The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1903-11-29
SOCIETY AT THE WHITE HOUSE
BY ADELAIDE LARNER.

Washington, Nov. 2S.-Mrs. Roose-
welt has under consideration her social
plans for the approaching winter. AL
though official society is not formally
inaugurated until the New Years
morning reception at the White House,
Mrs. Roosevelt begins her series of
private entertainments directly after
Thanksgiving and, in consequence. the
anti-Christmas gaiety of Washington
is much more pronounced under the
present administration than was the
case in former years.
OF all mistresses of the White House,
Mrs. Roosevelt stands pre-eminent as
an interchangeable hostess. The wife of
President Madison was a famous en-
tertainer for her day and generation,
regime knew nothing of the strenuous
social activity of the present day, and
Dolly Madisons plump cheeks would
have paled had she undertaken the half
of what Mrs. Roosevelt accomplishes
in three winter months.
Without apparent detriment to her
good health. Mrs. Roosevelt entertains
almost daily throughout the season,
either at luncheon, or dinner, an after
noon reception or a musicale. She has
no worries of a domestic nature, and
she writes no invitations because she
has housekeepers and stewards and
secretaries of incalculable skill. Meth
er is the wife of the President Vexed
by the question of what she shall wear
because her wardrobe is under the care
of the most accomplished of maids,
and the season is begun with a COM
plete assortment of gowns, hats, wraps
and toilet accessories. Everything is
so perfectly systematized at the White
House that. aside from the numerous
affairs of state, Mrs. Roosevelt has
time for exercising, shopping, pleasant
hours with her young family and daily
entertainments of a private nature.
Her capacity for enjoyment is sec
ond only to the Presidents. and she is
never Hurried, never in haste, and she
has the reputation of being the calm
est woman in Washington society. Sc
renity is written large upon her face,
although Mrs. Roosevelt is of slender
build and. what psychologists term, a
nervous temperament. You cannot al
ways trust to the psychologists.
Last winter the White House musi-
Gales were, without a doubt, the artis-
tic features of the social season. The
greatest talent of the country appeared
before Mrs. Roosevelt and her guests
and next in Importance to the musicales
were the afternoon teas which as
sembled beneath the roof of the chief
executive all the noted and fashionable
people of the national capital. The
musicales were large affairs, given
sometimes in the evening, sometimes in
the afternoon, and they taxed the ca
pacity of the East Room. The most
beautiful programmes were given as
souvenirs, showing views of the re-
modelled White House, recent portraits
of the President and Mrs. Roosevelt,
the reproduction of musical scores and
the words of songs.
Former leaders in Washington So
ciety, such as Mrs. Levi p. Morton.
Mrs. William c. Whitney and Mrs.
Calvin S. Brice, created a sensation
when they imported one Of the Metro
politan Opera House stars for a single
drawing-room appearance in a season.
but Mrs. Roosevelt treats society to
exactly this sort of thing almost week.
ly throughout the winter.
Mrs. Roosevelt is extravagantly fond