The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1895-01-02

arz-A-@A----a4.
Washington, D. 6. Jan. 1.-Wssh
bright skies overhead. reasonably
clean psvements under foot and crisp,
clear wintry air official Washingtcn
was favored with all the conditions
necessary to The complete enjoyment
of such a New Years day as snlS
Washington knows.
A -cordIng L, tie ttroe~honered cus-
tom IRA was observed to the Hsttsp
today. q he officials called at the
White House. where they were -.
ceived IN the order of their rank. -
pay their respects to the President
All the cabinet secretaries, generals
and admirals were in turn. received.
Officials OF lower rank and Congress-
men kept cIen houses fdr heir con
stituents and fr.e, o.. Society Ia gen.
eral has in past time given itself over
to the making and receiving Of formal
calls, but IN washington, az in other
cities, the observance of the first 81
January as > sciai day has come to
be disregarded and there were probas-
bly, fewer open houses today than eYeY
before. The people who did not take
part III the OtO-ldS0iOQeQ ODSGTVd4loo
today had fine opportunities, however,
to observe those who did. When 4
Washingtonian desizes 20 make an IN
pleasant comparison IN the matter II
weather, he cust0Inarily speaks ct
New Years day, but the year of 1893
violated the tradition utterly and fur
nished the finest sort of a. day. The
brilliancy and interest of the day weTs
for three hours sheltered under the
roof Of the executive mansion, whera
the gasHght in the ceremonial pariors
fell on banks of palms and troops OF
richly attired ladies and many notabic
men. Apart from the interest which
always attaches to the President ana
his family, Mrs. Cleveland has a, per-
sonal popularity which draws many to
her receptions. Today she shook hands
with every man, woman and child
who fled past in the long procession OF
three hours and gave to the greeting
of each one a warmth which gained
for her the everlasting friendship oc
the recipient The President also
grasped every caller by the hand and
had a word for every one when there
was time The irrepressible youngSter
was in line as usual and one of them
today voiced his enthusiasm appropri-
ately. as he thought, by shouting
shrilly: "Hurrah for Grover!' as he
walked into the Blue room. One old
man, walking on crutches, seemed
tired when he came in and Mrs. Cleve-
land, noticing him, led him to a chair
among the cabinet ladies. urged him
to rest and so he sat in the state par
lor for half an hour, watching the pro-
cession.
Wheels In His Head.
The man with wheels in his head, -
who has been personally commissioned
by the Lord to do something ridicu-
lous or terrible, is the terror of these
occasions. He was on hand today.
Very appropriately he wore long hair,
and after he had passed the police he
drew from his pocket a document
bearing weird symbolic designs in red
and blue, but the appearance Of the
receiving party seemed to dazzle hiR1
so that he merely shuffled past with
out putting it to any use. The police
man who endeavors to do his duty in
compelling the observance Of regula-
tons and apprehends some high dig
natary Of the government in his mis-
guided zeal. is always in evidence. To
day he endeav0red to bar Secretary
Lamont from the Blue room, but read
. lily yielded his point when the secre-
| tary good-naturedly revealed mis- ident-
ity. There were no accidents, how
ever. and no unpleasant incidents and
the reception was a success, although
not so many people attended as came
f L st year.
Probably in no city Of the country
8 does that peculiarly american custon
] of exchanging New Years calls con.
5 tinue to flourish with the same vigol
I as in the capital of this nation. In al
! other cities the custom has come Il
l be more regarded in the breach thar
in the observance: in washington
= everybody in official life either receives
: or pays calls. The president hinsel
sets the fashion in this matter an,
naturally the White House is the 70
Gus of interest on the first day Of tn
Inew year for there is congregated tn,
most distinguished persons in the lane
in official life and the most attractiv,
conditions.
e The ceremonies Of the day began e.
d IL o'clock, but long before that hou
e a great throng of people considerin!
i the state Of the weather had ga'there,
a at the entrance to the White Hous
i grounds to peep into the carriages a
! they rolled through the gates, ladel
with pretty women and distinguishes
statesmen and gorgeOusly attiret
members of the diplomatic force.
The old White House had been thor
oughly prepared for the days ceremo
It MES. Outside a canopy had bee
erected for the protection OF the guest
who came in carriages On the insid
l. canvas covers had been laid carefull
lie to prevent the destruction of the rio
re- carpets by the trampling of thousand
IS of feet which were to pass over them
1t The Decorations.
. AS in past years decorations wer
sc all floral but there were noticeable di
70 ferences in the plan Of last year in tn
a. free display of potted plants and palm
in place Of the great bank OF cut flow
ers which formerly graced the room
6. Consequently there was somethin
lacking in color but from an artist
u point of view this was more tina
u compensated for by the beauty OF til
L plants, neatly arranged in pure whit
y jardinniers Of basket-work de5zgn. TT
70 guests entered at the main room
n the mansion and crossing the lobb
n, passed into the Red room, where the
&c had an opportunity to divest then
T. selves OF their wraps and coats bef0
entering the Blue room, where the T
ceiving party was stationed Tv
heavy touches had been so arrangt
te across the room as to--leave a sms
- open space in the center, thus shiel
ing the president, the mistress of Il
u White House and her servants fro
" the long line of callers. The 81
FL room, always the prettiest Of Il
lc- White House suite, was beautiful