The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1908-03-02
ny rnEpEn1c ). HAskIN.

Nf 7
To.merrpw III Shroyc Tuesday. and
when the midnight hour Id tolied IL
viii sound the curfow OF society for
forty days. With the dawning OF Ash
lake up Ills long vigil outside Tie gates
or tho Pavilion OF Social Rest and plan
new mischief for Frlyolltyp gay vo-
taries. Shroye Tueaday MARKS tho !, end
cities of the world, and from the calm
sinking into, rest that charncterizes
the entrance intoN,ent or the Northern
cities to the sgsetase ,niad court ", !, naid
Ing OF the social season rs marked IN
divers ways.
To the nation In genepal this Sd Of
March Will mark the close OF the off,
sa ses,n sS r sYen r BE
tho President and the first lady OF
the land aun over the official dinners
have been eaten, the n1us.eales have
tic Bis East Room and the family q
the Chief Executive Will settle down
TO n period OF we'll earned rest for
time Of least IT is perfectly wonder.
M what the people VII undergo der ana
Inc President at the White House re-
ccptions." wrote Tom Pendel, for many
years member of the White House
Lincoln affectionately called him, was
not far from the truth. The ordeal,
however, is harder on the President,
who must stand In one place for two
less than 1000 people. u takes
hardy. outdoor man, such as the pres
cit Incumbent of the White House. with
muscles toughened by tennis playing
and by lifting hard-mouthed horses
over hurdles. to stand such a test. Gen.
eral Grant. soldier as he was. Is said
to have suffered great pain In his arm
for days after large reception. while
tributes to popularity by never shak-
Ing hands at his principal levees.
There have been many other changes
since President and Mrs. Washington
set up the American court in the man
sion of Robert Morris in Philadelphia,
which was added to and redecorated for
the purpose and rented to tho govern
lnent for $4,000 a year. Here the first
President received every other Tuesday
from to In the afternoon, his guests
forming in circle in tho dining room,
and he passing around to bow to each
in turn. He wore his sword and car
ried n cooked hat under his arm at
these receptions when no appeared as
| the head of the new nation, but when
Mrs. Washington received he appeared
at her leyees as a private citizen, with
| the hat and sword sconspicuously abb
sent.
But already the desire to have a
voice in all matters had, become EVIL
dent in the people, for In Washipgton's
| second term there were many who
openly criticized his bow. It was too
! formal. and his manner was too re-
served. He could be something of a
dictator, it is true, for when Citizen
| Genet refused to enter the Executive
Mansion because a portrait Of Louis
republican spirit, Washington promptly
| had him recalled. Before this, when
| New York was the capital Of the United
| States, and the Executive Mansion was
l nf
| Franklin Square, there We're many din
! ners, private theatricals and few
] balls. besides the levees. although Mrs.
4 Washington did not care for balls. She
| and cake and the first ice-cream We're
| served and quiet dinners with Robert
Morris, BENJAMIN Chew. Edward Ship
pen and DR.. Rush to enliven her guests
out houses. and Georgetown city
without streets as a witty French
traveller described H. John Adams and
4 his clever wife braved the bottom
less mud of the roads from the East
4 and came to the unfinished White
House. To see the great East Room
with its dignified simplicity and It's
coterie OF distinguished guests that
graces each OF the four great semi
official receptions each season, one
smiles to recall a passage from Mrs
! Adams's letters: The great unfinished
of TO hang clothes In" For there
were only SIX chambers finished no!
fires enough. and only little oval
4 room on the second floor for the
public levees. the first ibeing on New
Years Day, 1901.
i jefferson. to accentuate the great
democracy of his spirit, did away will
i the levees that he faneied savored too
much of court life. and held each year
two public receptions. one on Januar,
Il lst and one on July 4th. Mrs. Madison
fond Of driving over TO Cherry Alley
Georgetown. or out. to Bladensburt
for tea, had her social seasons rather
broken into by British intervention
. Yet when the White House had beer
, rendered unnhabitable by the fire
, she moved her democratic court to thu
, famous Octagon House. and so grea
was her hospitality the day that th'
Treaty of Client was signed in one
of the upper rooms. that her servants
even were incapacitated for worl
, by too frequent potations in the win
; that flowed freely in the cause O
!, peace.
Mrs. Madison held many leyees, an,
mingled freely with her guests, III
I ptimid and awkward were her sespeeia