The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-01-02

we'll as oommoner clay, are more or less |
nangled in the fray-while, the crowd
;urges up to the President and his lady
and are rapidly pushed along out of the
small room into the larger cast parlor
The only remedy in sight-if the beauty,
1hivalry rank and fashion of the capital
must take that occasion to display them
elves-is to do the receiving land display
hg) IN the great east room, though such
n arrangement would cut hoi polloi off
/ Sm its greatest pleasure-that of linger-
s4e. i9" minutes 70 "A''H me O''ii'A"'
\ the stroke of II the Marine Band
SITES up that not new air, Hail to the
| Chi'' and simultaneously the President
anuars. Clevelaad appear at the head of
| the ivate stairway. Close behind come
| Nicepresiden( Stevenson and his wife,
! and the c9binet people, in pairs-a bril-
liant recession sweeping down the stair
way I'd trough the long corridor, to
their Acel in the blue parlor. When the
line sr1snged-first the President, then
| MRS. Ckeland, then Secretary Olney, and
| so on Tn-the serious business of the
| day bebs. Sir Julian Pauncefote, as
dean ofte corps diplomatique leads the
| ambasss)rs, ministers and attaches of
| all the Aations. He is a typical beef
| eating 50 of Britain, red-faced gray
whiskere{and excessively dignified and
on this odsion gorgeous as a turkey cock
| in scarleand gold, with a big sword
| clanking tween his legs and momentar-
| lily threa hng to trip him up as he pro-
! ceeds ponously down the line, closely fol-
| lowed by.ady Pauncefote, Miss Paunce-
| fote, MisSibyl Pauncefote and Miss Au-
| drey Palcefote-the ladies beautifully
| dressed, 1T with considera BILE prodigality
of shoulf-blade and elbow-joint in view.
| Then zoe the glittering throng, Won
| derful shit worth coming far to see
| every cilized nation of the earth repre-
scented, it'll dazzling uniforms and jew
| eied swds and decorations, and the dla>
monds ad rich toilettes of their ladies;
the, TuIs with their fezs and wicked
looking metars. the Chinese and Japan
csc in tIdr parti-colored silken robes, the
Koreanswith their absurdly tall hats;
black lie foreigners with names as long
as youIarm, and some with titles for
which nny good citizens of this citizens
of the fIe-and-equal republic would glad
ly swap heir hopes of heaven. When all
the diplmats have passed the line and
bowed c bobbed their way to the east
parlor, Resident and Mrs. Cleveland take
a long beath and remove their right-hand
gloves, u order to shake bare-handed,
with the freedom American citizen, Of
fetal ana unofficial Next is the turn CT
the supreme court of the United States.
and the Judiciary of the District of CO.
IunDld, neddeCl Dy OnleI Justice ruler.
Then come tad senators and representa-
tives, officials bf the district government.
minor officiali of the departments, then
officers of thearmy and navy-nearly all
of them accompanied by ladies. 1t is a
duty of the lrmy and navy officers not
only to atten this New Years reception.
but to comd in full uniform, and their
presence add not a little to the brilliancy
of the scent Close upon their martial
heels follow no end of orders and the
heads of insitutions-such as the regent IS
and secrebries of the Smithsonian
the civil srvice commission, president
of the Columbian Institute for the Deaf
and Dumb, commissioner of fisheries, etc
Then come the Associated Veterans of the
War of 1S4t the Grand Army of the Re-
public, the Royal Legion, the Union Vet
eran Legion the Oldest Inhabitant Asso-
ciation-all Fay-haired and grizzled, their
yearly lessehng ranks giving the one touch
of pathos to the day. BY this time it is
1890 O'Clock, aid the reception ends at 2.
The long line IF patient men and women
who have stOld outside the white house
grounds since early morning, are now al
lowed to entetthe gates and move in stead
lily, two by two. Generally it is impossi-
BILE to admit them ALL though the recep-
ton is exteped beyond the regular hour
as long as tie receivers can endure it-and
the last few hundreds that form the tail
of the monster procession find the great
iron gates shut in their faces. There is
no help forit, for even executive flesh and
blood has limits to it's powers of endurance.
Last year Mr.. and Mrs. Cleveland shook
hands with upwards of 5000 people. One
reason why the gloves are abandoned is be-
cause on several occasions in the past the
right hand of the first LADY, has become
so swollen from the downright hard work
of the day, which would tax the powers of
a coal-heaver, that the glove had to be
cut off and the exhausted member doc
tored'' for some time afterward. Mrs.
Cleveland stands the strain better than
any of her predecessors. Young, healthy
and vigorous, her personality pervades the
reception; she takes each conner firmly by
the hand with a smile which seems to say
that he or she is especially welcomed, and
her cleaning eyes are about the only
thing the caller sees until hustled out OF
the room.
After the white house reception. come
those of the cabinet officials each in his
own casa; and after these, the receptions
of "sasslety" -at-large. Nearly everybody
in Washington, with any pretension to So
cial standing, still keeps open house" on
New Years, as in anti-bellum days, and
all resident masculine humanity become
roming Romeos, repeating the other men $
wives and sweethearts the same p,atitudes
that other men repeat to their wives or
sweethearts From most houses the light
of day is excluded and the ladies in dec
olette toilette receive in the softened glim-
mer of shaded gas-by which artificial
light it must be confessed that most of
those who keep up the pace through a
Washington winter look decidedly better
The custom of providing wine ad libitum
at these entertainments no longer prevails
in every house; but Mr.. o. B. Joyful yet
finds enough liquid refreshment among the
chicken salad, ct cetera, to make him
doubtful as to whether he is on his head
or his heels before the evening is far ad-
vanced.