Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-07-29
The Renting
Of Beechwood

of Beechwood. the summer by
Mr.. and Mrs. w. X. Vanderbilt, jr.. and.
though the announcement may cause
no more than a ripple through the
present generation of New York's So
| ciety, there is certain to be something
of reminiscent thrill in it for the
elders.
Beechwood was great house in its
day. Here, in fact, was the site of the
social throne when Ward McAllister's
| now long forgotten 400 amounted to
| something and Mrs. William Astor was
| socially dominant. Here was the virtual
hub Of the new worlds social activities
| Here was the promised land for which
| Invitations were issued to good little
, debutantes as a reward for having been
| born exclusive. Beechwood may be no
more than the name of Newport villa
| today-but there was time, my
| dear
| We noted a prophetic something in
the atmosphere of the place last sum-
mer when Vincent Aston. that demo-
cratic scion Of an autocratic sire.
turned the spacious ballroom into a
movie theater for the beneit Of New
port charity.
Just word more about Beechwood
that l think is interesting. In the
early nineties Mrs. William Astor be-
| came vexed with the officials RESPONSE
Bile for the personal estate taxation In
! New York and decided to have as little
to do with them in future as possible
her legal residence transferred from
New York to Rhode Island. and there
after She made Beechwood her real
home.
She could not, of course. give I'M en-
tirely the site of the real throne room.
which was in the house at SAP 5th ave-
nue., and it was here that she gave all
her larger parties. 1t was here. for
q he r. e.
ner to Prince Louis Of Battenberg.
when, you may recall, with one sweep
OF snickersnee dipped in ink the fam
Gus 400 was cut to a modest 10"
A prevalent fad, and one that ia nm
doubtedly very charming, is that of bay-
Ing out = of door
Garden Weddings weddings. event 3
:, uo,,r. that have been par
ticularly taken up
In southern California, where one belle
after another is joining the ranks Of ma
irons at a most exciting rate No more
charming setting could one readily mae-
Inc for the service than a flower filed gar
den, and southern brides. as well as those
OF other places, are taking advantage Of
the season to have their marriages ar
ranged in this way
Miss Phila Miller Of Pasadena, says the
San Francisco Chronicle, struck more
than one note Of originality when she be-
came Mrs. Donald O'Melveny on June 20
Like other weddings Of the month il was
solemnized out Of doors. hut the prett,.
bride showed her gift Of the unusual ~
having its hour set for twilight instead
OF the more usual high noon or afternoon
hours. The effect was one not soon tn
be forgotten. "Hllcrest," the home of tn.
Drlde's parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Barncf
Miller. is famed for the beauty of It's gar
dens, and the improvised altar of white
stone was erected in the Italian pereola
and was laden with masses OF hydranpeas
shading from pale pink to deepest mauye
here and there note OF blue to further
bring out the rainbow effect
/ Speaking of American women who
have gained social distinction In Enp-
land. reminds me
Some that the outside
Dropping Out. e ~"ri' , ss'no", ,nl if
thing concerning the Duchess of Rox-
burghe. who was Miss Ogden GoeJet,
Nothing is ever seen or heard of her.
and since the war ! believe she has
never even been to London. but lives
at Floors Castle. in Scotland. entirely
writes a London correspondent in the
Pittsburgh GaZette-TimeS The Cnunt
ess of Granard is another American Of
whom little Is known these days Like
the Duchess of RoxburKhe, Lady Gran
ard seems to have dropped out" and
as public memory IL short I don't he :
lieve either Of them would be recop-
niZed II they drove down Bond street
during it's most crowded hours
While John Borden of Chicago T..
hunting submarines somewhere in the
NJ diterranean
CrolX de Guerre his wife is de-
to Chicago Woman. ", young ms, herself s.
work at her Lake Geneva home. She
is teaching her little girls, aged six
and eight, to work also. and says that
it's only in the utmost devotion of every
waking hour to this labor that she finds
any refuge from her anxieties and wan
dering thoughts. says the Chicago
Tribune.
Her sister. Mrs Mary Borden Turner.
has attained unusual distinction in
france in her work In organizing field
hospitals for the "grands bIesses" i'm
mediately behind the firing lines She
was awarded the much priced croix de
guerre this spring.
y Practically ever since she went to