Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1889-04-22
THE ANNUAL EGG-ROLLING.
Thousands Of Merry Children I'm the
White House Grounds.


Easter Monday has gradually developed into
an almost universal public holiday in the CITY
of Washington. The Juvenile portion Of the
population turns out with unremitiins regu-
lsrity, and as a natural sequence a good deal
Of the adult population has TO turn out to act
as a body-gusrd for tie little ones. The day
Is the only one in the year when
the grounds in which the White House stands
are open to all corners from dawn TO
dark and everybody that was not otherwise en-
gagged took advantage of the privilege to-day.
The egg was king for several hours. and when
Its reign ended there was a multitude Of
tired children. thousands of weary mothers, and
big sisters and several acres of down-trodden
grass plentifully despatched with countless
millions of tragmentary eggs and eggshells.
THE ADVANCED GUARD OF THE HOST
of little ones arrived before O'Clock, and by
1880 the great expanse Of emerald swsrd was
numerously dotted with childish figures and
the shouts of hundred infant voices went up as
the galy-colored eggs rolled down the slopes
and came TO grief either by collision with some
other tinted product of the hen or from contact
with wandering tree root or o half-hIdden
stone. As the crowd grew
THE FUN BECAME MORE INTENSE
until the air was filed with a continuous noise.
1t was q thoroughly democratic assemblsge:
white and black rolled eggs in close proximity
to each other, and laughed in chorus at the
strange and unexpected disasters which beiell
their eggs.
There were no noticeably new features in this
years celebration. The fakirs were there with
balloons and other childish toys. The
banana and orange vendors, the pie
man and the retailers of nuts, candy. lemo-
made, pigs feet and sandwiches were numerous
as OF old, and they all seemed TO be doing
-
amateur photographer was almost as
numerous as the egg crop which
was sacrificed to make an Easter holiday. and
he or she (for several were female) secured
negatives until the supply of plates ran out.
PROMINENT AMONG THE EccENTRIcITIEs
in the gathering was the professional egg
eater-invariably colored boy How many
there were of him is not known. but if
several of him do not die before tomorrow
they will all at least have qualified for admis-
sion TO any irst-class dime museum.
One youngster, not more than ten years old,
was watched for nearly an hour. and in that
time he devoured twenty-six cold hard-boiled
eggs, al of fair average dimensions, and still
he walked around seeking additional prey.
LUNCH TIME.
About noon the majority of the multitude sat
down under the trees and wrestled with the
lunch baskets with which every party seemed
to be well provided.
Here this photographer did good deal of
execution, and a number of interesting lantern
slides Will probably result from his or her la
bors.
Casualties we're not numerous. The fountains
were centers of attraction, and the one just
outside the grounds on the east front had
crowd OF anruly youngsters around 1t all day.
LOST CHILDREN
were numerous, but they were all found before
shutdown, thanks to the police who did lots of
good work in such retiring manner that lots
of the people never knew there were any police
present.
THE PREsIDEFr
appeared on the south portico at o'clock, and
his coming was the signal for an outburst of
applause and the beginning of the strains of
Hail to the Chief from the marine band. On
the Presidents right was Mrs. Harrison,
while his left hand grasped that
of Benjamin Harrison Mckee, who
toddled along in all the dignity of his two years
and with handkerchief waved welcome to
the immense throng in front of him. 1t is not
observed OF all observers" Following these came
Russell Il. Harrison, Mrs. ]. II. Mckee, Mrs.
Lord, Miss Ida Murphy, of st. Paul. Mimi,
Mrs. Harrison's guest; Miss Miller, daughter
of the Attorney-General, and L. I. Kitchener,
Encouragement of Indiana, and last, but not
least, DR.. Scott with his great
granddaughter, baby Mckee. on his
shoulders. These, with maids and attendants,
completed the group. The reception accorded
the notables proved that this administration
Is popular with the people. for the reason that
Bob lngersol gave for supporting Blaine in
1916, for the humanity there is in IT,"
THE PRESENCE OF THE MARINE BAND,
under Prof. Sousa, was a pleasing feature of
the occasion, and it was thoroughly appreciated
by the crowd