Evening star., 1914-12-28
Prominent Persons Skate.

among the nrSt arrivals at the DdSln
this morning were Representative
Charles W. Bell Of California and his
son. who had never been on ice skates
before. Representative Bell, however.
is skater of considerable ability.
Representative Lathrop Brown and
Mrs. Brown also were early arrivals.
They were accompanied by Mr.. and
Mrs. Charles S. Brown of New York.
The congressional set also was repre-
sented by Mrs. Thacher, wife of Repre-
sentative Thomas c. Thacher of Massa-
chusetts. who was accompanied by
John Thacher. jr.
Among the skaters of social prominence
were Miss Margaret Perrin. Miss Alice
Oge, Mrs Truxton Beall, Miss Frances
| Mr.. and Mrs. George Eustis. William
! Hit, NJ. Albertini Of Paris and Mrs.
Thomas X. Laughlin.
The crowd at the basin this morning
! WAS not large, but by noon there were
several hundred skaters on the ice A
| largo crowd is expected late this after
noon.
A base ball game is scheduled to be
played on the ice at 4 o'clock. Among
| those who plan to participate in the fun
are Representative Hobson, jerome Con-
ner. DIR. William S. Hudson, W. J. Baker
and DR.. E. G. Meyers. The two teams
are to be named the ice Brds' and the
| "Snow Birds"
The ice on the basin this morning
was more than six inches thick.
Through the efforts of volunteers and
workers loaned by the District street
cleaning department large surface
was cleared of snow Saturday. AS the
mercury remained below the freezing
point all day yesterday and during last
night, the surface Of the cleared por-
tion had no chance to soften, and the
skates of the big crowd that was on
the ice yesterday failed to cut up the
smooth surface to any noticeable ex-
tent. It was stated today that more
| than 1000 skaters enjoyed the sport at
the basin yesterday.
Skaters to Garry Lanterns.
A '.hrefy evening" has been planned
for tomorrow night, when lanterns are
to be hung all about the skating sur
face Of the basin, and when all skaters
will be expected to carry Japanese
lanterns or other forms of Illuminating
apparatus. Providing the weather does
not moderate to such an extent as to
! soften the ice to q dangerous or un-
comfortable degree several thousand
skaters are expected to participate in
the ice frolic tomorrow night, and in
dications are that the evening will be
a thoroughly enjoyable one for those
who rank ice skating as the king Of
winter sports.
Marine Band Will Furnish Music.
It was reported this morning that ice
seven inches thick covers the surface
Of the duck pond at the Zoo, and that
the skating Is fine. Along the smooth
stretches Of Rock creek, within the
Zoo and in Rock Creek Park the skat-
ing is also reported today to be ex-
cellent, with many skaters enjoying
their favorite diversion.
Street Cleaning Awaits Thaw.
Streets and sidewalks are to remain
snow covered until thawing weather
arrives in Washington, according to
Supt Paxton of the street cleaning de-
partment. The superintendent said
| today that he had planned to put gangs
of men at work this morning cleaning
the snow off the crosswalks and out
of the cutters. The cold weather, how
! ever, and persistence of freezing tenn
peratures made this impossible.
Should the weather moderate suff1-
GENTLY, Supt. Paxton said, men from
the street cleaning department will be
put to work late this afternoon or the
first thing tomorrow morning, clearing
| crosswalks and cutters and removing
snow from the downtown streets. If
the weather remains cold, however, so
that the hard packed snow has no
chance to thaw, the work will be post
poned, as the present condition of the
snow is such as to render it's removal
a difficult. it not impossible, task.