Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1902-12-25

NEW YEARS DAY.,
CUSTOM OF KEEPING OPEN HOUSE
rt,E,S SURVIVES IN WASHINGTON.
RECEPTION BY THE PRESIDENT
Occasion for Everybody--ordes OF
precedence Decorations Of the
white House Same Programme
cove rh,cneh with Every Year.
THEN Survives IN WASHINGTON.
RECEPTION BY THE PRESIDENT
Occasion for Everybodr-order Of
precedence Decorations Of the
wn;+e uor.e Same Programme
Gone Through with Every Year

WASHINGTON. D. c., December "a
{spec;al.l-The custom OF AespiaS ~.
I,ores on New Years day mas a'i,io ?.
outlived its day and generatoh, ou1 ~ -
still survives in official washington oN
that day each year the annual reIept.oi'
to the public is the s1gnai LOT .he 20
s;nnine of the social events or the sea,
so1 + * then that the President ana
his wife meet the people. 1t IS for every
hoay THE same hand which welcomes
+he co,,rtly ambassador as the personal
Representative OF a king, reaches Just
hearty a welcome TO the llumblest Amer i
can Iaborer. The long line that gathers
to greet the President must NE past
one by one, and grasp his mana.
The reception this year VIII pesM nt
II O'Clock in the morning. The hne WIZ
form, by the western entrance, and every
nan woman. and child who wants TO
be in it must take his turn. rms OF
course, excerpts Judges. senator's. ana rep
resentatives,, the Diplomatic corps 1ne
arm. and navy, and the veterans OF war
4 h;1e,e blast from member Of the Ma
rire band, which will be present 20 tur-
nish the MUSIC for the OCCASION WIZ ps
the signal for the linz to start .he
weather is favorable there will be proha-
b,y between eight and ten thousand Pso-
pie in line.
II is singular coincidence that neither
the head OF the army nor the head OF the
navy will be present at this year re-
ception, General Miles is in the phil
pines and Admiral Dewey is IN South
American waters.
QUESTION OF PRECEDENCE.
Three years ago the question was asked
everywhere: .sWho will take precedence.
General Miles or Admiral Dewey" It
was the first reception in which boil, were
in attendance after Dewey's triumphant
return from the Philippines. ,'ho would
precede? This was nice question for
the social arbiters Of ofticia! lie,
Precedence signifies rank, and was It 70
be that General Miles should be made
to outrank Dewey, whose laursls won
at Manila were still fresh in the minds
OF the people? Hitherto the army had
always taken precedence OF the navy. but
should it this time" Had the hsro-woF
shipping public had the say Dewey would
have had the opportunity to shake hands
with the President first. But etiquette
OF the official kind in vogue takes no cog
n!zancs OF heroes. It is q case where
precedent governs procedure. One need
only look over the accounts OF the past
and see what custom had stao1!shed-
and that would settle the question. Past
records were consulted, ard Miles walked
ahead OF Dewey. because the army was
organized before the navy.
DELEGATIONS.
The custom of deliberately decorating
the White House with flowers was be-
gun by Mrs Hayes. All OF her success
sors, as first lady OF the land, have fol-
lowed suit, and the demand upon the
Hover gardens OF the government are now
so great that but for the skilful manage
ment OF the chiefs of these departments.
they could not possibly furnish sufficient
eli nm
decorative plants used. There wsrs 200
plants, 400 narantas, 200 dracaenas. t.S00
towering plants and ferns. and LOCO mis-
ee!Ianeous plants. About e. mile CT s.uiiaz
is used For the maateis ana windows
there are required about 1900 szalea b1os-
SONS. $40 carna tons. 800 roses. 800 tulips.
900 hyaeinths. 100 lilies Of the valley. 200
bouvardas, 100 sprays OF asparagus fern.
forty head Of poinsettis, and 200 small
ferns.
MUCH SAtiENESS.
There IS great deal OF sarneaass about
Presidents New Years recep tions. Any
one who has seen one has seen tnsna
ALL! The same programme IS gone through
with, largely the same ideas OF OF deco
rations are used. only the faces in the
receiving party usually change every four
years. at least they change with admin
istrations.
4 noteworthy fact inlpresses the man
who looks back over the file OF newspa-
pers for accounts of these official func-
tions, and that Is how much more promin-
ence is given to them to-day than was
given ftty years ago. Where they were
described in line then 1t takes columns
row. Never is the advance OF the news
paper profession more clearly shown thar.
,1,a,1 Incl a re- ~ ,t~S,