El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-04-30
A FROLIC AT THE WHITE HOUSE.
The Easter Egg-aOiling.-The Pres.
ident Greets the Little Ones.
Written especially for the Herald by F. p.
McElroy.


One of Washipgtou de- .ghtful ser
| timentalities-for IN j. q siov. easy
going, festival loving oiUy--l@ the
| Easter Mo day frolic o. the cei.tr n
| in the White nou-s grou" s-tii' = t. Z
| rolling" as the, Go / ilSn me
great ark in the rea Of me mans IN
| is thrown open u them, tae founia -
are set playiog, IN ulage 81; u } i 1e@t
| of policemen are placed al he ga :
ana about the grounds Only 20 nelp
along the fun. the marine n47d is or
dered out to play TO n IN IN tne afr
noon, ami the presidr NJ n III q turns
from whatever affairs of etot- may
perplex and harass MIN, ID no1 ami
smile at the little o e: t'l' II B. Il me
honored Gust I'm Of tn CT y ana not 10
be departed from. Tee rSid- grassy
stretc hes, the knolls and gentle slopes,
the trees in tiny lie {. the dove n z
shrubs all fraerant aud aoo DOM, nod
ding jonquiS everywhere ann g at
beds of mercy faced pan=iSs. make tue
.cane an IDEAL one for tCis 4 >iival
The children begin coming about
nine o'clock. and by ten wnen the sun
shine Is warm, tley troop n by the
hundreds. carrying bis&ets "f % 81 ght Y
colored. eggs, while mammas ana ndr-
sss follow with rugs and lnncfelus, for
it is an all day fese. The chi ureu d {
o! all ages, colors, and condlilgns OF
servitude, from the little ma in Il
wide bonnet who comes with her nurse
and leaves her ponie. at ire gaze. TO
the ragged black urchiu VINO
earns his luxuries by sweeping
Gro sings, opeoing doors, hole
ing horses aud do ng other
little penny jobs. There are many
little mothers" who come-ten-yesr-
old girls carrying big babies and lead
ing toddling brothers or sisters AID
som atimes patiently chaperoning
and mothering seven or eight coil 1ren
from their neigh borhoOd. Occasional
ly one will see five or six children from
one family, who are evidently under
solemn promise to keep together. for
when they get into crowd, ey
thread it. by forming a queer litte
procession, the oldest girl in the lead Z,
brot & er holding her skirt hem, lit
tie sister clingiug to his coat, and the
others towed along in similar
fashion.
"egerolling" and "egg-picking"
The former means to stand at
the top of q slope and to roll an
egg or eggs down and then to chase
after them pell-mell, laughing especial
IL hard when any one tails down or
when al egg knocks into another on
the way and there is crash and scat
teripg of the bits of bright shell. This
sport often leads TO impromptn games
of tag and hide and seek.
"Egg-picking" is to hold sthe egg
firmly in the hand-of course ali these
eggs are hard-bOiled aad dyed with
bright colors-exposiug only its point,
and to hit this point against "a similar
portion of your opponents egg. The
first one that cracks becomes the prop
erty of the owner Of the IN broken egg.
Sometimes a ragged urchin will have
champion egg and go ali over the
grounds making hav:.c in the baskets
for no boy of spirit ever refuses a
cha lenge to pick" whether it come
from big or little, black or white. Of
ten the chiidren bring hares in little
skets, and sometimes one will escape
and make brave scamper for liberty,
fol owed by host Of laughing, shout
ing boys and girls.