The daily morning journal and courier., 1896-01-02
The white House Reception.

Washington, Jan, 1.-The white house is roomy, but its capacity was taxed to the utmost to-day by the crowds that passed in and out of what may be term ed the state apartments, namely, the blue room, where foreign ambassadors and ministers have their finat formal interviews with the president; the red room, the green room and the spacious east room. the scene of so many incl dents that have became historical. and lastly, the generously proportioned corridor, extending nearly the entire length of the mansion, with which all these apartments communicate.
 \ force of decorators under the direc- ton of Gardener Fister, the veteran eu- perintendent of the white house conser- vatory and grounds, had worked hard fast night and early this morning in making the mansion look beautiful for the great show of the year
 The conservatories have been robbed of their choicest possessloiis but not to such an extent that thoee5 whose ob- servation extended to their tropical pre- cIrcts were impressed by any sense of depletion. Wherever the eye wandered in the blue room, the corridor the east room, or the other chambers, it was met by groups of spreading palms and tall, dropping rubber trees, by towering bushes from the deepest of crimson po!nsetta blooms to the most delicate of white rosebuds. The mantels, the fire places, the window embrasures, were banked with floral beauty.
 The reception was set for il o'clock, and just at that time the members of the receiving party. President and Mrs. Cleveland, Vice President and Mrs, Stevenson and the cabinet officers and their wives, came down the private staircase leading to the corridor, head ed by Colonel John M Wilson, United States army superintendent of public buildings and grounds. in full uniform. The only absentee from the cabinet party was Mrs. Smith, the wife of the secretary of the interior.
 Entering the blue room the president and Mrs, Cleveland placed themselves at the right of the line and the othens were arranged in accordance with off, cial precedence. The march from the private apartments above stairs had been accompanied by the music from the United States Marine band, under Prof. Franciulli, which was stationed in the public lobby. Mrs. Oney Mrs. Car lisle, Mrs. Harmon, Mrs. Lamont, Mrs. Wilson. Miss Herbert and Miss Morton were in the receiving line.
 A numerous array of matrons and young women had been invited by Mrs. Cleveland to stand behind the line,' as the term is. These comprised the wives and daughters of senators, representa- tives, justices of the federal supreme court, associate secretaries of the ex- ecutive departments. bureau officers, high officers of the army and navy and other prominent officers, with a number of personal friends of Mrs. Cleveland.
 According 10 custom the members of the diplomatic corps were received first. They came in force. headed by their dean, Sir Julian Pauncefote. the tall and hearty looking English ambassa-. dor, attired in his court uniform, who shook hands warmly and exchanged smiles with the president as though there had never been, such a thing as "a Venezuelan note" or a message to congress oH the Monroe doctrine.