Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1892-02-21
TIE ELgINS HOUSEHOLD.
A Graceful Sketch of the Family OF q
Prominent West Virginian.

A Graceful Sketch of the Family Of q
Prominent West virginian.
A correspondent Of the Fdirmo1lt
West Ttrqinidn writing from Washing
ton, says:
Washington society has received an
acquisition in the person and character
OF Mrs. Elkins. She will do West Vir-
ginia proud in dispensing hospitality In
the house on X. street, the former resi-
dence OF Senator Palmer, which the
Secretary of War has leased for fifteen
MONTHS four-story, brown stone
structure, standing on terrace thirty
or forty feet back from public paving.
Potted palms line each side the veStibule
entrance and encourage you to welcome
within.
Mrs. Elkins is not beautiful in the
sense OF perfection the word implies,
but she is undeniably pretty, with that
deeper violet shade in her eyes, and
the rich brown in her hair, which rem
der the clear, colorless complexion
even finer and lovlier by contrast. She
is ambitious, polite at pleasing and
amiable, as are all women who make
success of womanhood and the positions
of prominence in which circumstances
and fortune sometimes place them. She
is not obtrusively intellectual, her books
not erudite, her travels not extensive,
her experience in So-called fashionable
society limited; but she is devoted
wife and mother, a charming and CRATE
ful hostess; and, by reason OF her gra-
cious qualities and her finesse, proves a
decided ornament to the official society
in which this administration has placed
her. The home in Fifty-second street,
New York city, is closed, and much OF
the handsome furnishings has been
transferred TO the Washington mansion.
The most Enthusiastically attractive
room in their former home was Mr..
Elkins' library in the second story, with
broad frontage OF three windows; three
sides Of the room, from cornice to floor,
filled to repletion with volumes; hand
some briC-d-brdc in cabinet and on etdrge;
soft, heavy skins on the polished floor,
and great low chairs, divans and cush-
ions everywhere-an ideal sanctum for
thoughts and talks; and where Mr..
ElkinS and his esteemed friend, the
Reverend Heber Newton, expounder OF
the free Christianity, have enjoyed
many intellectual bouts together. Mr..
Elklns, before entering public life, was
never steady consumer Of the mid
night oil, but habitually retired early.
No doubt this custom has been the
source of his remarkable health, as well
as regularity in diet and absence from
wines, except ordinary table imblbing.
Mrs. Elkins' domestic household is
sustained by six admirably trained serv-
ants, though she, like our excellent lady
OF the White House, oversees the prac-
tical working and primary comforts,
carrying her own keys and keeping her
own accounts.
Miss Elizabeth, daughter OF Mr.. Elk
ms by his first wife, who since the mar
rage of her sister Sara to Mr.. Oliphant,
Of New Jersey, assumes the dignity OF
Miss Elkins, is twenty-five years OF age,
of fine figure, slightly GnlbonpOirt, bear
ing in stature and feature strong re-
semblance TO her father, excepting as to
the firm chiseling OF his lips and chin,
and that "pale cast OF thought" which
o'erspreads his face In his distractions.
Miss Elkins is most graceful dancer,
excelling in the waltz, and partners
galore in the ball room seek her for
that delightful pastime. She is gra-
cious. cordial, magnetic in manner. an
mated and sparkling in conversation,
and will be a most charming assistant
TO Mrs. Elkins in dispensing hospital
tiles. They will repair to the home at
Elkins, West Virginia, in the early
summer "Halliehurst"-the mansion
on hill, presenting q magnificent and
remarkable appearance, and from its
high and fine situation commanding a
view unsurpassed in beauty anywhere
In the United States, of rich and glo-
rious territory almost as yet unex-
piored, and which lies like the isles
OF the Hesperides" to the west, a land
OF dreams, speculations and fortunes.