Evening star., 1914-04-13
MANY LITTLE ONES
ENJOY EGG ROLLING
Fine Easter Monday Weather
Brings Out Large Crowd
at White House.
PRESIDENT GETS VIEW
FROM SOUTH TERRACE
Long Before Grounds Are Open,
Boys and Girls of All Sizes Await
Entrance-Fun at the Zoo.

The finest Easter Monday Washington
has enjoyed for several years drew one
Of the biggest crowds. mostly kiddies.
that have ever participated In the annual
egg rolling at the White House grounds
today. Children to right of US, children
to left of US, children to every other side
Of US, tossed and rolled eggs of every
Imaginable sort, from the highly ornate
but extremely durable one made Of solid
plaster of paris to the more fragile but
equally decorative one, whose origin was
In somebody's chicken yard. Base tmtta-
tions there were. too. gilded and land
scaped, with all sorts of Wondrous
imagery, the work of some gifted manip-
ulator Of paints and brushes, these being
hollow and filled with little sugar-coated
jelly confections in the shape of eggs, all
colored to a degree that made the casual
observer wonder lust what kaleidoscope
tints would pervade the interior or the
tumrnies of those hardy youngsters that
ate them. But, then, the casual observer
didn't have to eat the gorgeous confec-
tions, so he should worry.
Long before the grounds We're open. at
8 O'Clock, boys and girls of assorted
sizes stood about the lower east entrance,
waiting to be among the first to invade
the precincts that are theirs only once
a wear. By the time the opening hour
had arrived. hundreds of youngsters
clamored for admission. and the grand
rush that occurred when the big police
men threw open the gates was OF size
and determination to remind one OF the
days when department stores sell dol
lar article for 9s cents.
Straight for the little knolls at the south
side of the Executive Mansion the youth
full phalanx dashed, as II the roLhns:
shattering and subsequent devouring of
multitudinous gorgeousiy dyed eggs were
the sole objects in life Then the fun be-
gan, and 1t never left of until late this
afternoon, when the Marine Band had
played 1.-The Star Spangled Banner" and
the ultimate egg had been smashed and
eaten or ground into the springy green
turf under the pressure of reluctantly re-
treating feet.
Egg-Pecking Enjoyed.
The boy with the great, big, hard
boiled goose egg was there, with his
brothers and sisters. The low-fiung
lad, clutchinG the innocent-appearing
plaster of Paris nest egg. gayly tinted.
but as solid as a rock, was there. too.
pecking eggs with unsuspecting
youngsters. who will know better next
year And the little fellows bearing
prettily decorated baskets filed with
base imitation Of green grass. made
of dyed excelsior or shredded tissue
paper, were there, too, clutching
mothers hands with a death grip and
appearing to have about as much fun
as q nice little gray mouse at q con-
vention of cats. Most of the lads and
lassies were as neat and splck and
span in their dress-up clothes as they
could be when they arrived, but half
an hour later white dresses and duck
knickerb ockers bore grass stains, egg
splotches-because some of the eggs
didn't cook quite hard. apparently
vrh
blue dyes had rubbed off.
Up beside the main drive battery OF
motion picture cameras was ready to
capture President Wilson and the mem
bers of the White House party for the
movies: but it wasn't until shortly before
noon that the President came out on the
south terrace where the movie men could
get shot at him. Seemingly he said
something. but the YOUNGSTERS made SO
much racket he might as well have kept
still. and after a few moments. mostly
spent in smiling and bowling he went
| back into the house. party of chill
dren, sons and daughters Of cabinet mem
bers, took part for while In the fun
out on the broad slopes. being the spe-
cial guests of Miss Eleanor Wilson.
At 3 o'clock this afternoon the Marine
Band, directed by Lieut.. Santelmann.
gave concert on the south terrace, and
then the children forgot the egg rolling
and cake-walked, tangoed and generally
disported themselves as children do when
| the band plays.
Adult Relatives Scarce.
| The sprinkling of mammas. papas.
aunts, uncles and other adult relatives OF
| the real crowd was not SO large as
usual. Perhaps the fact that the police
men at the gates kept a close watch for
enterprising youngsters who were will
| ing, for a consideration, to adopt stray
mother or father for the time being had
! something to do with it; anyhow, there
were lots more youngsters than grown
| ups in today's crowd, and the police
men themselves commented on the fact.
| Some years I've known one single
l boy to bring as many as a dozen or
more different mothers and fathers into
the grounds, said one big policeman.