The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-01-05
0LD-TIME RECEPTIONS.
Impressions. of Il White House Ne
Year Function in 1896.

Mr Cecil Clay writes to The Times in
terestfngiy on the subject of the last New
Year reception at the White House, and
invites comparison with similar func-
tion IN 1895. description Of this latter
event is contained in letter from his
grandfather. Joseph Clay. who was then
member OF Congress. 10 mis- wife in
Philadelphia From that letter dated
January ,, 1896, AR Clay makes The fol
lowing excerpt.
Yesterday being New Year Day the
members OF both Houses Of Congress and
q long list OF etceJera paid their custom
arg annual visit 20 the UIustrious q ief
Magistrate. The concourse OF reople
was very great, besides the Senator's
and RepresentatIv and the officers OF
the Government. there were a great num-
Der Of ladies' The French Minister and
his suite. the Tunisian envoy, and Indian
deputies from The Cherokees. Osages,
PaWIeeS, SaCS, and Fox Indians Il vas
amusing enough TO contemplate the gro
te5que mixture The Indians had . talk
IN which they wished tEeir Grand Father.
the President, many happy returns Of that
day which they underS TODD to be the be-
ginning of the year with their white
brethren. They behaved with great deco
rum and drank glass OF wine with ap-
In one OF my former letters I endeav-
cred 70 give you some account Of the dress
Of one OF these chiefs. but the hnery dis
played yesterday beggars all description;
all the colors o. the rainbow. and some
which never were seen II the rainbow
were used TO contribute 10 their orna-
ment; red. white, black. brown, green. all
had place. One Of them had his cheeks
painted as red as a brIck-dust color. could
make them fe4p- sg-E, -
cross. somewhat like an anchor in the
middle. and one ear stuffed with the same
color In short they must have consumed
more time IN dressing themselves for the
occasion than a city beau preparing for an
assembly After these came the Tunisian
envoy. venerable Turk. with a greyish
beard sweeping his breast His cloak or
bornoos was scarlet with gold lace, and his
turban white; his secretaries. two tolera-
bly, handsome men. had their boards shaw
ed excepting the mUStaChe On the upper
lip their tUTbaus were scarlet with gold
lace He delivered a short address. the
substance Of which I did not hear
But far beyond all these shone General
Turrsau. the Ambassador from His Irnpe-
rial and Royal Majesty Napoleon. Emperor
Of the French. and King Of Italy His coat
was blue with scarlet faCings. but covered
with such a prufUsiCn Of embroidery as
almost totally 10 hide the color; round his
waist he wore broad sash Of scarlet and
gold and at his left breast hung dang
ing sine cross Of the Legion Of Honor,
his pantalcOUs We're Write and his half
boots had q gold stripe round the tor.
with gold spurs screwed to the heels. But
what shall | say Of his whiskers2 They
stuck out full Of powder, on each OF his
emaciated cheeks and looked exactsv ike
a couple OF swan-d0wn powder plffs Of
the largest size Contrasted with the plain
dress and unaffected manners Of the Pres
ident and Vice President (Mr Clinton. Of
New NorlI), TuTra1u appeared like a taw-
d. gewgaw.
4 do not know what are the sensations
Of foreigners, but who can avoid feeling
very strongly the difference between me
miserable state of suspicion IN which
kings and emDerOrs must live and the
happy confidence with which our elective
President receives his feIlow-cftizens2 ?
IN the courts Of princes everything seems
intended 20 guard against sudden attack
Guards are everywhere placed with them
to prevent the approach OF treason or as
sassinatlon, Of which the Wretched pa
geant is continually in terror. Here ev-
erything IS the reverse, no affected spIen-
dor intended TO dazzle and Oyerawe the
astonished behoIder no bands OF merce-
nary soldiers to intimidate: on the con
trary, the President meets and welcome :
everyone who goes TO see him. converscs
with them on various topics with an ease
which makes them soon forget any awk-
ward bashfulness which they might ut
first feel. Happy, indeed. viii be the lot
OF our highly favored country. If she can
preserve the purity and simplicity OF her
political Institutions. and find such men
as Thomas Jefferson 70 conduct her Ad-
ministration-
"In ihe evening I went 10 a tea party
at General Dearborn's the Secretary at
War. The party was very large: there
were present great many ladies. and as
great a display of beauty as could be met
with in Washington. Mrs. Madison asked
me whether I did not intend to bring you
here. After tea and coffee there was a
little bail in one room and cards in an
other. I did not dance, I felt not the
slightest inclination. I looked On for Il
few minutes, but ! felt no exhiiaratiop-
! began 10 feel a little melap-
choly and sat down 70 dissipate II with
the Speaker, Mr. Nicholson and the
Comptroller Of the Treasury. to play
whist We played several games and
neither lost nor Won About a quarter
after eleven I returned home"