Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1913-04-05
WHITE HOUSE
SEASON OPENS
FIRST REAL OFFICIAL SOCIETY
FUNCTION OF NEW ADMINS
TRATION is THE DEBUT OF MRS.
WOODROW WILSON.
NO POLITICS" THE KEYNOTE OF
THE BREAKFAST GIVEN BY
LADIES OF WASHINGTON TO
FIRST LADY OF THE LAND.
(SpcciaI to The Herald. }

WASHINGTON, ID. c., April 8
When the first real official society func-
ton of the administdation-the debut Of
Mrs. Woodrow Wilson-swung into be-
ing shortly after noon today, there was
not one sOupcOn Of politics to be found
Mrs. Wilson hates politics and had re-
fused to be party to any event, how
ever harmless and purely social, that
had any political leaning.
So, when the introductory breakfast
by the women of Washington, was ar
ranged the real opening Of the white
house season, the affair was SO thorough
ly representative of all factions that you
couldn't say which or who was pretlom-
inant. The breakfast, with thirfy-fve
tables at Raucher's, was designed to out.
shine the famous Dolly Madison break
fast of last year and it would be almost
a heresy to say it did not.
Great care had to he employed to
keep the tabOOed political situation of
the menu because Mrs. Wilson declined
with polite firmness any invitation TO
be chief guest at at breakfast Of the
wOman's democratic club. So it remain
ed for Mrs. Stephen B. Ayres to initiate
a breakfast that would thrust all such
entanglements away
Officially backing the breakfast we're
such organizations of women AZ the
Daughters of the American Revolution.
the Colonial Danes, the Washington
Club, the Southern Relief Society and
the Congressional Club. besides scores OF
individual women of official and social
Washington. u'~
Mrs. John w. Kern, wife Of the senior
senator from Indiana, was designated
as tOastmistress and at her right hand
was seated the guest Of honor. At Mrs.
Kern's left was Mrs. Thomas Riley Mar
shall, wife Of the vice president. and at
Mrs. Wilson's right sat Mrs William
Jennings Bryan, wife of the secretary of
state. The wives of other cabinet mem.
bers were placed in carefully selected
order beside these leaders of the admin
istrative set, great diplomacy having
been employed to make the seating seem
accidental, yet harmonious with recog
nized rules of the etiquette of the cap
Iital. r.f
One of the little ceremonials at the
head Of the table was the pledging OF
one another by Mrs. Wilson. Mrs Mar
shall, Mrs. Bryan and Mrs. Kern with
a great colonial mace from the House Of
Burgesses of Virginia. This over, the
attention of the guests was turned to the
menu and table chat.
When the final morsel had vanished
and the last sip of coffee had gone the
way of all coffee, the guests turned to
listen to an illustrated lecture by Abby
Baker on THE Historic White House,
This discourse told of previous chief
ladies of the land and Of the many, many
social events that had their being in the
executive mansion. Little sidelights on
people and things, told of in delightful
vein, made the talk more Of a personal
reminiscence than report from histof
zeal data.
Those who helped Mrs. Ayres to get
up and execute the breakfast were Mrs
Matthew T. Scott, Mrs. James W. Pin
chOt. Mrs. Henry +. DimOck of Wash
ingtOn and New York. Mrs. Albert Cow
ington Janin, Mrs. Richey, Mrs John
Hays Hammond. Mrs. J. Taylor Ehysoa
of Richmond, Va. Miss Mamie Ran
dolph Heath, Mrs. Duncan U. Fletcher
and Mrs. Albert b. Cummins Of Iowa.
1t was all very select and proper. vet
more than $50 women had secured tick.
cts. There wasn't any particular re-
strictiOn because il had been given out
very early in the new administration
that 'swell' doing were not on the
four-year social programs at all. And
yet some who have attended other like
functions said it was just az recherche
as any and that Mrs Wilson's debut
would stand in history in just az glow.
ing colors as the introduction af a dozen
other nistresses Of the white house.
Mrs. Pinchot is one Of the leaders of
the movement to abolish the burdensome
duty calls" which have proved so con-
fusing to society at the capital. She
proposes to rouse sentiment among mem
bers of the congressional club to carry
out its primary object Of mutual i'm
provement. In previous administrations.
Mrs. Pinchot declares, the women have
deluged one another with calling cards
which came to mean little. "A machine
could do that work as WELL" she said.