The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1890-12-28

Caused a Drinking Bout at Washing
ton n Mrs. Window Believes in Open
House on New Years. Mrs. Senator
Carlisle Advocates IA Cold Water Table.
New Years comes this week, and with it
comes the vexed questions that have to be
solved on that day: Shall we hold New Years
receptions? Shall we offer wine strong
drinks to our gentlemen friends? And shall
we require them to appear in morning dress or
in swallow-tail coats? The leading ladies of
Washington hold widely different views upon
these questions have talked with some of
the representative women among them this
week, and give you here the opinions Of eight
of them:
Mrs. Foster, wife of the ex-Minister to Spain,
said: 81 think New Years receptions should
be continued. They should be held at Wash
ington if nowhere else in the country. The
President and Cabinet must keep open house on
that day, and the officers of the Army and Navy
and other young men can use the occasion to
pay their duty calls. l have spent much of my
married life abroad, and / am attracted to the
custom by its hospitable associations. l have,
however, seldom kept open house myself, but
it has been because my daughters and myself
have usually been invited to assist other ladies
on that day.
Chow about the serving of wines to callers ?''
"Well," replied Mrs. Foster, ''I am not
total abstinence advocate, as believe there are
often occasions when glass of wine is a physi-
cal necessity. But do not approve of offering
liquor to young men, or, as a general thing,
older ones either. OF course, the latter have in
most instances better control of their appe
tites and do not SO easily succumb to such
temptations. There are special OCCASIONS such
as gentlemen's dinner, for instance, when wine
should never be omitted from the menu, and
Mr. Foster always follows the rules in this re-
spect. If, however, give any large entertain
ment always confine myself to coffee and bull
lea in lieu OF liquors. OF the other hand, my
daughter Eleanor, now Mrs. Lansing, is an ad-
vocate of strict temperance, and upon the occa-
sion of her marriage last winter positively op-
posed the suggestion of having wine or punch
of any kind. Many young men are tempted
every New Years against their better resolu-
tions to take glass when offered by some fair
friend to whom they fear to give offense. II
would, however, be pity to abandon the insti-
tuition merely because some are weak enough
not to be able to resist overindulgencei in drink
ing while upon a round Of social calls, and l
hardly think that there is any serious danger
threatening Washington in this respect"
MRS SENATOR MCPHERSON.
Mrs Mcpherson, wife of the New Jersey Sem
ator, said 81 think the custom of keeping
open house upon New Years Day most at
tractive one, that is, when not carried to too
great an extent, such as one is inevitably drawn
into in Washington, where the practice often de-
generates into mere form. OF late years the
habit has largely died out in New York and
New Jersey, and the New Years hospitalites
too Il
relatives and personal friends, among whom the
observance is kept up right royalty. The reason
of this falling off is that so many abuses had
crept into the observance that the original sig
nificance of the custom had almost entirely dis
appeared The old Dutch settlers were the
orignators of the fashion, and even as early as
the days of old Peter Stuyvesant the dignifed
Knickerbockers indulged in over dissipation
while upon their New Years rounds, and seemed
to consider their duty only half performed unless
each home became the scene of aregular drunk
enly bout 1t is a well-known fact, though,
one generally suppressed among the descen-
dants of these early settlers, that the first Cover
nor lost his leg through a fall sustained while
overcome with wine on New Years night, after
day of social roistering.
"Although personally approve of the pleas
ant CUSTOM" Mrs Mcpherson continued, 81
seldom individually carry it out because | am
generally OppO56u 10 Gue OheTluS Vi wines OF
liquors of any kind to young men, and it is i'm
possible to draw the line without giving of
Tense. l would not like any one to urge drinks
upon my son, who fortunately is exempt from
such Weakness and | would not care to be the
one TO tempt any other youth. OF course l
would not confine my refreshments to non-in-
toXicants, but the Senator is SO imbued with
the old Scotch habit of Offering hospitality in
glass of whisky that he would never consent
to the total omission of wines.
MRS. PRESIDENT HAYEss TEMPERANCE FEAST.
81 believe, however, that such questions
should always be left to the individual con-
science. An example of the futility of this
plan may be dra IN from the result of that
memorable temperance dinner given by Presi-
dent Hayes, where the guests departed from
the White House only to indulge to an un-
limited extent in the forbidden liquor either at
their clubs or at the residence of some one of
of the company. Seldom have the annals of the
city recorded such a general abandonment
to intemperance as that night among the prom
inent guests who but few hours previous were
the recipients of the generous and in all respects
but one lavish hospitality of the Chief EXecu-
tive. A lady who was present at the time re-
marked to me afterwards that she had never
before or since INDUCED to such an extent, but
that on that evening she with others had re
turned home to a champagne supper that was