Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-10-25

Mrs. Taft shows the wear and tear
of the last few years to a greater de-
gree than the President. She never
had a famous SMILE" however, so
the tired lines which have made their
appearance about her mouth may not
be noticed by the casual acquaintance.
But it is an open secret among her
friends that the social strain of the
White House regime has been too
much for Mrs. Taft's physical
strength.
She has not the poise of Mrs. Roose-
welt, the sympathetic tolerance of
Mrs. Wilson, nor the courage to
silently Dear that seems the abiding
force of Mrs. Debs's character. There
fore. she does not take the ~newspape
criticism with equanimity that has
been given her husband.
Mrs. Taft's soft white skin, which
vas her greatest beauty and which
gave her a %singularly youthful APP
pearance when she entered the White
House four years >ago, has lost its
translucent quality and there is q
faint network of wrinkles about the
gray-blue eyes, which seem to have
grown too weary to express the alert
ness of comprehension which was
their greatest charm four years ago.
She never talked much, and she is
now more silent than ever.
If you should say Aren't the flowers
glorious at Beverly this fall?" she
would answer Yes with a slight-a
very slight-smile, and you would
have to fish about in the recesses of
your brain Tor another subject of con
Versation. Her silences, however, do
not impress you. as the silence of a
dull mind, but those of a woman
naturally reserved and physically
weary. But through these very
silences you come to know that she is
an ambitious woman who is not to be
swerved from her purpose by physical
Ills. 1t was she hat persuaded her
husband to accept the presidency
when he rather leaned toward the
supreme bench. She has enjoyed being
the first lady in the land and the
ceremonious functions that she has
provided at the White House have
been perfect in appointments.
1t is said that when Mrs. Taft was
with her husband in the Philippines
the natives adored her. "She learned
their language the better to be able
to understand their point of view,
but. ] think, however," said a friend
who was trying to describe her, that
her great hold on them was her quick
understanding of all their forms and
ceremonials of which the Filipinos
have thousands and by which they sci
great store"
The wife of President Taft is Il
great stickler for etiquette and she
believes hat her social duties In
Washington should be discharged witt
regard to her high station instead o
regard TO her own prejudices. ON
of her friends tells a story tha'
throws a light on her ideas abou0
this.
When the President was a member
of the cabinet a very wealthy woman
lcame to the city. She was al aci
uuaintance of Mrs. Taft and waited
for her to call, not knowing that ac.
cording to the official etiquette sl'
should first call upon Mrs. TAFT
When she found out her blunder sin
informally apologized and said shi
depended upon the knowledge of he
social secretary. Mrs. Taft, however
would not take that as an be
cause she believed that no woman il
\ official circles should depend who'll.
! ON the word of a social secretary.
! Mrs. Taft's social secretary has n
questions of this kind to decide. Sh'
! has to do the clerical work, but Mrs
] Taft herself decides who shall com