The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-12-28
WASHINGTON SOCIAL GUIDES.
COi( HING NEEDED BY WIVES
or NEW CONGRESSMAN.
Most OF Them Unable TO Win Social Sue
cess lnaide,i Duties OF the Coach
Field Open to Women OF Position
New corners VINO Make Their way.


View corners Who Make Their way.
WASHINGTON. Dec 27.-When a man is
| elected to Congress he has fought only
| half the battle. On entering Washington
he il confronted by two problems-how to
make his influence felt in the political arena
and how to be successful socially
For the first he must depend upon him
self. On the other hand his social career
| is largely at the mercy Of his wife Through
her blunders or lack Of tact he may lose
that personal. social influence which. in
Washington, as in every capital, is invalu-
| able. Here is where the social coach is Of
I Use.
The social history of Washington shows
that from Presidents down TO members
F, Of the lower house the majority Of men
have been self-made. or. AT least, have risen
| from humble station in life In nine
case out Of ten. with their foot on the lowest
rung of the political ladder, they have met
| and married. Political success for the
| husband means new social duties for the
wife.
Without much difficulty she assumes
| her position in the small city where her
| husband holds an Office Of some import
ance. Small wonder that her husbart 6
! progression to the National Capital fills
her with only pleasurable anticipatons.
Envied by her women friends and showered
/ with kindly, If useless. advice. she lends
: herself to the most fashionable modiste
in town and to happy visions Of new social
worlds TO conquer.
They invade Washington. They enter.
tain, which is necessary. They are enter
tanned. which is customary.
To do honor to the first occasion she
dons her most elaborate frock and takes
one last conn lacent glance in her cheval
glass Then comes the av akening
Passing that line Of receiving women,
irreproachably gowned and groomed, she
reals plying amusement behind the few
words Of perfunctory greeting and the
aeeting smile It must be her gown, she
r, asons, and, having raid her respects.
she slips into a corner and studies the
fiocks and hearing of these women. who
know Washington ways.
She cannot define the difference, but IL
exists Moreover. she finds her usual
volubiity checked by an indescribabe
shyness. In a word, she realizes that she
has stepped into a new world filed with
social pitfalls and snares. She goes back
the rest Of tn, night thi..k .ng il all out.
If she is daring and self-Teant she recalls
som .thing a well-known foreigner la,
written about the aoar liability Of a.,
Am iio an women, anu VOWS that she " i'll
staliu OF fail on this quality. II she is eau
, tiOhs she az .als to coach.
| The coach Is woman ich in know ledge
| Of Washington customs. Of good family,
| well bIeu, well groomvd and we'll gov ned
| Perhaps there have been financial ieverses
III her family. PERHAPS she is ambitious
and indept naent.
Ho ever this may be. she must be OF the
socially elect. and consequently to b.
approached with due dip lomacy. There
| must h. nothing said about fee, no agree
ment, no conversation about terms. BIT
some day there ives in the coach's mail
| a check from he ruyil
! The coach, having assumed the respon-
| sibility of the wornan's social future. goes
| about her work In the most systematic
fashion. For a while she is almost con-
stantly at her patrons elbow.
! Tine first lesson is. Who Is who and how
| shall you greet them The right of pre-
c,dencc, how 10 avoid the incongr,iu,is
issuing of invltations--that il. inviting
I opposing factions to the same function
ana a nice discrimination in greeting are
taught For instance, hostess may per-
under the ban of Washington society. but
received by right of official precedence
For such meetings she must cultivate what
IL known IA d frigid graz ,ousness.
The coach overhauls her patrons ward
robe Good frocks well made is the
motto rocks that absolutely suit the
personality of their owner. II small town
fashions war with this personality, then
everything Ii cast aside.
The coachs pupil places herself unre-
servedly in the hands of an artist selected
by the coach, and. If quiet elegance suits
her style, she must attain il even though
her heart yearns for the flesh pots of kgvpt
in the form of red and burnt orange.
If her patron II particularly ohtuse the
coach handles her correspondence, though
u has become essential for a woman really
In the Washington wim to have her private
secretary. Under the coaoh's tutelaRe
she also cui,ivates her memory for faces