen.
Despite Miss Cleveland'S scholar
ship, her position and her mai.y graccs,
it is an undcniablc fact that She has
been socially ovcrshadowcd 10y Mrs.
William &. Whitney, the wife of the
secretary of the navy. This lady,
with her vast fortune, her splendid
residence in New York, her comrnodi-
III house Oh ! street in this city and
her country sea, lust outside the bor-
dcrs Of the Capital, has been the rcroc-
nizcd social queen of the present sra-
son. Previously unknown to the
country and mnhcraldcd on her APP
pcarancc in Washington, sc has, in
one short year, become the dictator NJ
the Republican court and the leader OF
ashton. | am ware that many Wash
ingtOn ladies who read this will shake
their heads, if they do not dispute the
assertion even more warmly. But the
less impnlsivc among them will rccog-
niZc its truth. Where is there any
lady in any way identified with the
present regime that a dispute with
her the place at the top? She cannot
be named. Mrs. Manning had all the
charms that fitted her for such 4 posi-
ton. The treasury department out
ranks that OF the navy in the unwrit-
ten code Of precedence, but the dan
gcrouS illness of Secretary Manning is
likely to keep the lady of Albany out
OF The social field for some time to
come.
Everybody who knows ANYTHING
about this season at Washington adj
niits that Mrs. Whitney has been an
p"alcd to when a triumphant success
in IN charitable or social enterprise
~nS desired. Her house has been al
tho disposal of her friends when she il
at home, though it must be admitted
that some of her associates felt very
BADLY because she recently declined to
permit them to take possession of her
home and servants when she was sud-
denly called to Cleveland, Ohio, by
the death of her grandmother. She
was rcsolutc in her pOslponement of
the ~ncwsboys' charity reception, how
ever. For one onla to make n secret
enemy Of another is a serious affair.
There is no such word as ''iorgivc-
ness in the feminine lexicon. | have
been convinced of sincere womanly
delight at the scandal which Mrs.
POttcr'S reading of an obnoxious pocm
brought upon the Whitney coteric. 1t
was the only serious misstcp prior 10
the closing of her house, and, of
course, she innoccntly suffered for her
lend. Nobody supposcs for a mo-
mcnt that Mrs. Whitney would have
approved OF such nanscating rubbish
as 'oStlcr Joc"-a species of verse
that has for months been sold in beer
gardens and in the smoking cars of