The Washington times., 1917-02-21
MARDI GRAS BALL
CONCLUDES SEASON
Decorations and Lighting Fea-
ture Dance of Riding and
Hunt Club.

Washington's Mardi Gras-the ira
ditional blaze Of glory in which every
season must wind up-Itook the form
this year Of the Riding and Hunt Clubs
costume ball at the Willard last night
for the benefit Of the Purple Cross, the
relief organization which charges itself
with the care Of suffering horses which
have done their bit" on the European
battle fronts. 1t was not perhaps as big
blaze as some that Washington has
seen, but 1t certainly was a pretty one.
Never, 1t seems to me, has the ball
room Of the Willard looked lovelier.
The walls were hung with bolts and
bolts OF green cheese cioth-the statis-
tical mind would love to tell how many
miles, and stretch them from Washing
ton to Boston or Chicago-against
which were massed branches of pine and
spruce, small cedars and other ever
greens. through which moose and elk
poked their splendid, many-branched
antlers. and gazed with inquiring eyes
on the antics Of the Humans.
Lighting Feature.
The lighting was perhaps the tri-
umph of the decorative scheme.
Around the sides o fthe room, yellow
lanterns, some of them modern Japan
ese. others fashinoed on ancient Eu-
ropean lines hung from the trees
branches and the rose arbo-s, and
down the center of the room were
most wonderfully glowing many hued
balls, like giant glistening colored
snow balls, alternating with yellow
domes of light. The "sonw balls"
looked the part exactly before the
colored lights were thrown upon them
making each one different color.
Many Not In Costume.
The boxes were arranged in delight
full little rose-trellised bowers, which
made tremendously becoming set
ting for the gay costumes of the oc-
cupants And, by the way, one notice.
able feature OF the costume party"
was the large proportion of guests
who were not in costume. Many of the
men thought bright red sash was
all the occasion required.
That sounds more like a kewpie
costume than one suitable to a ball
room, but still! And quite a.
many of the women, IL you had asked
them what they were going to wear,
would have said nothing but powder
and patches, my dear" which sounds
even more unconventional and decid-
edly breezy for FEBRUARY. But, as a
matter OF fact, the average evening
gown, barring a few that are of dis
tinctly uncolonial architecture, WON
with powder and patches. makes a
very good blufr at a Colonial cos
tune"
Few Hunt Costumes.
Which brings me back to the fact
that this was a hunt" ball. though
one might have been excused for for
getting it, so slight was the sprIn-
Killing of costumes even distantly con-
nected with hunting, except those
taking part in the various features OF
the pageant supposed to illustrate the
history of the chase. Nominal1y gen
eral dancing began at 10, but, as a
matter OF fact, il had scarcely gotten
under way when the bugler sounded
retreat"
Pan scantIIy Attired.
Pan, in the person of Milton Bry-
an, acting as a herald, dashed
through the rooms announcing that
the centaurs were coming. Pan was
rather attractive. but he didn't have
much more on than an automobile
veil and a pair of tiny horns. The
centaurs were not attractive. One
accepts the word of the National
School of Applied Arts, which ar
ranged the group. that they were
more true than beautiful" They
danced a good deal, and one who pro
fessed to know, explained confiden-
TALLY that they had to, needed the
exercise TO keep warm. for they didn't
have much on but their horses" Yes,
indeed, the same dear, familiar hobby
horses that figured in the BeauX Arts
tournament of the last two seasons
and have been such reliable props al
the Riding and Hunt Club society
circuses.
The nymphs in the same group
were decidedly better to look upon,
though they were-or should / say,
because they were?-rather scantily
attired in a few yards of chiffon veil
ing artisticaIly disposed.
The Diana group which followed,
arranged by Mrs. John Jay White,
was very effective. and Ruth Wilson,
who had the star part as Diana, look
ed her best in her classic drsperies,
with the crescent moon in her hair.
The get-up was tremendously becom-
ing to her.
Real Redskins.
Perhaps the hit OF the evening was
the Daniel Boone group, headed by