The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1886-03-25
From a photograph by Bell

People who thought, Or professed to think,
the evening reception was public, or who
wanted to make believe they had been in
vited, or who had no other chance of see
ing the inside of great house, went In
gangs. Some of them without taking the
trouble to speak to the secretary or his
wife, made Decline for the dining-room,
where terrapin steamed and champagne
fixed. The dancing men inaugurated
impromptu balls, and the secretary and
Mrs. Whitney stood by to see it. The
house is immense, and yet the crush was
dreadful. The secretary and Mrs. Whit
ney take this state of affairs with perfect
dignity and amiability; it is too late to
remedy for this season, but another year
there will be another system. Everybody
has read about the uproar raised by an
innocent little lady, Mrs. James Brown
Potter, of New York, reading Sims pa
thetic poem "Ostler Joe" at one of Mrs.
Whitneys entertainments. Mrs. Potter,
who was Miss Cora Uquhardt, of New Or
leans, is we'll known in New York society,
and moves in the same circle as Mrs. Will
liam Aston, Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt and
others equally prominent. She Is consld-
cradle of an elocutionist, and is sought
after to assist i'll amateur entertainments.
She is very handsome and attractive, and
at one time had an inclination for the
stage. Her reading of the poem in ques-
ton was advised by two prominent cabl-
net ladies', and there is nothing in it that
should shock ladies who attend operas
and receptions with bare busts and backs.
Yet those who affect the low and behold"
style of dress were among the severest
critics.
Another lady of prominence, Mrs.
Speaker Carlisle, is Kentuckian by birth,
and grouped with all the other ladies of
society here, for marked grace, royal
bearing and womanly dignity, perhaps, is
unequaled. She would be selected as the
star of the first magnitude i'll the group
She has beautiful but mild black eyes, regu-
lar and handsome features, hair very
heavy, of dark chestnut color, worn in
low Grecian coil back, with short waves in
front. Her manner and conversation are
as facinating as polished, her movement
and carriage are as graceful and stately as
wsan's. With al these charms, it is nat
ural that her weekly receptions and in
formal entertainments in their parlors al
the Riggs have been so popular during
this as every other season of her resi-.
dence in Washington.
The ladies of the foreign legations To-
Gated here are prominent figures lii official
society. One of the handsomest if
Nine. Reuterskiold, wife of the Swed
ish minister. She was born in Stock
holm, Sweden, and is in person type Of
the pure Scandinavian. Madame married
NJ. Re lterskiold and went to Paris in 1877
where he was secretary of legation, ane
they remained there until he received thu
appointment as minister to Washington
last year. The Swedish minister has taker
a residence in the exclusive west end o
the capital, and their dinners are feasti
to which invitations are much coveted
Nine. Reuterskiold has the good height o
her northern country-women, but the softl,
rounded outlines of her exquisite figure
made her look shorter. She carries he