South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-01-17
THE WHITE HOUSE RE-
CEPTION.
BY FRED c. KELLY.

Speclal correspondence.
WASHINGTON. an. 17.-At the
white house the other night I stood
on the same little section OF par
quetry floor in the east room until a
piece Of spinal column tried to poke
itself through the small of my back.
And upwards of 1000 other per-
sons, representing the craftsmanship,
beauty and chivalry of the nation
were undergoing similar hardships.
All about me were famous men just
as miserable as / was
1t was the presidents reception 10
the diplomatic corps the first big So
cial stunt of the Wilson administra-
ton. and we were all herded into the
east room, surrounded by red plush
ropes
But it was all worth while The
thing that made it worth while was
the democracy of the occasion.
When you consider that one OF the
leading clubs of the nations capital
bars men who engage "'in trade" and
that we nurture within the city's con-
fines hundreds Of young men who
raise cute little mustaches and go to
afternoon teas instead Of going to
workbench you consider all such
things as that, / say-it is a great
thing to know that democracy reigns.
And presidents reception is a good
place 10 catch democracy right in the
| act of reigning.
Directly in front of me were a
! brace of heavily upholstered dow
almost invariably-the larger the
tiara the palmer the lace be-
meath it, so that these women really
! were really no better off than anyone
else.
Gradually we traipsed through the
narrow corral on into the green room
and thence into the blue room. There,
| back Of a door jamb, stood the pres
ident hard at his task of shaking
2,O17 persons by the hand. He also
was obliged to look as if he just loves
that sort of thing,
one gives ones name to the mill
| tary aide and he tells ii TO the presi-
! dent. 1t used to be that the an
nouncer shouted the name bolster
Ously enough for all in the room to
| hear, and one felt as conspicuous as
window trimmer or a father out
wheeling his twins.
The way to do is to take the presi-
dent by the hand-not too secerely.
for his hand already feels to him like
a Welsh rabbit-and put him perfect
/ ly at his ease by greeting him in a
! tone of great kindnessi
We press on, on, to the state din
| ing room. And there we find a fitting
| example of democracy that should be
an inspiration to the youth of our
land. Strong men and beautiful wo-
men are Jostling one another to reach
the tables where gentlemanly attend
ants are handing out ice cream and
sandwiches and tea punch. Dye ever
drink tea punch? Don't. 1t reminds
| you of funeral in a rain storm
Some one invited Mr.. Bryan over
to the punch bowl.
No" said Mr.. Bryan as he reached
for one more helping of ice cream, Il
prefer water; really"
Along came Sen. John Sharp Will
Jams of Mississippi. Just to show his
entire confidence that the punch
was thoroughly innOcuous, he stepped
| up boldly and unafraid and fired a
salute TO himself of three glasses!
Vice Pres. Marshall was most digni-
| fed. He was done up in the height of
the prevailing modes and wore a neat.
| little. black-eyed. white tie such as
any bright young haberdasher's clerk
will tell you he himself is thinking of
wearing!