The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1896-03-25
SHE IS HOME BODY.
Ex-PRESlDEN1 tARRlsON'S FlANCEE
ExCsLS IN DOMESTIC VIRTUES.

Not Beautiful, with simple lAstes anu
Absence of All AGectation- Something
of Her Life Story.
Benjamin Harrison starts his presi-
Dental boom with wedding bells.
And now every woman in the land is
reading ,np the book of. Dimmick -
Is she pretty? Does she know how to
dress? Is she learned? Is she in society?
Is it Il love match? Would she prove a
worthy successor of Mrs. Cleveland?
These and a thousand other questions are
agitating the bosoms of Columbia's
daughters.
Mrs. Dimmick has walked in the
blaze Of White House social functions in
the past and retained her mental equi-
poise. She impresses one as able to do it
again successfully, even if called upon
to be leading lady.
The axiom that little men incline
naturally to tall women is shattered in
the present instance. Mr.. Harrison has
been like the lovelorn swain who sang:
will not dream of her tall and stately.
She that / love may be fairy light.
Mrs. Dimmick is petite. She confers
upon her future husband the dignity Of
great stature when they walk together.
She must look up to him, as every good
citizeness should do to a former presi-
dent and a possible future chief execu-
tive of the nation.
Mrs. Dimmick is not lin society
She does not shake your hand with an
al%titudinous twist in greeting. She has
never been more accessible than since
her engagement was announced, but she
will not be interviewed.
Every honest American must like her
from the first, because she possesses Il
qualification 50 dear to the average
American heart-a total freedom from
atfectatiOn.
She is not dreaming about being 1.-The
first lady in the land" That is Il sub
ject you must not breach to her, unless
you desire to forfeit her good opinion.
She speaks calmly and frankly Of her
approaching marriage, but smilingly re-
fuses to take you into her confidence as
to the time and place Of its celebration.
The dominant feeling i'll approaching
a tiancee Of the successor Of Washing
ton is one Of diffidence, not unmixed
with awe. You can hear your heart
thump as you distinguish her football on
the stair.
Mrs. Dimmick, however, puts you
Immediately at ease. Hers is the gra-
ciousness of the woman who has mas
tered the art Of homemaking.
She is very plainly dressed in Il black
silk gown that has seen service. and
wears no jewelry save a pin at the
throat and a few rings, n of them a
solitaire diamond. She has evidently
been busy on some housewifely duty,
for she has not ever waited to smooth a
rebellious lock or two of hair that have
strayed from their f~astenings.
Mrs. Dimmick is not a beautiful
woman in the ordinary sense. She has
neither unfathomable eyes, faultless
features nor a ravishing complexion. 1t
is not the senses she takes by storm, but
the heart.
Her face is fairly youthful, with the
ebullience of good feeling. The eyes
dance with enjoyment as she talks, and
the lips smile frequently and almost
XII llSllIN Aou q Z C2It why's AN
situation. To become the wife of Ben
jamin Harrison insures a past as well
as a future. She is woman enough to
raise her hand to her hair once or twice,
so that you may see her engagement
ring. And you like her the better for it.
Her eyes have prevailing tints of ha,
eel, and every schoolgirl knows that
such eyes mean steadfastness and truth.
The face is a little careworn, but you
remember that it's owner has been tried
in the battle of life. The forehead il
low. broad and unwrinkled, and crowned
with an ample coronet Of soft brown
hair; the nose straight and delicate
the lips, a trife too thin, perhaps, but
firm and cOntented III expression.
AS You absorb these characteristics
you begin to understand what Mr.. Har
rison meant when he said that Mary
Dimmick was the only woman in the
White House who knew enough to bt
silent when he wanted to be quiet anC
think. Socrates would have given II,
his familiar spirit for such a woman "A!
this.
Mrs. Dimmick was married to Waite
f. Dimmick, oldest son of Samuel +
Dimmick, who Vas Pennsylvania at
torney general under Governor Hart
ranft IA years ago He died thre
months after their marriage.
Mrs. Dimmick's father was Russell
F. Lord, who was general manager ant
chief engineer Of the Delaware an,
Hudson Canal company. He marie,
Elizabeth Scott, who was a sister of tn
wife of Benjamin Harrison.
After the death Of her husband Mrs
Dimmick went to live in Annapolis wit
her mother and her sister, who was tn
wife of Lieutenant Parker. Mrs. Dim
mick has always made her home wit
her sister, Mrs. Parker, with the excel
ton Of one year, which she spent j
Washington with her aunt, Mrs. Harr,
son. Mrs. Dimmick received the finish
ing touches to her education at the f
mira college, where she remained f
two years. She was married to Waite
+. Dimmick at AIbany.-New Yor
Herald.