The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-07-06


much curiosity as did the late II
Hung Chang. when trotted about our
streets in a gilded chair on the should
ers oil his servants, yellow jacket
peacocks feather, hundred-year-
eggs and all.
1t is worth going over to "22 Jackson
Place." the private house opposite the
west front of Lafayette Square, which
has been leased for a temporary ex-
ecutive mansion, pending the overhaul
ing of the White House Mrs. Scott
Townsend, who owns it, made the place
a rendezvous of the celebrities of so
ciety during several seasons, but find
ing it too small for her entertainments,
built n much larger and more palatial
home in another part of the city. Only
a little of the White House furniture
was moved to it, the building being
already sumptuously furnished. Most
of the parlOr and bedroom furniture
of the executive mansion the historic
china, silver, etc, has been placed in
storage. The ancient mahogany table,
around which so many Presidents have
sat with their cabinet advisers, was
carried over and placed in the great
dining room of the Townsend residence
The dining room-Which Mrs. Town
send doubled in size a few years ago,
appointed in the city-will be President
Roosevelt's Office and the cabinet room
The adjoining apartment, formerly
known as "the back parlor," will be de-
voted to Secretary Cortelyous use The
splendid main parlor, facing Lafayette
Square, will be the general reception
room for callers. The second and third
floors of the building will be the Iiv-
ing apartments of the President and
ho
basement and fourth floors go for stor-
age and general purposes. The house
was thoroughly covered with a bur-
gfar-alarm system, but this will be of
no practical use to it's present occu-
pants, under the constant surveillance
of police officers and Secret Service
men.
This temporary White House is not
without some claims of it's own to
historic memories. James G. Blaine
lived in it for a time, and there wrote
the first volume of his Twenty Years
in Congress" The grandfather of
Amelia Rives, the Virginia authoress
of "The Quick and the Dead" owned
it many years ago, and later it was
occupied by Representative VIM l..
Scott, a millionaire business man of
Erie, Pa. OF course the rent of this
residence and all its splendeid fur
nishings amounts to a small fortune
per annum This sum, added to the
cost of the alleged improvements on
the Executive Mansion, would go a
| long way toward building a suitable
residence for our Presidents, either in
the present White House grounds, or
in the beautiful Lafayette Square op-
posite; leaving the historis mansion
almost undisturbed for offices of the
government. 1t is too late now for
after thoughts to do any good, as the
old building that Dolly Madison and
all her successors graced is already in
ternally torn in pieces
One of the funniest things / have
heard in many day occurred at the
Capitol yesterday. A local kindergar-
ten was being shown through the
building, accompanied by two young
lady teachers. Among other celebrat-
ed places, the Vice-Presidents room
was visited. Mr. White, the hand
some young Adonis who acts as clerk
to Senator Frye, undertook to play
guide for the children, and incidental
ly for the pretty teachers. Here,
said he 'is the the bust of George
Washington, the Father of his Coun-
try and the first President of the
United States. And here is the bust
of jefferson, a late President you
know, children, who died years ago.
and this is Henry Wilson, one of the
Vice Presidents. He died right here
in this room" 4 blue-eyed, golden
haired little angel of a girl, who had
been hanging upon Mr.. Whites every
word, now gasped with establishment
not unmixed with terror. My dood-
ness" exclaimed she, did he bust
too?"
Social life in the new Republic of
Cuba seems to be attended with diff
ficulties that are disconcerting to the
average American diplomatess, so to
saw. The first Eat home" of Mrs.
Souires, wife of the United States min
lister, was a revelation to that accom-
plished hostess. Minister Squires has
taken beautiful casa" in fashion
able suburb of Havana-the same
which Gen. Lee had for his regimental
haadnuarters seven miles from Ha-