St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-01-03
Novel Plan Suggested For the Tighten
ing Of Society Duties at the
National Capital.
The Resolution Of Ladies of the Cab
met to Return the Majority
of Their Calls BY Card.
An Innovation in the Manner OF Re-
eefving New Years. Calls by
President Cleveland.
The Christmas Entertainment Given
TO Poor Children by Those
More Favored--Notes.
Special 70 the Globe.


WASHINGTON, Jan. 1.-The whirl Of
the social season has begun. From this
until Ash Wednesday it will be a constant
round of festivities in Washington. So
eiety. which awaited with Impotence the
signal. which the president always gives on
New Years. has begun its work promptly.
/ Thousands of doors were opened ON New
Years day To thousands Of callers, and din
ners and receptions and teas, and social
/ festivities of all sorts are to be the rule
/ from this forward. The avenues and
streets in the fashionable quarter of the
city are busy places now. Take ride In
/ the northwestern part of the city and you
will see carriages hunying in every direc-
ton carrying their fair freight to the social
events which are literally too numerous
/ TO mention" Every few blocks you find
groups OF carriages, dozens of them in a
/ line waiting near some fashionable resi-
dence where a reception or ''tea" or a
dinner or party is being given. Afternoon
/ and evening they are at il. One of the in
teresting events of the week was a tea
given at the Morgan residence on Scott
/ Circle, formerly occupied and owned by
Don Cameron. 1t was the first time that
the doors of this mansion had been opened
To society since its new occupants had taken
| possession. and between the new people,
the new decorations by Miss Tillinghast,
and the new furnishings, there was great
curiosity 10 see, and the result was an ac-
ceptance by all who were so fortunate as to
receive an invitation. or course the presi-
dent receptions was the
LEADING SOCIAL EVENT
of the week. With the large number of
afternoon and evening receptions which
followed on Friday made the close of the
week welcome, for next week there are
large number of social events. The regular
receptions of the wives of the supreme court
/ justices come on Monday to be followed by
those of the cabinet ladies on Wednesday.
The wives of senators and members have
most of them fixed their days for receptions
and the society papers bristle with para
graphs announcing that Mrs. So-and-so will
receive during the present season on such
and such day.
There is still a good deal of agitation in
the social world over the edict of the cabi-
net ladies i'm regard to their methods of dis
posing of calls. 1t Is not at all agreeable
TO the wives OF members of congress to feel
that their calls upon cabinet ladies are to
be returned merely by a bit of paste board.
To say that they are out of humOr about it
| puts it very mildly. The cabinet ladies,
seeing what storm they have raised. are
| attempting TO modify il so far as may be by
calling attention to the difficulties surround
/ ing any attempt to return their calls i'm any
| other way. 1t is urged that they thus far been
assiduous in returning their social demands
and that they have thus far returned, where
ever it was practical, all the first calls
made on them. The thousands of callers
these ladies received last spring give some
idea OF the magnitude of calls owing. Per-
sonal visits are Obligatory,from these leaders
to the diplomatic corps, the supreme court
justices families and those of senators.
These, they say, are alone of such proper
tons as to deter the stoutest heart, and
above all these are naturally the friendly
calls of so many here in private life. The
families of nearly three hundred congress-
men, or such proportion of them as bring
their families here, cannot. they urge, ex-
! pect more than the return of their first call
and an acknowledgment of their future Wis
its by card. A return call by card is suffi-
cient evidence that the call is remembered
and politely acknowledged, and philoso-
pher here, who
GRowLs AND GRUMBLEs
at all this surface talk over our code of
1 etiquette, prOphesies that the day Is not
far distant when official society will have
reached such colossal proportions that
social exchange" will be necessary. This
system will simplify the whole business.
and will, if society can be forced to accept
il, be of invaluable assistance TO families
in new administrations. 1t will take care
of the visiting list of each one who needs
il, and return i'm regular succession each
call by card. As it is simply impossible for
any cabinet lady TO remember, or have the
| slightest interest in the personality of a
1.-THE of her callers. The card system is
pronounced the very best. and the only way
official society, as it is constituted here, can
answer the problem.
An interesting event of the week was the
work of the Christmas clubs. which gave
nearly 1000 poor children Christmas din
ner. The dinner was given in the Ma
| tiOnal Rifles armOry. Six long tables,
| stretching from end to end of the armOry
basement, were laden with plates of cold
turkey, bread and apple butter, sweet
cakes, apples and oranges, and great
many other things. The tables were lined
with chairs on both sides, but the guests
swarmed so thiekly that about half of them
| had to stand and the other half did stand.
Scores of high-bred young misses. like ex-
/ President ArthuT's little daughter, Nellie,
and Postmaster General Villas little Mollie,
donned the white muslin cap, the distinctive
badge of the servant girl. and waited upon the
! urchinS, whose highest delight was reached
/ in licking their plates, and who, when their
stOmachs could hold no more, did not
forget that they had pockets. After
dinner there was a Punch and Judy
show in the hall upstairs. There
was large Christmas tree on the stage.
and the hall in its special decoration looked
very gay. A section of the marine band
1 played some lively airs. and conjurer from
/ the dime museum made the youngsters roar
with laughter. President Cleveland was
expected to attend but he did not go. Miss
/ Cleveland attended in his place. Chief
Justice Waite, Mr.. CorcOran, Judges James
and Hagner. Commissioner Webb and
Marshall Wilson were among
THE DISTINGUISHED VISITORS.
Mr.. Cleveland's good judgment in not
asking other than the Cabinet ladies to aid
him i'm receiving is generally commended.
/ The custom which has prevailed I'm some
cases of asking twenty or thirty ladies to
assist in presidents receptions has been
rather unsatisfactory. Where there were
so many doubts would naturally arise as to
right of precedence, and in whichever man
ner settled it was sure to beget jealOusies
and heart-burnings. Neither was it very
agreeable TO the guests, for it became rather
monotonous to exchange the same ''airy
nothings" one after another with line Of
ladies stretched clear ACROSS the room. With
the cabinet ladies and gentlemen no dis
putes as to precedence are possible, for it
has been settled in the beginning that they
take rank in the order of the creation Of
their respective departments. The recep-
ton after that at the White house most
numerously attended was that of Mrs. Car
| Isle. FOR her receDtiOn aS that ar the Whita