The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1891-09-08
WASHING TON ETIQUETTE
Interesting Facts Abou: Ell. socI., Rr.ul.
LINN. of the IL hite Ii..,..

iaterestins Facts Abou: che socia, R~xuls-
lion. Of the htte House
The soc al rcgu atoms o. the White
House vary with tie PRESIDE John
ADAMS NJ 2;ate = -opo-; ol the sub
ect for President Washington, could
not conceive it proper for the Presi-
dent to make any formal entertain.
nent,' and he special deprecated his
attendance upon tea parties" and
Thomas Jefferson endeavored to estab-
lish the peiemele system of precedence,
which is simply no precedence at all
More recently We have witnessed the
hosp tally Of General Grant, the intro-
duction of tota. ab-tir cnce BY HAYES
the dining Of the whole Government bv
Arthur. and the conservatism of Cleve-
land. The reception upon the Fourth
of July, too, that used to be a feature
In White House festivities, has entirely
passed out of date, the New Years
ievee beng the only formal day recep-
ton given The order in which the Of
tcers Of the Government are shaken
hands with upon that occasion is as
follows: The Nice-Prcs;dent. the mem
bers Of the Cabinet. the diplomatic
corps, the Judges of the United States
courts. Senators, Representatives, tie
army and navy, the officers of the de-
partments VINO are commiss oned by the
President and finally the people. The
announcement IN the newspa pers a few
days before the recr ption takes place of
she above order may be considered the
nearest approach 10 author! tat.ve prom
ulgation OF order of precedence in Wash
ington.
During the winter the President gives
his formal evening receptions. to which
people are v.ted by card The first
one is to the diplomatic corps the army
and navy, the Judiciary and Congress
being invited to meet them. At the
second the diplomatic corps and tine
Judiciary and Congress are invited to
meet the army and navy, and so on,
three receptions being g ven. A fourth
IS generally added, when the people are
received -
State dinners are given. when the
high dignitar.es OF the Government
solemnly feed themselves under the
Presidents eye, and there is at least
one dip. omatIc dinner. This must be
the most charming entertainment The
Chinese Minister, for instance, can not
'peak a wori OF any thing but Chinese.
Ind does not love Knives and forks; the
Corean Minister knows nothing but
-orean; the others speak Spanish
French. German and English. Their
are various Some wear fezeS
'thers enormous horse-hair hats, others
little caps Their complications range
rom the pink tints Of Northern Europe
o the dusly copper color Of the Orient
hey are paired of without regard to
ongeniality, and altogether the diplo-
latic state inner is looked upon as .
olemn duty both by the giver Of the
East and the gentlemen and ladies who
re ordered to attend it An invitation
D dine with the President is an order.
What the writer's on ct quette call the
Drawing-Rooms of the Presiding Lady
the Executive Mansion" are the Sat-
rday afternoon receptions of the Presi-
ent's wife. Anybody can 60 to them,
nd the order Of precedence is a ques-
on Of physical strength There are
zen the 'drawing-roons of the ladies
the Cabinet" receptions which. IS
and-book of ct qUette has expressed it
q open to ',ail persons of reputable
,aracter and becoming dress" That
Ie visitors are Of reputable character
doubtless, fact, but the becoming
.ss of the dress is a question Of taste.
these receptions there are generally
but the same writer very
nts to his readers that
{ is not suitable to set in for a square
eal.'" 1t 5 not presumed that these
constitute the court
relies Of the republic" and there
actually book on this subject
,ich bears that title. In reality they
entirely harmless and essentially
mocratic. Anybody may go and all
treated equally. whereas the draw
groom" at the british court Is a
rmal and select assemblage Of people
Chicago GlCbe.