Evening star., 1898-09-17
AUTUMN WEDDINGS
Miss Grace Davis hnd Mr.. Lee Will
Be Married Monday.
GUESTS ASSEMBLING At GRACELAND
How Recent Newport Events Have
Interested Critics.
PERSONAL NOTES OFINTEREsT

The autumn weddings will lead off with
that of Miss Grace Davis and Mr.. Arthur
Lee of Richmond and New York Monday
at Elkins, W. Va, which will bring to that
| mountain point all the kinsfolk of the
couple and their intimate friends. The
! couple contemplate a long absence in for
eign travel The governor of Pennsylvania
and Mrs. Hastings and the Pennsylvania
secretary Of state and his wife, Mr. and
Mrs. Dull; Ex-Governor Jackson and Mrs.
Jackson of Maryland and their daughter
are now guests at "Graceland," the home
! of ex-senator and Mrs, Davis, and will re-
main there till after the wedding.
Among the first of the weddings in this
| city announced for next month will be that
! of Miss Edyth Mohun and Lieutenant Wal
| ter Oliphant Hulme, executive officer of the
Pensacola navy yard, which will take place
early in October at st. Paurs Catholic
Church, 18th and streets.
Critical observers find much to discourage
them in the recent signs of the degenerat-
| ing social power shown by the cliff dwellers
of Newport. Judging by the accounts of
the most exploited entertainments there
the past season, there was not much de-
| pendence placed on the ability of either
| host, hostess or guests to do anything
toward a pleasurable time by any talent
| they may have had in themselves. Like
| all the other luxuries to which they have
| grown accustomed, these much-envied oc-
| cupants of the most magnificent dwellings
| in America want their fun ready-made for
| them. Last year the Introduction of few
sons-and-dance artists was the entering
wedge which the past summer was SO en-
larged that the features of big circus
county fair, political barbecue a water
| carnival and several other typical Ameri-
can sights We're not considered too much
to entertain for a single afternoon and
| yGn
reasonably be supposed to have slipped the
sweets of amusement the whole world over
AT another fete rustic simplicity reigned
with social kings and queens masauerading
as chefs and dairy maids But while ali
| TINS may be forgiven, are most summer
foiiies, what can be thought of the per
| hietous example OF another leading hostess
Who to entertain two dozen guests after a
| iuncheon, had variety actress come down
from New York to sing coon songs2 An in
cluent such as this does not look promising
Ior the establishment. or, as the extremists
| put it, the restoration of the American
salon, of which tradition has much to prove
once existed.
1t Is not an auspicious sign when persons
OF Intelligence, with wealth which enables
them to enjoy the best the universe affords
OF vigorous health that permits them to
walk for miles every day over golf links
ana the use of all the other fashionable inn
peuiinenta' mas finally to admit by the in
troducuon of vaudeville shows in their
homes, that they find no intellectual abflf-
ty, either in themselves or their friends
| whlch could tide them over formal few
houfS together. The importation of enter
tanning talent in WashingtCn n Dis OF rea ched
such proportions that il be looked
| upon as reliance, and has nos in any way
leSsened the duties of the hostess nor the
| responsiveness expected from guests The
lew instances when the highest priced
song birds or famous orchestras were the
! attractions, everybody who has been in So
ciety the past five or six years can well re-
| meHDer. Inc other style of vocal SI-
| premacy has not been made popular and
| need not be In the score of variety, for
| Washington society, made up 1t is for
| two months presenta tions, has eosmopoli-
| tan attractions unrivaled in this country,
and is like another form of perfection best
when unadorned.
To make up for its summer sins New
! York will have an opera season the COM
ing winter when the performances will
begin at $50, and it will be an interesting
| study in household economy how the music
! lovers are TO get there and not sacrifice
their dinner to their devotion to art. 1t
| may be possible in New York. but if ar
| ranged for a long season here cur whole
! social schedule would have to be rear
ranged. Those who go in for the whole
afternoon program as it now exists here
| from January 1 to Ash Wednesday have
| about all they can do to make AT appear
| ance at their own dinner tables by I. and if
| they are bound for the theaters it takes 4
considerable degree of activity to get there
| before the curtain goes up. But the early
! hours sound delightful, and it would be a
most SATISFACTORY condition of affairs il
| they could be resumed. Some of those
whose Opinions are best worth repeating
nowadays, because their position in society
| was Just as prominent thirty years ago as
| II IS today, are fond of recountiug the Gus
toms or the old times, and find much that
Wouiu be advantageous generally if early
/ hoafs were again adopted. A weII-known
| hostess, taking on this subject not long
s1ice, SAID; II early evening gatherings,
| say, from 10 H. We're again the fashion
men Would see and be seen more in society
| thah they are at present. AS a sex they
| nave taDooed the afternoon tea, and as for
,le iaSt SIX or seven years more time has
| peen spent by the average Washington wo-
man at these crushes than al any other
| social meet, it is obvious she has beer
rof'ped OF admirers for just that length
"he9 by little shuffiing of tricks she
couia nave them all the time The only
reason teas are continued in popularity is
because tney are considered an evil lesser
IN extent than an evening reception, at
"hich Two dozen persons viii hardly be
sdthefed py 10 O'Clock. Afternoon teas
"lT d great nuisance when one has a long
Gaming hSt and ought really have no place
| IN N the social calendar, except before and
ateri CO.. me reai season. But whether the tea
say OF goes early hours would be an un-
| told boon to everybody who has any yoca
! uoh IN HE besides mere amusement"
JUST no" no family is as much talked of
ana written about in this country and in
England as the Letters. There are MANY
| pleasant things in the London dailies and
| Weekiies OF Mrs. Curzon, who keeps the
Letter star burning brightly in that part
| ol the world, and whose fascinating q(Iali-
ties VIII soon be known in India; while on
thlS slde OF the Atlantic Miss Mamie Letter
10 Wnom mas fallen the honor of christen-
| ing the new battle ship, the Illinois, chaI-
iehses aGmlration just now by the diplo-
niauc wording of her letter to the w c.
1. I. ana the shifting to the broad Shout
ueTS OF the governor of Illinois the resDons-
lplllty or the choice of wine or water which
she Will use on that occasion. While the
women are as a rule very little bothered
over the loss of "a bottle of good wine at
Such an event as this, it is a subject of no
htl!e concern as TO what will be the style
ana color of the dress and hat Miss Letter
VIII wear at such suspicious moment
When many eyes will be riveted upon her
ana the accounts of which will be read
with SO much interest =a'
Inc nome OF the Curzons at Kedleston
IN Derbyshire, says the London Sketch is
very beautiful one, though, by the way,
II mas not always received unmixed praise
at the hands of historic critics The park is
some tour miles from the town of Derby;
II Is boO acres in extent, and with its deer
ITS groves of ancient oaks, its fine old tim
per OF many another kind, its lake, its sui