The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1891-02-10
NI1l!lf Es9le
A REVOLT PREDICTED.
WASHINGTON SOCIETY WOMEN WILL
BE THE REVOLUTlONlSTS.
They Say That the Work of Making and
Receiving Calls Is Altogether Too Hard
for Them-nIanIess Receptions and Aft
ernoon Teas.
rSnecial Corresnondence.l

WASHINGTON, Jan 26.-One would natu-
rally think the society women Of Washing
ton the happiest of living mortals. With
q constant round of gayety, fine gowns TO
wear, the most of them with elegant homes
and handsome carriages, their life would
appear to be one OF unalloyed bliss. Yet
even these poor creatures have their trou'
bles. Just now they are much worried by
two or three annoyances incident to their
vocation, for society and its doings is the
vocation of most OF the fashionable wom-
en- of the capital during the season. Care
of home and children is merely their avo-
cation, an incident of life, subordinated al
most wholly to the more serious business
Of the hour. One of these troubles is a re-
suit Of the great extent to which the fabric
Of official society here has grown with the
growth of the country. The social rules
and customs are pretty much the same
now as they were when the republic had
only half as many officials as it now has.
With q congress of more than 400 mem
bers, and a correspondingly large number
If persons in other official life, and a ten
fold increase in the mum Der of non-ofHcial
families who mingle in the official society,
the wives of cabinet officers, senators and
others high in the government have found
their calling lists growing beyond the
powers of human endurance.
Some day the whole system will have to
be changed, and the absurd law by which
society woman, if her husband is in Off
cial life, must return all calls made upon
her, no matter by whom, will have to be
repealed. AT the present time the protest
against the overgrowth of society and the
burdens entailed thereby has taken the
form of demand for the leugthening Of
the afternoon hour. Ladies say it is impera-
lively necessary that they have a longer
time in which to make their calling rounds
But this only temporizes with the evil,
and the day will surely come when society
women Of official rank will rise up in arms
and sweep the whole thing into obscurity.
The cabinet ladies have indeed emanci-
pated themselves from the thralldom IF
the calling custom. They combined one
with another two or three years ago, and
declared that henceforth they would not
attempt to return the calls made upon
them. And the innovation was effected
without there being any necessity for call
ing out the troops or reading the riot act
Is was predicted would be the case by
some observers. Now the wives Of sena-
tors are disposed to follow the example set
them by their sisters of the cabinet, and
after the senatorial ladies have revolted
there will come in good time the rebellion
Of the wives Of representatives, and after
them the ladies OF other official households
will take courage and assert their rights
TOO. Thus in the end, and probably not so
tar distant in time, we shall have com
plete revolution of the social institution.
10 WA
thing" said senator's wife recently, with
a tired look upon her handsome face. 'Ex-
tending the calling hour will help, but
there is the work TO be done some time or
other, and when | get at it / always feel
like rushing it through as rapidly as pos
sible Perhaps you don't know what |
mean by my work. Possibly you think
we society women have nothing but play
snd easy times and luxury? If you do you
are greatly mistaken, as shall show you
Every Thursday my house is open from
70 5 o'clock. have been here long time,
and my husband is very prominent, and Of
course we have many friends. The callers
come in perfect crowds. Some fine Thurs
days have as many as 500 cards left in my
basket, or my baskets, for one basket
wouldn't hold them all, in the hall.
A,
and sometimes my husband and his clerk,
sit up till very late hour going over these
cards, and arranging them first by the DAYS
on which their owners receive, and after
we have arranged them by days we try to
lay out routes by which | can return all
the calls with the least possible travel and
waste Of time and horsefesh. Every day
If my life, Thursdays and Sundays ex-
epted, am on the go, trying to catch up
with the tasks set me by these piles of
bristolboards But every Thursday brings
= larger pile, and renders my task still
more hopeless Many of these callers are
persons / never heard of, and who are Of
40 consequence in the social world, though
20 doubt estimable people in their own
walks of life. Yet it is nay duty to return
these calls as well as others. If / don't it
may hurt my husband For instance, there
are plenty of people from our state in the
departments here. They have friends Wis
iting from their old home. The first thing
the ladies OF the household begin to talk
about is society Shall they make the sena-
Corial callsy OF course they must. The
hostess holds that out TO her guest as one
of the charms of Washington life. Proba-
bly, the visit has been arranged for the
month of January, so that the country
woman may get a glimpse of capital society.
"'Well, we must call on Mrs. Senator /
Blank-she's from our state, you know I
whether we go any other place or not. /
The Blanks | happen TO know, and / am /
sure you will like Mrs. Blank So says /
the wife Of the department clerk TO her /
visiting sister or cousin or aunt, and when .
Thursday comes, sure enough, they are in 4
my drawing room. They add one more 10 4
the stack of bristolboards in the over
flowing basket, one more to the list Of /
Hslls which 1 must make, or else get a rep
utation for exclusiveness and that sort of
thing which would be sure TO hurt my
husbands popularity at home. Mind. do
not object 70 this class of callers because
they are department people. / know and
love many bright women whose husbands
are IN the departments in clerical positions.
What ! object 10 is the large number Of
these callers and the amount Of work it
puts on me-
This Is the way the wives Of senators and
supreme court justices talk Of their chief
trouble-oyerwork. Making the calling
hour from , TO o'clock, instead OF from
10 ), will they think, help them a little,
and they are seriously discussing that
change. But with women's usual neglect
OF mathematics and logic they DO not ap-
pear u realize that If Other people add two
hours 70 the ALTERATION they must add two
hours also, and chat these two additional .
hours are likely 70 50 increase the volume
OF brIstolboards in their baskets that
their task Of returning calls will be proper
greater instead OF smaller. Some
of the more thoughtful and experienced
ladies think the only way out Of the diff
Guilty is TO initiate the cabinet ladies, who
receive bushels OF cards every Wednesday
without any trepidation or anxiety, for the
cabinet lady under the new law returns