The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-12-19
YULETIDES AT WHITE HOUSE
Copyright, 1909, BY John Elfreth Watkins

RY
v night he will again thank
his stars that Uncle
Sam S old homestead has eight chin
news, all OF them good and wide, for
when there are young people mt the
president s house on Christmas eve 1T
is really a wonder that this merry old
elf has time to 20 anywhere else. In
addition to the pretty things which lie
makes himself for the White house
young folk the high officials in Wash
ington always coniide to him many
presents which they wish him to deliver
for them. as, indeed. do many silly peo-
pie who never laid eyes on a president
or any of his kith and kin.
So n White house Christmas morning
is always one of happy surprises, as
Charlie Taft, perhaps. had in mind
when, in commenting on his father IS
nomination. he said: ''But | am aw-
fully sorry for Quentin Roosevelt. for
] don want him to leave the White
house, vet he can visit me often and
we will have some fun together -
IT is safe TO predict that Santa g
White house, pack will have more
weight than bulk this year, for it will
contain more books than toys You
now at college, Robert being e junior
at Yale and Miss Helen sophomore
at Brvn Mawr. And even bright eyed
Charlie Taft has arrived at tho age
where bows think themselves too big
for plavthlngs, for he is n boarding
school boy now-ls attending his Uncle
Horace Taft S academy in Connecti
cut. But from what we know of Char
lie, we can venture that even If he
scorns to hang up his stocking Santa
Claus will supply him plentifully with
the things which boys like to read about
in the sporting goods catalogues.
Didn't Approve of Xmas Trees.
Ii you could only catch old est.
Nick' next Friday night and ask him
what was his busiest White house ex-
perence since the war he would doubt
less name Christmas eve, 1901, which
fell just after the Roosevelts moved In
with their family Of four boys and two
girls, all of them still at the toy age
save the eldest two-Theodore, lr., and
Miss Alice. But although more pres
ents were brought down the big Chin
neys of the old house that night than
IN many years, and although moro
before the fire, Santa was greatly dis
appointed because Papa Roosevelt |
wouldn I allow him TO bring a Christ |
mas tree for the little ones, for it
seemed that the new president had the
notion that he must discourage what he
called the wanton destruction of small |
evergreen trees at Christmas time, but |
Mr.. Pinchot. the government s chief
forester, sided with Snnta Claus and !
showed how Christmas tree cutting did |
the forests good In many places. So |
the second winter the Roosevelts spent |
in the White house Old Kris conspired |
with roguish Archie to give the fam
lly real Christmas tree, whether the |
nature loving president liked it or not. |
So after the presents had all been dis |
frlbuted in the library this young sprlte |
took his father by the hand and after |
leading him to an old closet opened tho |
door upon little Christmas tree all |
studded with miniature ELECTRIC lights
and hung with presents for ell mem
bers OF the family, And after the pres
ident had finished laughing at Archie s |
prank, he took the children into the |
"Prince Of Wales Room where they |
found All electric railway with a real |
electric train running upon miniature |
track with switches, signal lights, sid |
lngs and stations
The lonelest moments that Santa |
Claus has seen at the White house in
post bellum years were during the four !
Christmas ewes that the good McKin- |
leys spent there, for they had lost their
little babies before they came TO live |
in the PRESIDENTS house, However,
Mrs, Mckinley was continually knit
ting socks and things to be placed in
Santa Claus pack and delivered at
other households Indeed, she was one
of Santa s best friends in those days.
and helped to keep his Christmas spirits
young,
Gifts from Kings and Queens
But the Jolly old codgcr had 10 lone
some Christmas ewes in the last ad-
ministratIon of President Cleveland.
When that chief magistrate moved in
to the White house for the second
time, in 1898, he brought with him
little Ruth, and then, two months be.
fore the next Christmas. had come tiny
Esther. So the Yuletide after that
found four little stockings in a row
before the Christmas tree, and Santa
Claus, after filing them, delivered to
the owners all kinds of costly play.
things. And Just as though she were
one OF the little princesses, the rulers
OF the great countries across the ocean
showered little Esther, on her first
Christmas, with all sorts of costly
things. including six cloaks, twenty
pairs of chamois skin shoes, twenty
white silk dresses, dozen caps, a gor~
geous christening robe, no end Of knit.
ted socks, yard upon yard of costly
dress fabrics, rich furs, cradles. cribs,
baby carriages. wonderful dolls, all
wonderfully dressed, tea sets and toys
without number. all of which littlo Es-
ther willingly shared with her older
sister Ruth, who had been less fortu-
nately endowed simply because she had