The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1890-04-08
ent churches in town, and to q great ex.
tent different denominations.
IL Tup UpHEytnpSr's cu,,pcuD

| s-' AHE I"eSiDESI CuuRCu.
This Is us 1t should be. It prevents
'corner" In churches. Wherever tn
President goes that church Is pre.emi
nentiy tho fashionable" ono. Til,
transient population, always eager, flock
there. Pew rents go up; 80 does tn,
minister's salary. Everybody Is satis
tiedIand keeps his Reat after servic,
till the President gets out OF tho door
and into his carriage. Some liberty
loving Americans have been heard te
object to this last part OF the exercises
but It has become tho custom, and ia
Washington, above all places in Amer
lea, custom is law. Tho colored people
furnish by far the greater portion Of tht
church.going population. They have
BONE seventy church buildings OF thei,
own, among them one for their Roman
Catholic brethren and one for Episeo.
palians, tho last named. presided over BY
au Oxford graduate.
An entirely unique portion Of the
celebration OF Eastertide in Washington
is what Is known rs the egg.roling Ia
the White Lot" on Easter Monday,
During the afternoon OF that day tic
grounds about tho White House are
thrown open to the public. Into them
pour ten thousand children, accom-.
panied by their nurses and parents, and
loaded down with all sizes and descrip.
tons Of eggs.
s. EASTER EGG ROLLING.
Just south Of the White House and
within the enclosed grounds are two
mounds some fifty or sixty feet apart.
The children cluster on the tops and
sides OF these mounds like flies and roll
their eggs down into the valley between,
each youngster keeping n jealous eye on
his particular egg to ascertain II 1t breaks
or is broken by another one. II his egg
meets and breaks the other, tho da,n-
aged egg becomes the victor's property
and vice versa. The children who can't
obtain places on the mounds scatter
throughout tho enclosure, are engaged
in the one business oi "Gghting eggs"
until, as evening draws on, some embryo
President or cabinet officer who has
come upon the scene with choice
assortment OF carefully disguised cast
iron eggs, is borne or by his admiring
relatives with an amount Of the spoils
Of war in bis Possession only limited by
his carrying capacity. Meanwhile the
Marine Band plays and the older folks
promenade around the numerous walks
md drives and look on at the festivities.
The well kept grounds presepta II sorry
spectacle after the children have de-
parted, but the egg rolling has become
another OF the established customs not
to be abolished or amended, and the
President who should have the
to intimate that the
"White Lot" would lae closed to
on Easter Monday would very
quickly have all incipient insurrection
on his hands which the small force OF
regular troops at his disposal would be
powerless 10 Suppress. 1t has been late
ly claimed bya prominent Episcopalian
clergyman that the observance Of Lent
in the National Capital is becoming year
iy more loose. Possibly the claim is
well founded. The diminution in recep.
tons. tens, dinners, balls, &C., is hardly
noticeable during the season Of fasting
and prayer. In the opinion OF con-
noisseur, however, Lent does make
very marked difference in the upper
circles" This dcpraved individual de-
clares that n.en and women alike would
welcome two Seasons in year OF tenn
porary withdrawal from society's whirl,
instead OF one. The men, because they
can then attend their clubs and play
poker evenings 10 peace; the women,
because they can play poker and catch
up With current fiction without fear Of
interruption.
at any rate, the restrictions Of the
season are still noticeable. The Senate
did not. 1t was unfortunate that the
races we're postponed for the day on &C.
count OF tho rain. 1t made the absence
Of quorums in both houses the next day
all the more pronounced.