The herald., 1897-01-08

outermost edges OF the driveway steps
to protect the trains and slippers of
callers not of hoi polloi, and the vesti-
bule is lined with liveried servants laden
with wraps, dove-tailed elbow to ell
bow by the door keepers, to await In
solemn discomfort the convenience of
their nistresses
1t Is from no lack of respect to the
American citizens or favorltism toward
q privileged few which divides the re-
ception into various classes between
each of which a gulf Is fixed-but simp
ly that order may be maintained and
everybody afforded an equal chance.
Promptly at IL o'clock proceedings be-
gin. Before that hour the cabinet ladies
have arrived and gone up to the private
apartments Of the presidential family,
which are all on the second floor. Other
invited members Of the receiving party
are ushered directly into the blue room
and given seats behind the official line.
1t Is considered great thing to thus
sit among the elect on New Years day,
and SO much polite pressure has been
brought to bear to secure the coveted
honor that nowadays a well-dressed but
perspiring mob of ladies' and gentle
men behind the line" are packed like
sardines in box, to the infinite discom-
fort Of everybody Dresses are torn,
locks disheveled, tempers mislaid, and
are more or less mangled in the fray
while the crowd surges UP to the pres-
dent and his lady and are rapidly pushed
along out of the small room into the
larger eastern parlor. The only remedy
| in sight-if the beauty, chivalry, rank
and fashion of the capital must take
that occasion to display themselves
Is to do the receiving (and displaying)
in the great east room though such an
arrangement would cut hoi polloi of
from it's greatest pleasure-that of lin
gering few minutes to watch the bril-
liant scene.
On the stroke of II the Marine band
strikes up that not new air, Hail to the
Chief, and simultaneously the president
and Mrs. Cleveland appear at the head
of the private stairway. Close behind
come Vice President Stevenson and
wife, and all the cabinet people, in
pairs, brilliant procession, sweeping
down the stairway and through the
long corridor to their places in the blue
parlor When the line Is arranged-first
the president, then Mrs. Cleveland.
then Secretary Olney and so on down
the serious business of the day begins
Sir Julian Pauncefote, as the dean of
the diplomatic corps, Leads the ambas-
sadors. ministers and attaches of all the
legations. He is typical beef-eating
son of Britain, rcd-faced, gray -wnis-
kered, and excessively dignified. and
on this occasion gorgeous as a turkey
cock in scarlet and gold with a big
sword clankirg between his legs and
momentarily threatening to trip him
up as he proceeds pompously down the
line, closely followed by Lady Paunce-
fote, Miss Pauncefote, Miss Sibyl
Pauncefote and Miss Audrey Paunce-
fote, the ladies beautifully dressed, but
with considerable prodbgality of shoul-
T. IL = 111l~ 1t.
come the glittering throng a wonderful
sight, worth coming far to see-every
civilized nation of the earth represent
ed, with dazzling uniforms and jeweled
swords and decorations, and the dia-
monds and rich toilets of their ladies':
the Turks with their fezzes and wicked
looking cimetars, the Chinese and Jap
anese with their parti-colored silken
robes, the COreans with their absurdly
tall hats, black little foreigners with
names as long as your arm, and some
with titles for which many good citi-
Zens of the free-and-equal republic
would gladly swap their hopes of heav-
en-. When all the diplomats have pass
ed the line and bowed or bobbed their
way to the east parlor, President and
Mrs. Cleveland take long breath and
remove their right hand gloves, in or
der to shake" bare-handed. with the
free born American citizen, Off
cial and unofficial. Next is the turn
OF the supreme court of the United
States and the judiciary of the Dis
trict of Columbia, headed by Chief JUS
tice Fuller Then come the senators
and representatives. officers of the dis
trict government, minor officials of the
departments; then officers of the army
and navy, nearly all of them accom-
panied by ladies. 1t is duty of the
army and navy officers not only to at
tend this New Years reception, but
to come in full uniform, and their pres
ence adds not little to the brilliancy
OF the scene. Close upon their martial
heels follow no end of orders and the
heads of institutions, such as the re-
gents and secretaries of the Smlthson-
ian institute, the civil service commits
sion, president of the Columbian insti-
tute for the Deaf and Dumb, commits
sioner of fisheries, etc. Then come the
Associated Veterans of the War of 1916.
the Grand Army of the Republic, the
Royal Legion, the Union Veterans Le-
glon, the Oldest Inhabitants associa-
tion-all gray haired and grizzled, their
yearly lessening ranks giving the one
touch of pathos to the day
By this time it is 1890 o'clock. and the
reception ends at 2. The long line of
patient men and women who have stood
outside the White House grounds since
early morning are now allowed to en-
ter the gates ard move in steadily two
by two. Generally it is impossible to ad-
NIT them all, though the reception is
extended beyond the regular hour rs
Long as the receivers can endure it.
and the last few hundreds that form the
tail of the monster procession find tho
great iron gates shut in their faces.
There is no help for it, for even executive
flesh and blood has limits to it's powers
or endurance. Last year Mr.. and Mrs
Cleveland shook hands with upwards
of 5000 people. One reason why the
gloves are abandoned is because on sew
eral 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 HEAVIER, that the glove had to be
cut orr 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 smile which
seems to say that he or she is especially
welcomed, and her cleaning eyes are
about the only thing the caller sees un-
til 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 "sassiety" at large Near
ly everybody in Washington with any
pretension to social standing, still keeps
open house"on New Years, as in ante
bellum days, and all resident masculine
humanity become roaming Romeos, re-