The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1906-02-20

Washington, February 17-With a
plain circlet of virgin gold, in the his
toric east room of the White house.
at thirteen minutes after II o'clock to-
day Alice Lee Roosevelt, eldest daugh-
ter of the president of the United
States, and Nicholas Longworth, the
representative in congress from the
first district of Ohio, were united in
marriage.
The ceremOny-one of the most i'm
pressive ever performed in the execu-
tive mansion-was according to the
liturgy of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, of which the bride is a mem
Der. 1t was solemnized by the Right
Rev. Henry Y. Satterlee, bishop of
Washington, and was attended by all
the solemn state of a grand official
function, and by the devotional beau
ty Of cathedral service
No ceremony of similar kind was
ever witnessed by a more distinguish
ed assemblage. There were present
as guests not only the most eminent
representatives ofthe American govern
ments, but the personal missionaries
of the kings and potentates of the
powers of the civilized world, consti-
tuting an assemblage not only one of
the largest, but the most DISTINGUISHED
that eVer was gathered at one time
in the White house
While the bride herself, and the
president and Mrs. Roosevelt, had de-
sired that the ceremony of the mar
riage should be as quiet and simple as
possible, it was found impracticable
to limit the function, as was intend
ed at first, to the immediate rela-
tives of the bride and bridegroom It
became necessary to include among
the guests invited certain officials,
classes, and personal friends of Miss
Roosevelt and MIR. Longworth, and, in
all, the people hidden to the ceremony
numbered thousand.
The ceremony took place in the east
room, made famous by a century Of
brilliant social functions, but no event
in it's history ever was so brilliant and
beautiful as that of today The clas-
sic splendor of the great apartment
was enhanced by exquisite and artis-
light of gorgeous day rent added
beauty to the setting of the wedding
FLOODED WITH SUNLIGHT.
1t had been intended to light the
magnificent east room with the hun
dredS of softly shaded electric lamps
of the great crystal chandeliers, but,
while artificial lights were utilized
throughout the remainder of the
White house, it was determined to
flood the marriage scene with sun
light.
It was beautiful conceit, founded
founded upon the pretty proverb:
Happy is the bride the sun shines
on"
No lovelier day in winter ever dawn
ed. The air was as balmy. almost. as
in spring. No more auspicious day for
. wedding could have been imagined
For days the White house, ordinari-
ly open to visitors during specified
hours of each day, had been closed.
pending arrangements for today's GER
emony The east room, in which the
ceremony occurred was decorated most
elaborately. Not since the incoming
of the administration of President
Roosevelt, have White house apart
ments been so exquisitely graced with
flowers as they were today. While no
space necessary for guests was taken
up with floral decorations, every room
in the lower part of the executive
mansion was brilliant with flowers and
decorative plants. The decorations
were planned and executed by George
H. Brown, of the government botani-
cal gardens, who studied with the eye