Evening star., 1915-04-05
WEATHER CLEARS
FOR EGG ROLLERS
Easter Monday Custom Takes
Place as Usual on Grounds
at White House.
PRESIDENT AND FAMILY
WATCH THE FESTIVITIES
Children Rather Slow in Arriving,
But by II O'Clock a Good
Crowd Is on Hand.

Surely the children are the lucky
onesi Who would have thought last Sat-
urday, when the snowstorm ragged and
the wind blew. that egg rolling on the
White House grounds would take place
as usual on Easter Monday? Even the
children doubted it. But the weather
man was kind to the Riddles" and to-
day is proving ono Of the best little
Easter egg-rolling days ever. The high
winds Saturday night and last night
dried the lawns of the White House.
the Zoo and Soldiers Home to a pass
able degree. SO that by this morning
Col W. W. Harts. U. S. A.. declared
they were dry enough for the children
to use.
Washington presented a gala appear
ance early this morning. By 8 o'clock
parents were seen on their way to the
various parks, and the downtown
streets contained many men selling red
and yellow balloons, peanuts and the
other articles of use and consumption
which go along with the day. The
children, accompanied by their parents.
began to gather on the White House
lawns as early as the gates were
opened, which was at 9 o'clock, but 1t
was 10 o'clock before the grounds even
began to present the usual Easter Mon
day appearance.
President Wilson and members OF his
family showed keen interest In the
sport, and watched the children from
the south portico of the White House.
The children Of many government off,
cials Joined in the fun. but there were
fewer from families Of foreign diplo-
matists than usual.
Mrs. Daniels and her two sons were
among those who watched the chill
dren from the south portico of the
White House.
Crowd Arrives Late.
According to officers stationed on the
grounds the morning crowd. up to IL
O. clock, was rather light This was due.
no doubt. to the fear Of many mothers
that the grass would be too wet for their
children to play upon. But If 1t was too
wet, plenty of children are going to be
i'll tomorrow, for they not only sat upon
the grass. but they put on very tolerable
performances of rolling themselves down
the knolls as well as rolling their Eas-
ter eggs.
BY II o'clock the open spaces as well
as the small hills began to be filled
with people-mothers. fathers. brothers
sisters-and children. According to the
rule, a "grown-up" has to have a child
with him on Easter Monday to get into
them did-even II they had to do the
time -honored stunt of paying some lit
tie boy so cents to act as "son" for the
occasion.
It must be confessed that "grown-ups"
had a rather hard time of it on the White
House lawns today. 1t was dangerous
business, going up the knolls under egg
fire. in the first place. and in the second
place they didn't count, anyway. 1t was
the children who ranked first all day.
Attired in their clean dresses and new
spring hats. the children came to have a
good time, and most Of them had it OF
course. the little tragedies of life will
happen, and they did, such as dropping
smashing them before one got chance
to smash them more scientifically by
rolling them down long stretch of nice
greensward: or breaking ones balloon,
etc. etc. These things will happen on
the best regulated egg-roling grounds
and among the very incest children.
Varied Assortment of Hats.
And spring hats. WE'LL the small
misses on the White House lawns to-
day wore the most astonishing array
of spring hats ever gathered together
in one place. almost. There were straw
hats in every shape and color. and hats
bound round with flowers, and hats
covered with all sorts of things that
would take society reporter to de-
scribe correctly. And new spring
dresses ~ were also much in evidence.
and smashed hard-boiled eggs had a
chance to show them up.
"Grown-ups, too, learned much to-
day concerning the etiquette of egg
rolling. 1t Is quite science. There is
r,1vif hnf
and egg throwing, as unlucky seniors
found out when a flying egg struck
them upon their unsuspecting ear But
IL they were nice grown-ups" they
would only smile. as many Of them did
this morning, and thank their lucky
stars that the eggs had been cooked
But how one unlucky individual, who
was the recipient of an egg that had
not been cooked as we'll as it might
have been. evidently, squareIy upon the
top Of his black derby, felt about the
matter, is another thing
Inc children at the White House
grounds proved very well behaved, and
the police had very little to do except
swer questions. This year the grounds
were looked after by the park police.
under direct charge of Lieut.. s. b
Buckner. for the first time. 1t was due
to the efforts of the superintendent Of
public buildings and grounds. Col
Harts. that the park police had the
honor this year.
The clean up-paint up" campaien
going on on the south front Of the Ex.
ecutive Mansion excited quite a num-
ber of questions from visitors, Of whom
there were quite q number on the
grounds.
Very Few Children Lost.
Very few children became lost from
their parents on the White House
grounds. and 1T proved one of the hap
piest egg-rolling Easter Mondays. The
parents seemed to take unusually good
care of their children this year, per-
haps because the grounds were damp
and they feared that Johnnie and Willie,
to say nothing Of Helen and Mary,
would catch cold.
SO many of them brought blankets