The herald., 1897-01-13
IN WASHINGTON SOCIETY
The Demands OF the Des-
pOtiC Goddess
some PECUL|ADIHES OF ETIQUETTE
The Republican Court Is Differ.
ent From Others
CANONS OF GOOD SOCIETY
What 1t Costs to Be ia the Swim at
the Capital
The Economical Practices Of Some Grand
Danes
Some Of the Expensive Toilets Worn
at the Presidents New Years
Day Reception - Brig
hams Gossip
The Economical Practices Of Some Grand
Danes

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7.--(Special cor
respondence to The Herald) The de-
mands of the despotic goddess, Society
upon her votaries at the national capt.
tai are many and her canons immutable
es the laws of the Medes ard Persians.
In order to take part in the Washington
swim one must unlearn the time
honoreG social customs of other citle :.
or read them backwards, Chinese fash
ion. For example: Elsewhere the stran-
ger in a strange town waits to be called
upon, but according to the etiquette of
our republican court. he must make the
first call upon the people whose ac-
Quaintarce he desires, or remain in soli-
tude uptil doomsday The only persons
exempt from this rule are those upon the
very topmost round Of the laGder--of the
presidents family, the cabinet, the su-
preme court ard congress. And among
those favored few are divers ineXora bic
laws OF precedence, the neglect of which
would be to write ones self hopelessly
gauche. If you are a lady of the unof-
fic!al class your social duties are light
If the inclination dictates; but not so
with those whose husbands or fathers
have been elected servants of the peo-
pie. For them there can be no shirlling
and society demands her dues like Shy
lock. Immediately after arriving in
Washington it is your bounden duty to
call first upon the wives of the senator's
and NJ. C.s from your own state and then
upon other people whose acquaintance
NnI tVicb n mo 10 ipp1J1I ir1cr ba
of cabinet and diplomatic circles. Hav-
ing ascertained their respective recep-
ton days, you present yourself with the
crowd during regulation hours, taking
care to leave at each house a card bear
ing your address and the day, if there be
any in particular on which you will be
lat home" to similar courtesies What
ever your social status, though you be-
long TO tie grand army of working wom-
en-. or be poor as Jobs typical turkey.
in due time the call will be returned or
what amounts to the same thing in So
cietys eyes. and elegant equipage will
some day dash to your boarding house
door and the liveried fOotman will hand
in bit of pasteboard upon which is in
scribed the rame of some star of first
magnitude on the social horizon or may
be that of some titled diplomat In the
Washington book Of etiquette it is a
tiX.d law that those ir official life must !
return all formal calls. and from it none |
are exempt except the president and his |
wife. The custom smacks beautifully
of the free-and-equal spirit of our re-
public, but it must be a mighty tax upon
its victims, who are thus, in manner
at the mercy of the populace. Imagine
it! In this city of 200 GOO inhabitants
not to mention the transient multitude
of winter from the remOteSt corners of
the country, all naturally desiring TO see
the people about whom they have read
and heard so much it mears mob III
the houses of officials or the weekly re-
ception days and a very dogs life for
their ladies in the ceaseless effort to
keep even" with such an enormous
social debt. The custom falls heaviest
upon the cabinet and diplomatic fam
flies, for those of senator's, representa-
tives and supreme court justices. while
obliged to return all calls they actually
receive, may set their reception DAYS at
longer intervals than once a week. or
even decline to have them at all for the
general public, with the blessed priVi-
lege of a mot at home" when disincIired
TO see people. The cabinet ladies are also
compelled to make the first calls at tho
beginning of each season upon the wives
of all the senators and justices Just
why this should be none can tell. and
many futile attempts have been made to
over lHIoN lllt custom. ofle Won ii mink
II should be reversed if only for the sake
of convenience, for while the cabinet
families number less than dozen and
all have fixed places of abode those OF
the senate are legion and proVerbialIv
migratory in their habits 1t sprinos
from the old custom of precedence which
since time out of mind has so disquietcd
the heart of the capital and ahllcts n-t
only all branches of official life but fine.
4
endless squabbles. 1t is amusing to not.
however, what complete revolution Of
opinion concerning social rights takes
place in the femare nina when the rela-
tive positions are shifted-that is. when
a senator become cabinet officer or an
ex-member of the cabinet is elected to
the senate, as frequently happens in the
Kaleidoscope changes Of American poll
tics. She who lamcnted bitterly the
first CALI business when her husband
was in the cabinet. noW rieorousIv in
sists upon her rights in this regard: or
should the situation be reversed. com
plains as dolorousiy at having to hunt
up senatorial families all over the dis
trict of Columbia.
A REGULAR ROUTINE
The wives of the supreme court ius-
tices and of army and navy officers hold
their pubic receptions on MONDAYS. OF
Wednesdays, senators on THURSDAYS.
Most OF the representatives. wives re- !
ceive on Tuesdays ana unofficial upper |
tendon on Fridays, Before the Cleye- |
land administration il had been tht. ,,iiS- !
tom since time Out ol nina for the lady |
of the White House to give rec, ntton |
to the pubic upon every Saturday afier- |
noon our,hg session of congress, ana |
very grateful visiting strangers wera |
for the privilege OF shaking hands in |
formally with the first lady Of the land. |
1T IS pity that the preseut custom is
not ilkely to soon be revived, for If ro-
bust Mrs, Cleveland could not stand r1a !
strain certainly Mrs. Mckinley. alwavs
a semi invalid, cannot
THE COST OF 1T ALI.
As may be imagined, visiting cards far
Single washington season are 10 il
considerable item of eXperse and hiUe
1or carriage hire are simply appalling
Many upon whom the obligation fails
heaviest OK returning huaGreds Sf calls