Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-12-05

and that particular dealers shall be IA
vored. Staple groceries for White House
consumption are bought quarterly. meats
three times a week, and fresh vegetables
fruits, etc, daily. In the days prior to the
enlargement of the White House there was
no wine cellar, and great trouble was ex-
perieneed In storing liquid beverages for
future needs. But under the new arrange
ment good wines can be bought when in
the market and put away for functions to
come
BENJAMIN Ogle the friend and adviser
OF Washington, said of presidential state
aihhefs: The sum of 50 for each guest
IS very liberal allowance and within a
lew francs of the price paid by Louis
Philippe, king of the French. the rich
est monarch of the world. to his pur-
Neyor Tor providing the most sumptuoua
nanquets at the Tuilleries." At this rate
NI. hooseVelts state dinners in the new
state dining room. whose horseshoe table
seats seVenty-two, would cost him about
si44 apiece As a matter of fact, a state
uinner at the White House costs any,
where from $500 to 81 900. according 70
the occasion, and there are generslIv
-FOUR such functions per year
Ten Courses, Five Wines.
1t Is an old White House rule that state
olnners shall consist of ten courses, with
nVe wines, and ending with a pousse
care and cigars. Speecnmaking is never
indulged In, and the guest converses with
no one save his immediate neighbor. This
has been the rule since the time of "Old
hickory, who broke over the traces and
even INDUCED himself in song late in
the course of his state banquets The old
state dining room of the White House
seated only fifty guests at tremendous
stretch, and the later Presidents were
wont TO set their banquet tables In the
halfway upon which the doors of all of
the state apartments opened. 1t was q
CRAFTY place, and 1T never occurred to any
chler magistrate before Roosevelt that
the east room might be put to its orig
maj intended use-that of "banouetinR
nail. The first state dinner under the
nooseveIt regime was held in that great
apartment. During Mrs. Cleveland's So
ciai reign she served luncheons in the
halfway of the second floor, which opened
lnto all or the bed chambers of the man.
SION But since the enlargement of tho
White House there has been annie room
Tor functions of all sorts The only de-
rect In the new arrangement, from the
STANDPOINT or comfort. was in the heat
ing Oh the east terrace, through which
ali save honor guests now enter for the
great functions. This summer a new
heatlng system was laid, and while ex-
cavattOns were being made in the ola
Kitchen at the inner end of the terrace a
human skeleton was unearthed several
rect beneath the floor. 1t was incased in
an old-fashioned brick oven.
The Dinner Dummy,
Making up the dummy is an important
step preparatory to all big White House
dinners. The assistant secretary to the
President has before him a pasteboard plan
OF the great horseshoe table, along whose
edges are Sits corresponding to the number
OF covers to be laid. Into these Sits are
thrust cards bearing the names OF guests.
AIter the menu cards have been arranged
In alternate Sits. those of the ladies are
taken up, and by dint of much rearrange-
ment. shifting and shutting the puzzle is
hands concerned.
Many official tempers are ruffled If this
little game of solitaire is not worked ont
perfectly by the last functionary who takes
MS turn at 1t. Every one in Washington
onclal life has a decided view as to his
own particular rung In the steep ladder OF
precedence, and in many cases these in
olVlduai views differ widely from those of
the powers that be. There must always be
TWO honor guests, a man and woman
Contrary to the usage of civilian society.
the stranger is not necessarily the honor
guest. The official of highest rank present
and his wife are given these coveted seats
beside the President and the first lady OF
the land, respectively.
There have been several historic suuab-
bIeS over the seating Of White House din
ner guests. Diplomatic relations between
Spain and the United States came within
an ace OF suspension a quarter century
ago because the President at a private
dinner offered his arm to the wife of the
British envoy, whereas the Spanish minis
ter wife had social precedence. The war
clouds that were gathering caught the eve
o. the tactful Secretary of State, who dfpIo-
rlghted the wrong in the nick Of
time. During Jackson's administration the
count Serrurler, accredited here as French
and a member of the cabinet had
a squabble over their seats at a Whita
House dinner. "Old Hickory" decided in
favor of the cabinet member whereupon
the count, In huff, absented himself
jefferson, who was always getting entan-
gled IN the mesheS of official etiquette, once
refused to escort the wife of the British
minister to his board when that lady en-
lcyed precedence and grave CORES pondence
was afterward exchanged across sea as u
result Of the slight.
=. When such entanglements are feared the
dummy is taken across the street to
Alvey A. Adee, assistant secretary of
thority on matters of precedence. has been
facetiously dubbed the Presidents tutor
In etiquette" With the aid of sufficient
cups of tea, brewed in his office, Mr.. Adea
can always unite the most knotty problem
affecting official good manners.
State dinner service at the White House
is furnished by a caterer, to whose chefs
the official kitchen is surrendered during
the function. The nations new $50, 600
service of Wedgewood and cut glass is how
ever, used, together with the official linen
and plate while the White House walters
are depended upon to do most Of the work
above stairs. Five colored women-a cook
assistant cook, scullion and two laundresses
have long been carried on the White
House pay roll at 81 per day.