Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1909-04-03
71He- NY7E HoUsE ON cHR7J7T7As EVE

veytinently still, how does it measure with the
record of the Roosevelt regime?
These are to-day queries of absorbing inter
est, and nowhere has this phase of a new adj
ministration quite the significance that it has
at Washington. Diplomats and back of them
the governments for which they stand, are as
much interested in the personality of the ris-
ing American powers as their own country
men.
Mrs. Taft is neither the soft green of the
soul OF Burke's ideal feminine, nor is she Ma
poleons adherence, intellect in petticoats She
Is that rarer thing, well-balanced woman.
The Tories, said Wellington, when Victoria
ascended the English throne, could hope for
little Roadway under female sovereign, be.
cause he had no small talk and Pitt had no
manners. Mrs. Taft is a woman whom one
might well imagine making allowances for
Both shortages, provided there were such COM
pensations along other lines as Wellington and
Pitt possessed
Given such a foundation in character with
youth, good health and ambition and the ne
culiar advantages her life has already given
her, few women have gone into the White
House so well equipped to meet the exactions
of the position Of first lady of the land" Her
regime, moreover, has not that negative quality
which circumstances have infused into the so.
cial atmosphere of some previous admnstra-
aiOns. She has tastes and enthusiasms which
will give character to the social life at Wash
9ngtOn of which the White House is the center
FOR the next four years.
Music which has lourished at Washington
Gnder White House patronage during the seven
years of Mr.. and Mrs. Roosevelts residence
there, has even more emphatic announcement
under the social sway of woman who was
one of the founders of Cincnnats famous
musical organization, the Symphony orchestra.
Not only is she a patroness of music, but is
musician. She kept up her hours of daily
practice regularly until within recent years.
when the frequent changes in her life and its
many added duties made the continuance i'm
possible
Though she does not regard herself as suIi-
cIently in practice to perform for a critical
audience, she has by no means lost her skill
and frequently plays for her husband and
children during their evenings at home These
are more than might be supposed, for Mrs
Taft is one of the women who stays usually
at home unless her husband can go out with
her.
Other avenues through which her artistic
taste snds an outlet are her love of pictures
and her appreciation of wood carving. Charles
Taft's art collection has no more apprecative
Triend than his sister-in-aw. She is enthusiasts
ttc about every treasure he adds TO it, and en-
eoys few things more than pointing out it's
beauties to others. Faces and figures appeal
more TO her than landscapes. and a recently
acquired Rembrandt has given her keen pleas
ure. She has made study Of wood carving
and has the nucleus of collection containing
some excellent specimens She is a connois
seur Of the craft, and knows the fine points
in the work of various schools and masters
She is a book lover and has been student
all her life, first because she grew up in a
horne where books came down from the shelves
and made the worlds they contain part Of the
domestic environment. Elizabeth Bennett and
der sisters, with their heart affairs and all the
Incidental character deIineations. stepped from
a worn copy of Pride and Prejudice" bringing
a cha Harlan home In Cincinnati. with its