The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-01-14
WIVES oRGoRaRRssMEN.
What Is Ahead of2,Those About to
Enter Society at the CAPITAL. p,

ss --~-v---A----
What Is Ahead ofoThose About to
Enter Society ct the Capital. ~
Washington Letter toKdnsds City Times
The social season that is about to open In
Washington will furnish food for study to
the wives Of the recently elected members
of the Fifty-third congress who expect to
make their debut in the society of the ma
tional capital in the winter Of 1s93'94.
The new congressman's wife is a unique
object in Washington society and a source
OF perennial amusement. In her own home,
perhaps a small town IN some far western
state, she has led quiet domestic life, her
widest dissipation a country fair or a
church festival, her best gown black silk.
bought after much deliberation and careful
calculation. As the wife OF the mayor of
the town.. or possibly a leading merchant,
she has been woman of considerable
prominence and q leader in all its social
gatherings. o 49,. .aSs:t
When; her husband Is elected TO congress
she becomes an object Of the liveliest inter-
est to all her female friends. They envy her
the brilliant prospect OF a winter in Wash
ton and picture her taking as conspicuous a
part in the gaieties OF the giddy capital as
she does in those Of her own town.
her husband goes TO Washington in ad-
vance TO engage nODSS or handsome. quar-
tiers at a hotel, but when he calculates the
expense Of living in this style,
upon the bbss of his salary,
he usually iiuds that two rooms
in boarding house. with the privilege Of
the parlor, come more, nearly within bis
meats. \ o2Lgre lsnan's 5000 year will
I,npt Keep uD any great degree Of style in
sNF sshingts,n,s. a great. many congress men
i've in dinRy, stpfPy Boarding houses, where
the ghosts Of tina NJ u apk haf lacr
hold high carnival in the dining room and
the odors of cabbage and soapsuds struggle
for supremacy in the halls.
TIE majority of the people in congress
live in Washington in q style they would
scorn at home. The landlady of the WASH
ington boarding house is frequently in Office,
and she leaves the MANAGEMENT of her house
hold TO siipsbad colored servants. More
than likely shcis OF arnold Virginia family,
and she entertains her guests during the
dinner hour with accounts of former eles
gance which they would gladly take III ex~
change for the meager comforts of her pres
ent home
The unwritten laws of Washington So
ciety are hopeless puzzle to the congress-
mans wife till she consults the wife of an
older mepher.. From this authority she
learns that she must make calls in the Off
clal circle first. She is expected to call on
the wives of the President and Vice Presi-
dent, of the eight cabinet officers, the nine
supreme court justices and the eighty-eight
senators before they call on her.
The prospect appalls her. but in time she
gains courage and casually 10 company of a
frisnd) she ssiiies forth with her new cards
and her best dress. and feels that she is
fairly launched on the seq OF Washington
society. She finds. that the costume which
was considered a triumph OF art by the
dressmaEer at home is plain and even dowdy
compared With the elegant toilets she sees
on every side. She feels uncomfortably
conscious that she is a mere nobody in the