The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-13

l That the White House then, even
 though not completed, was not large i enough for the needs of the occupants is best illustrated by an expression given by Mrs. Adams, who said it was "very
 well proportioned to the Presidents sal
 ary,' then S25, 900 a year, or half of that
 which modern Presidents need in dispens- 1 ing executive hospitality, the demands
 upon which have more than doubled with in the past century.
 At his state functions Adams received but 32 senators, whereas Roosevelt must be host to 92. The apartments in which ] were entertained but 105 representatives l in 1900 must now hold 364 at White House receptions. The cabinet, now with eight
 members. then had but five. The diplo-
 matic corps was but a small handful of l foreigners. Adams could entertain his
 entire senate and cabinet together in the 1 state dining room, built to accommo- 1 date but 40 guests. Today President 1 Roosevelt must abandon this well-lighted
 room intended for state feasts. He must ] spread his board in a long, narrow cor 1 ridor running east and west through | the center of the building.
 | The Adamses would not recognize the l White House of today as that which they occupied in 1S00, if viewing it's exterior l alone Then 1t was an isolated structure 1 without sheltered entNance, without
 
 i plain chimney on each of the front cor 1 Hers and two more nearer the center. A 1 straight md narrow path led from the
 mud and slush of Pennsylvania avenue l or COW path then running back of the l mansion, to the unpretentious front door, | now at lhe rear of the building. The surface drainage water from the east l flc wed in a muddy creek almost sur rounding the house. The ground sur | rounding was an overgrown waste inter
 spersed with truck patches. Along Penn | sylvania avenue there were but two 1 houses between the mansion and George
 town. and but two more between it and the Capitol Drinking water for the White 1 House was piped from a spring in 1 nearby park
 l This same White House which sheltered I the Adamses and the Roosevelts is the | oldest public building in Washington. 1 There is record of one brief occasion when it sheltered George and Martha l Washington. They walked through it on a tour of inspection in 1799. but few weeks before the first Presidents death. l It Is all the more hallowed on this ac- count. Washington had been present in l 1792 when the corner stone was laid with l Masonic ceremonies. The house, when
 the Adamses moved into 1t, had cost all
 told $25O,O00
 The furnishing of the White House was not completed even when Jefferson
 moved in, March f. 1901. Jefferson was really the first President who regarded l himself as a fixed resident of the White l House Jefferson also always took a 1 deep interest in the Capitol's develop 1 nent. Heswas often seen standing close
 by when Improvements were going on.
 He dsregar1ed the stately ceremonies of l entertainment inaugurated by Washing 1 ton and Adams. When he delivered his l first message he was dressed in a plain l blue coat, with gilt buttons, blue panta- l looms and heavy shoes tied with leather
 strings Hts wife having died before his election, the social duties of mistress of | the White House fell, during the eight 1 years of his two terms. upon his two | daughters, assisted by Dolly Madison, wife of his then Secretary of State. | When James Madison succeeded Jeff 1 ferson in 1909, Dolly Madisons reign l in the White House was supreme. She 1 md her husband restored the elabor- l ate social ceremonies which Jefferson | isregarded. Madison always wore his l lair powdered and donned magnificent 1 clothes at his state functions. At his 1 inaugural ball Mrs. Madison, look ed
 and moved 8 queen" She wore a | buff colored velvet dress, with pearl | ornaments. and a Paris turban with a lbird of paradise plume" During Mad I ison's administration she was styled
 The Queen" and the White House "The | Palace"
 When the British sacked the city in