Omaha daily bee., 1896-12-20
SOCIETY HAS A BUSY WEEK
Approach Of the Holidays Brings Ont Many
Important Events,
BRILLIANT RECEPTION At FOREST HILL
One Womnn'S Related High Hat at the
pIny-Norc Thnn the tsuni
Number 0f social
happenings.


Number of Sucinl
happenings.
The week which has Just drawn to q re
luctant close has been one Of the most ac
tive Of the season thus far In Omaha society
For many who are especially favored In tn
matter of friends, 1t has been a perfect whir
Of gayety The number Of large entertain
ments hes been unusually great. and ther,
have been enough small ONES to keep rea
sonably busy the projectors Jf them, the par
tlcipants in them, and the news-gathereE
who follow In their wake. Next week alsC
promises to be full of events Of a p'easurabl,
kind apart from the festivities which par
ticularly appertain to the Christmas sea
sOn,
The charity entertainment. which was
given at Creighton hail last Friday even
ing, was made to take on the CharacteriGtics
OF society event, by reason Of the social
prominence OF the men and women who took
part IN the two little plays presented. The
excellence ol the performance has been com.
mented upon d, some length In the dramatic
department. II seems 10 have been an un.
commonly good entertainment, artistically
and to have been measurGbly successful
financially for both of which reasons all
who we're in any way connected with the
enterprise deserve hearty congratulations.
The question of big hats at the theatcrs
mas been so generally and auspiciOusy set
tied by the good sense OF the former fair
Offenders aided possibly in some measure by
an opportune change in styles, that It is
rare that any annoyance is caused nowadays
by this obstruction at least In polite audi
enccs The other night however, at one Of
the local houses, very pretty woman cpmc
IN wearing fine specimen of the old vOulni-
nous canopy which used TO cut off The vision
and darken the mind OF those wh1 sat be-
mind 1t. Every eye was upon ar as she fol-
lowed her escort down the aisle Tncy were
little late, and following the inevitable
natural law which governs such cases their
seats were farthest Of all the row from the
aisle. Men and women already enscOnCCd to
the rear regarded each other VITA btn.hed
cheeks and asked, with more o. less bated
breath. "Will she take 1t OFF,
The curtain rose. and still she SHOW ed no
sign Of removing the all-obscuring neadgear.
There was "A row of women back Df her
stretching rearwards for several seats and
farthest from the hat was an intrepid mem
Der of the Society OF Colonial DANES VINO
resolved to strike in the spirit OF her heroic
ancestors. She whispered to the woman i'm
'front.' OF her, that woman passed along the
whisper to the woman before her and so
the message passed along as an impulse
given to the end block of n long row of blocks
VIII result in upsetting the Whole SERIES
until by the last woman behind the hat who
sat In the very adumbration of It, was Coni-
municated the courteous request, "Won you
please take it OFF,"
The outcome of this story is pleasant ani
calculated TO restore the pessim s,y ,Onli-
dence in the working together of all things
Tor good The woman not only took off the
hat Immediately but apologized most sweetly
for having offended in thoughtlessness. And
the apology was carried back by the feminine
chain to the woman at the very back from
which the original impulse had come.
In view of certain examples recently held
up to the admiration of Omaha society, It is
said by those who know, or ought to- tha: IL
is perfectly correct and indeed commenl liable
when you are hidden to assist at an after
noon reception, and provided your duties are
sodentary-such as pouring tea presiding
over punch bowl-to bring your knitting
along n sock or a mittcn or any old thing
Will do; and to work thereon industriously
In the intervals of your service. And it is
further prescribed that you shall not pro-
vide fresh work for each new function, but
shall ravel out the results OF each days
toll In the secluston of your own home and
use the same material over and over again.
Reception Mt Forest Hiu.
Mrs. Charles T. Kountze gave a reception
at Forest Hin last Thursday afternoon for
Miss Gertrude Kountze, the occasion being
Miss Kount2es formal debut in society.
The event was one of the largest and most
delightful Of the season. The Kountze resi-
dence Is admirably adapted to the require
ments of large entertainment. Few houses
in Omaha could so well accommodate a
function of such magnitude as the reception
of Thursday. The commodious rooms and
ample halls were adorned beyond their wont
with palms and roses, and the deep bay
window of the dining room was a bower of
palms and crimson pOinsettias
Mrs. KountZe and Miss Kountze received
In the large hall. Mrs. KOuntZe wore white |
organdie and lace over yellow silk. Miss
Kountze was charming in pearl gray silk |
Her fowers were violets Other women who |
assisted in various ways during the after |!
noon were: Mesdames Samuel Burns Henry /
w. Yates John G. Gown, Charles II. Man !
derson, Howard b. Smith, Fred H. Davis. I
Charles w. Lyman, Clement Chase, W. A. !
Redick. Warren Rogers w. B. Meikle, W. |
II. Morris, L. f. Crofoot Harry Cartan, S. |
Wright Butler. George w. Mercer, Ward |
Burgess and Isaac a. Coles and Misses Tay
lor. Allen, Dandy. Ringwalt, Palmer Gil |
bert, Peck McKel, Flora Yates, Crounse,
DOherty. Lindsey. Squires, Gleason of st.
Louis. Florence Morse, Buck, Colpetzer,
Gown and Hmcbaugh.
Among the many women who crowded the
apartments during the hours Of the recep-
tion were noticed Mesdames Funkhouser,
Alfred Millard. Samuel Brown. B. T.. Smith,
Clifford Smith, Stebbins, Page, Richardson,
/. Il. Congdon, Lehmer r. S. Hall, Nc
Shane Paterson, George C. Smith. McCague,
Marpes, Coutant, Bennett, Greene. Tala-
ferro. Irvine, Carrier, Olfut. Odgen. Love,
Remington, ID. II. Wheeler, ID. II. Wheeler
1r Snyder. Lindsey. Wilhelm Stiger Grif-
fifth, Barton, stephens, w. II. S. Hughes
G. T. Taylor. Gilbert, swobe. Eddy, Buck
C. Il. Squires. Yost, Stone, Kuhn perrne,
Palmer David Baum Daniel Baum,
McKell, Pritchett b. b. Wood. Col
PETER. w. ]. Hughes J. +. Bar
ton, w b. Milard, j. Il. Wilbur and
j. X. Chambers, and Misses Bache Sharp,
Ida Sharp. Georgia Sharp Turkey, Baum,
Kissam OF Connecticut. Knight
Balcombc, Dewey. Hanscom and Wakeley.
Mrs. OrcuttS Dancing Party.
A very enjoyable party was given Friday
evening by Mr.. and Mrs. c. Orcutt for their
daughter, Miss Anna ri.
The handsome Orcutt home was artisti-
cally decorated with palms, holly and brides
maid rosCs. The whole lower floor was can
vassed for dancing and the mantels in these
rooms wcrp prettily decorated with roses.
An orchestra was stationed in the large re-
ception hall screened by large palms ON
each side of the broad stairway were palms. !
W. nj hn thn a |