The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-29
MUCH CORD|AL|Ty
 AT WHITE HOUSE
Taft's Receptions Differ Vast
 ly From. Roosevelt's
HOME-LIKE TREATMENT
Real and the Guests Are Made
 to Enjoy Themselves to . the Utmost
BY JONATHAN WINFIELD

| BY JONATHAN WINFIELD Washington. January 2s.-(Special0
 It is no easy task to shake hands with 2000 people or more in a single even- | ing. To steer them without a tangle
 through the corridors of the White
 House, and to send them homeward without having trod on the toes of some sensitive diplomat, or offended
 the wife of some powerful politician, | These are the things that must be met | by every President and his wife at or dinary official receptions and the job | is generally all that the White House staff can handle without trying to put any new wrinkles on the entertain ment.
 When 1t was announced that Mrs. Taft had decided to add to her recep- | tions a buffet supper for the guests,
 Washington realized that she had un-
 dertaken great task. In the days of the Hayes administration this had been attempted, but though the crowds then were not as large as now the trouble of providing luncheon for so many guests proved so great that no other administration attempted 1t un- til Mrs. Taft came to the White House. Mrs. Taft has gone the Hayes ad- ministration one better. At the diplo- matic reception this year not only was | luncheon served, but the big east room
 was cleared for dancing and waltzes favored at European courts were min gled with the Boston" the "dip" and the "two-step." In fact, the Tafts are uiyir ror real parties" where everyone has a good time.
 Difference in Receptions
 | This genial hospitality on the part of the Taft administration throws into strong relief the methods in vogue during the Rooseveltian White House occupancy. In those days the visitors were rushed into the east rom, mar shaled in double line. hurried through the hand-shaking ceremony, then hustled on to the cloak rooms and
 home. Or, if 1t happened to be dip- lomatic reception, portion of the great room was roped off and the civilian guests were herded behind the lines of plush, while the diplomats, resplendent in the finery of foreign courts, ma- jestically strode about the open por- tion of the room for their admira tion
 and amusement. Formally one went to view spectacle-now one goes because it Is a pleasure. h
 Today the guests gather in the east
 room as formerly and the same cere-
 monious handshaking takes place, but
 instead of being ushered to the cloak
 room they are led to the supper tables
 where the flowing bowl and heavily
 laden table of the colonial days has
 again made its appearance. The hand
 shaking ceremony over,. the Marine | band strikes up a popular waltz and the floor is soon filled with whirling couples. Etiquette's edict demands that the President open the dances by being | first on the floor. but as personal in- clination and an avoirdupois far above the average make the occupancy of a
 large chair much more preferable, he
 daughter. Miss Helen.
 l ''UncIe Joe" n Dancer
 Among the many who come to enjoy
 the dance is Uncle Joe" Cannon, whose
 feats upon the waxed floor seem to put
 to naught Dr. Osler's theory regarding age. Scarcely have the first strains ol the music vibrated through the grea, | room when Uncle Joe'' may be seen | spinning about the ballroom floor with
 some fair partner, whose laughing face bears witness both to his ability as q
 dancer and the wit for which he is fa-
 nous. There are many old men in Wash | ington who dance, but in most cases il
 Is either for the amusement of theil | friends or as a matter of formality. "Un- cle Joe," however, goes on the floor fol his own amusement and throws formality
 to the winds. None of those old-fash.
 toned wrinkles for him! He is in touch
 with the very latest thing in dancing
 and learns every new step invented.
 The diplomatic reception is the most | showy of all, for the diplomatic corps
 of foreign countries are required by theil
 governments to habit themselves in 8
 uniform whose every gorgeous detail is prescribed with the utmost exactitude
 Some of them go in for feathers and
 some for armor plate. steel helmets and
 shining pieces of furnished metal, which
 brilliantly contrast with the sober even.