Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-11-09

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER
anv c of he invite are quite as vel ,iiasncs p
and good manne d guests, and in inter with
the most noted lrs they rank well
Some of the aides Of the land. eos of
..ndine behi m are given the privil WING
80. nd the line of the rece, net
party amons the members of the Ca bins
families, The ladies of the diplomatic co
and other distinguished guests. Here they
are on par with the other ladies present,
but it was the rule of the last administra-
tion that they must not show their note
books or make themselves conspicuous. As
for me, memorize the toilets by going over
them and noting them in my mind, and
found that I was soon able to remember the
dresses of the different ladies down to the
smallest detail.
TROUBLE OF AN AMATEUR.
Most of the other lady correspondents
have been able to do the same, but at one
of President Cleveland's receptions an anna
teur correspondent, probably through igno-
rance of the rule, boldly paraded the Blue
Room with her note book and pencil in her
hand and asked the guests their names and
got them to describe their toilets. AS she
did so President Cleveland saw her and sent
q QOOrke6peI 10 call 1er to order.
Mrs. Cleveland was very kind to the cor
respondents. 1 remember one of her recep-
tions when she shook hands with several
thousand people. 1 stood just behind her
and was reporting the noted callers. Just
at this moment distinguished-look
man, whom 1 did not know, passed by, and
friend OF mine asked me who he was. I
whispered that 1 did not know, and Mrs
Cleveland heard me. She at once turned
around and said: "Wait minute, Miss
Grundy, and will give you his name"
Then after she had shaken hands with the
next guest she looked brightly over her
shoulder and told me who it was. 1t was a
little thing, but it was one of those little
things that made Mrs. Cleveland the most
popular of the mistresses of the White
House.
WHITE HOUSE HAND.sHAKING.
Mrs. Harrison's first act upon assuming
her position as head of the White House,
was to abolish promiscuous hand-shaking.
1t was daring thing to make the change,
and some laughable things occurred at the
first reception in consequence of it. I re-
member one Of them. Mrs. Harrison had
successfully carried out her determination
by the holding of fan in one hand and
bouquet in the other, and the guests seeing
that both her hands were full of course did
not attempt to shake them.
At last there came among the throng a
man who impulsively extended his hands
toward Mrs. Harrison and stood waiting for
her to take them. Mrs. Harrison looked
right over his hand and bowed with sweet
smile on her face. The man was frightened
and he could not take the hint He stood
for full moment and then looked along the
line for someone else's hand to shake. He
found that every one of the receiving party,
as etiquette required, had followed the lead
of the hostess and the hands of all were
filled. He determined to shake, neyerthe-
less, and made wild plunge at Mrs. Vice
President Morton. He grabbed both of her
folded hands, shook them heartily between
his and then made bolt for the door. Mrs
Morton was at first frightened, and then she
broke into laugh in which the rest of the
Cabinet ladies Joined. This, however, ended
all attempts at hand-shakiDg and the recep-
tlons now go off without trouble.
SOME SOCIETY EXPENSES.
1t is said that Congressman cannot live
on less than $1,000 year in Washington.
I happen to know that it costs a society re-
porter good round sum. am as econom-
ical as can be, but nv expenses creep up
in spite of me. In the first place, there is
the car and the cab fare. Washington is q
city of magnificent distances, and I walk
when I can, but have to pay from s. to $6
a week during the gay season in cab fare.
AS to dress, there Is another big item,
though Washington has SO many different
people from all parts of the world that one
can wear any sort of decent gown and not
be conspicuous. Then there are the gloves
and the shoes. Ones hands and feet must
be we'll dressed, whatever the rest of the
costume may be. I find that it always pays
to wear good gloves.
And then the cardsl Of course the lady
correspondent must use the engraved card,
and what a lot of them it does take. Five
hundred month is nothing, and 1 know of
some ladies who use many thousands during
the season, and Sir Julian Pauncefote once
ordered 10, 900 within two months! As the
cheapest engraved card costs cent apiece,
this would represent $50 month for cards
alone. OF course, do not mean to saw a
society reporter needs any such number, but
they cost enough, and they form one of
many small items which eat up the best part
of very fair income.
MISS GRUNDY, JR.