The Daily Missoulian. [volume] (Missoula, Mont.) 1904-1961, 1910-01-16


they enjoy it. Not so. necessarily, at
Uncle SANS headquarters. Some of
these celebrities and near-celebrities,
to be sure. do enjoy the winter merry
go-round of fashion at the capital. In
deed. to not a few of the feminine par
Elephants 1t is obviously the breath of
life. but the unique feature of the stu
alton is that they would have to go
through with it just the same even if
they did not like it the least bit. Some
few of them not only do find it dis
tasteful, but rebel and that is the Sc
then that Mr.. So-and-so has resigned
or retired from public life because he
or his wife did not care for the life
in Washington
In the city on the Potomac an off
cial household cannot set It's own pace
in entertaining and being entertained
in accordance with its own whims
Something socially is expected of al
most every one of Uncle Sans best
paid employees. and Voc befiae the in
"nocent individual who enters the high
er realms of the federal service with
the idea that his only responsible
ties are those with which he grapples
during office hours. In the most beau
tiful city in America, entertaining is
not merely "A matter of convenience.
or personal enjoyment for host and
hostess, nor yet a discharge Of social
debts to persons who have extended
hospitality in the past. 1t may be any
or all of these. but in officialdom ii is
in many instances something more. 1t
is an nbligation-conformit to a time
honored custom that has become al
most an unwritten law.
Perhaps the best illustration of how
tradition dictates the character of for
NAL entertaining at Miss Columba's
court is found in the manner i'm which
our presidents and their wives. in each
successive administration, carry out
the annual social program handed
down through a long line of prede-
cessors. Long established usage has
prescribed that certain dinners and re-
ceptions shall be given at the White
House each winter, and no presiden-
tial household allows personal consid-
erations to interfere with the carry
Ing out of this historic program.
Another example of the eut-and- dried
character of a considerable portion of
the annual social program at the seat
or government is found in the univer-
sally accepted obligation that each
member of the cabinet must. once
each winter, entertain the president
and his wife at his home or at a no.
tel. If the member of the cabinet hap
pen TO be a bachelor and have no home
suitable for entertaining. Almost
equally inflexfble is the expectation
that each newly-eiected United States
senator will be welcomed 10 the cap
ital at dinner given by his colleague
in the upper house of congress. And
so the list might be continued through
long list of social tasks that present
themselves each winter to cabinet.
congressional. judicial. diplomatic.
army and navy and other celebrities.
The .'official social season. so-called
OCCUPIES the interval between New
Years day and the first day of Lent.
This makes the seasons of somewhat
uneven length from year to year. In
deed, some years, like the present.
when Easter comes early. the social
arbiters are really put to it to crowd
all the necessary Inequalities into the
limited interval. These lean years
taken in conjunction with the expand
ing social responsibilities that have
followed in the wake of Uncle Sans
advent as a world power. have re
suited in the development OF what is
known as the little season. In years
gone by the entertaining WAS pretty
rigIdly restricted to the interval be-
tween January / and the arrival of
Lent. but latterly a growing proper
ton of the social activity has been di-
verified To the period before Christmas.
This span between Christmas and. New
Years has come To be known as the
little sedson. However. the tradition
ally important social fetes are held
as of yore, in January and February.
The White House sets the pace in
this formal entertaining and all the
hostesses in officialdom wait until
the first lady of the land has an
nounced her plans for the season be-
fore making up the programs of their
own Inequalities. one reason for this
difference To the White House mistress
is To avoid a conflict of dates. With
a deal of entertaining to be crowded
into a few weeks il is but 10 be sx-