The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-08-21
NOW FILLS SISTERS PLACE
Ethel Roosevelt Will be q Factor in
the Capitals Social Afair--Sixteen
Year Old Daughter of h President
is Tall. Blonde and S~tatuesaue.

Although Mrs. Roosevelt has recent
~ denied that her daughter. Ethe'
will make her debut during the ON
ing Washington season, it i pTetty
obvious that the handsome sixteen
year-old sister of Mrs. Longworth vii
be quite Il factor in social affairs.
Miss Ethel Roosevelt has a.raaty
been promoted TO her big sisters suite
/ OF apartments, the handsome rooms
which overlook Pennsylvania avenue,
and have a bed chamber Of heroic pro
portions and bOudOir and bath which
are larger than the average drawing
room. This suite is now being painted
carpeted and generally decorated after
Miss Ethel's own heart.
She recently made a special trip ;
New York to select hancings and knick
knacks, and an art firm is enLaged in
building a bookcase which she hersel.
designed, and the rooms reflect re-
youthful taste, and show her to be
bOOh-loving after her father and with
artistic leanings like her mother. The
rooms remain blue, as they were un
der the regime of Mrs. Alice, but the
hue is that of a robins egg, and the
furniture in light maple shows to
more advantage than mahogany used
| by Mrs. Longworth Jr.
MAY OUTGROW HER SIRE.
Miss Ethel can measure inches with
her father, and if she grows as rapidly
this winter as she did last she will
overtop her sire aud put all her broth
ers in the shade. She is quite two
inches taller than Mrs. Roosevelt. and
| uyoiphc ton po,1rI- yo~-o CL1
equal her brothers in nearly every kind
OF athletic sport, and her illustri ,us
father finds her an opponent worthy
of his mettle in tennis and blsketba /.
Her skill as an equestrian is SO we'll
known that pictures Of her on the "a
nous piebald pony, The gift Of Secre-
tary Hitchcock, are rs numerous rs
those of the president on the big horse,
Bliestein. Latterly the piebaIG has Ce-
scended to Archibald, and Miss Ethel
now rides a prancing Virginia mare,
known as Lady Dancer. and she han
dies her to perfection. This festive
little mare has a circus-like habit OF
walking on her hind legs, and Miss
Ethel may be admired keeping hGr
in order for minutes on the. stretch.
An intimate friend Of the Roosevelt
family says that the eldest daughter
Mrs. LOngWOrth, is a Roosevelt only in
looks, while Miss Ethel is the counter
part of her maternal grandmother.
Ethel Kermit, whose name she bears,
but in all else she is a scion Of the old
Dutch stock. Certainly her career in
the Cathedral School resembles her
fathers i'll his academy days. She is
IN OmnivorOus reader, and so strcng
IS her love for books that her parents
are compelled to curb it. She is al
lowed to read only two hours each
day, and about four during the sum
mer vacation.
DEVOTED TO MUSIC.
Like her mother, Miss Ethel is de-
voted to music. She has a promising
voice, and it is the fond ambition
of her aunt, Miss Emily Ca.ew. to
have her natural gift cultivated in Italy
The president and Mrs. Roosevelt are
opposed to their daughter going abroad
to study anything, both being firm ad-
vOcates of American music and art,
as well as of American letters and
sciences.
Miss Ethel, according 10 her mothers
present intentions, will continue to
study at the Cathedral School his
winter, and will take extra lessons
from masters at the White House. She
Will be allowed to get a feeting 1impse
of the butterfly world. and, with Il
number of her chums ard scho0Imates,
like Miss Helen Taft and the Myers
girls, she will be present a. he in
formal events.
This rosebud garden of girls viii
have a social field Of their own, and
among the features of White House
amenities this winter will be a series
Of afternoon receptions and musicale les,
and perhaps a few small dancing par
ties.
To be a chum o frhe sixteen-year-old
sister Of Mrs. Longworth now means
as much to the ambitious residents
as did the friendship of Mss Alice
sine five years ago. Miss Ethel choos-
es her friends to suit herself, and Of
fetal or social rank fails to influence
her in the slightest. One OF her in
Inmates is the daughter of a struggling
lawyer, and another is the only child
Of q widowed mother who is employed
in one of the departments. The pres
ident and Mrs. Roosevelt encourages
its independence, and their daughters
friends are treated with all the courte-
sy shown to members Of the loftiest
social set.
WAS HOYDENISH GIRL
Those who ~frequented the White
House in the months Immediately fol-
lowing the tragic event at Buffalo re-
member a slim, h%oydenish girl, who
was all stockings and iaxen hair,
rushing in and out making things
lively. Her favorite diversion in
those days vas to fallow the lamplight-
er around the White House park. and
as soon as his back was turned : o
skin up the post and extirguish the
gas.
She got so adept in this exercise tia.
she could beat her two brothers il the
performance by several seconds. Her
activity in this direction led to her