The Washington times., 1915-07-11
lean EliOt's
Letter
Continued from Tenth Pase)

NCOntlnueQ 1rOm 1entn rdR~l
tary Of Commerce. Mr.. Redfeld, the
Secretary Of Labor and one of the other
Cabinet officials were entitled each to
his own ensign to be flown at the mast
head of any craft whereon he might
1nd himself. Now. whereas this is per-
fectly permissible and proper, particu-
larly in the case of Mr.. Redfield. who ID
fssoRiarly known to the navy as SPIN
maker Bill from the nautical cut of his
flaming = Siskers, yet 1t gave rise to q
most amuslhI contretemps recently.
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1t so happened that the three officials
in question were aboard one of the gov
ernment boats, steaming down the river.
recently, and that the three pennants
floated merrily from the masthead, or
whatever is the proper place from which
ensigns should float. Unfortunately. the
unusual amount of bunting displayed
gave the craft a strong family 'resem-
blance to an excursion boat and when
the party passed the sundry forts along
the river, there was no sign Of the
salutes due to so much dignity.
Even a loud blowing of whistles. to
call attention to the Importance Of the
occasion ELECTED no response. much to
and later It tur d out that there was
equal CONSERVATION ashore, where the
men - the forts were confronted with
three un .miliar flags end didn't know
Just wha' to do about It, However. az
each o. al was entitled to a salute
Of sevei, n guns. perhaps It Is just
as well ;ce : they didn't materialize, for
It mist cave sounded suspiciously like
Heertainre the Secretary Of War and
the 81 tStary Of the Navy have been
the 'ha Cabinet members entitled to
tn, " YIN flags. which. Of course, are
o. the >wn when the officials are
are abe ship. The other day. during
sich TRY Daniels cruise aboard the
Inr in wkh his family. he had occa-
sion % 60 Ashore. whereupon a sailor
~ .ediat% began to haul down tho
'eoretarYs ensign. to be greeted by an
Indignant o>mand from one Of the
younger Daniels boys. Frank or Jona-
than, to why he did such a thing.
Mother and I are aboard" he said
and was with difficulty appeased for
the hurt te his dignity.
=
During the months that Mrs George
at Burlingame. Cal. she Is devoting
ganizing benefits for the Russian Red
Cross Society. Mrs. Marye. by the way,
Is an active member Of the society and
during her stay in Petrosrad used to
don the uniform once every week and
spend the day nursing in one Of the
hospitals.
OF all the over-the-Fourth house par
ties-and they must have been legion,
for all week I have been hearing of new
ones-none was more fun than the Jolly
week end with Brooke Leo and his
pretty young wife as hosts. In the first
place silver Spring" the old Leo place,
Is an ideal spot for entertaining. with
its fine colonial house. its great trees
and lovely gardens. It's swimming pool
and a wealth of historic association to
interest the visitor. The place takes
its name from a spring. crystal clear,
where. tradition says, Elizabeth Blair
Lee. daughter Of old Francis P. Blair,
of Kitchen cabinet" fame. and wife Of
Lieutenant. afterward Admiral Phillips
Lee, used to listen for the sound Of
guns. carried from a long distance by
the water. during the troubled days Of
the civil war.
This Mrs. Lee. who lived to a great
age, and was a notably beloved, and
respected figure in Washington, was
Senator Blair Lees mother and Brooke's
grandmother. Senator Lee, with whom
the young people make their home. was
a very charming auxiliary host and
contributed tremendously to the success
of the festiyities
-
The party began at o'clock on Sat-
urday morning. or therea bouts, most of
the guests being from Elizabeth Lees
home In Prince George county and COM
ing direct from a dance at Grange Hall
In Marlboro, which took up all Of FRI
day evening and lasted we'll into tho
wee sma hours. OF course, the long
ride in machines walked them all up,
so some of the braver spirits started tho
party by going In swimming.
There followed several days Of jollifi-
cation. tennis. dancing, Bridge playing,
long motor rides, and the like. And on
Monday the whole crowd motored to
Hyattsville for the tournament and to
see the sham battle between the Silver
Spring Company, Of the National Guard,
of which Brooke Is one of the officers,
and the Hyattsville company. l don't
know what the official decision was. but
the members Of the house party were
unanimously agreed that Silver Spring
won-particularly as several Of their
number took part, filing the boots Of
absentee soldier boys. In the evening
they all went to town to see the fire.
works, and later had a rival exhibition
at home, and on Tuesday morning the
young people went their several ways.
OF course Carol Wilson was there,
Elizabeths sister; also her cousin,
Rachel Clagett. and there was another
cousin. Mary Iglehart of Baltimore,
who is the prettiest thing imaginable.
and only seventeen: Chrystobal Hill,
Grace Roberts, Edna Berry and "Neelie"
Bowie. all OF Prince George county:
and Laura Amber, of Ohio. who Is now
living in Washington with her mother,
were some of the girls. and the men
were "Dr." Billy MArbury. Kent Rob-
erts, DR.. Adam Kemble, Billy Davis,
who. by the way. Is frightfully busy
these days managing Senator Lees
campaign in Baltimore; Francis Hill.
Big Bill" and Little Bill'" Roberts,
and a number of others. Young Blair