Tensas gazette., 1917-03-02

There Is now q room in the White
House devoted to the display of inter
esting bits of china which have come
down from previous administrations.
As Uncle Sam gives to each First Lady
of the Land the privilege of ordering
china for her regime, these relics are
of peculiar interest in rejecting the
taste of former mistresses of the White
House.
Mrs. Mckinley began the work OF
tracing the history of the various
pieces of china during her last year in
the White House. The work was car
ried on by Mrs. Roosevelt, who first
gathered the china into a collection for
an exhibit for visitors. Mrs. Wilson
conceived the idea of setting aside a
room for the exhibit and this has been
done.
Mrs. WashingtOn's famous Cincin-
natl dinner set Is represented in the
collection, as well as the delicate
Adams service, Dolly Madisons blue
and gold set and bits from the admin
Taylor, including Dandy Vans" gold
knives which created a furore in con-
gress. There are specimens from the
Lincoln and Hayes collections, as well
as bits from later administrations.
Room Will Be Filled.
The room which is to be used for
the collection is directly at the south
of the main stairway in the ground
floor corridor. To prepare it for the
new cabinets the walls and ceilings
were tinted deep cream color and the
woodwork was painted ivory white.
Eventually the four walls of the room
will be lined with the cabinets, but as
yet only one has been put in. 1t ex-
tends the full length of the west side
of the apartment from the south wall
to the door leading into the diplomatic
waiting room.
The cabinet is Georgian in style and
in perfect harmony with the architec-
ture of the mansion. The woodwork
is hard pine. The long glass doors are
divided into colonial panels and the
shelves are lined with ecru velvet
which gives a good background for the
china as well as for the silver and
glass. A simple carving decorates the
pediment on which Is lettered i'm silver
the legend, "China Used by the Presi-
dents"
The relics are arranged in chronO-
logical order as far as possible, ac-
cording to the presidential admins
tratiOns. Two open sections mark the
center of the cabinet and the relics
are placed from this center to the right
and to the left.
On the upper shelf of the center
section are some of the oldest pieces Of
silver In the mansion. They include
the Won Tuyll coffee and hot water
pots, and one of the Won Tuyll round
bread trays, besides some fiat pieces
President James Monroe purchased the
set of silver to which these pieces of
silver belonged originally from a de-
parting Russian envoy, Baron Won
Tuyll, in 1898. The old chests bearing
the baron's name are still preserved in
the White House storerOoms, and each
of the pieces of plate they originally
contained is engraved with his coat of
arms.
Washington Relics Shown.
The Washington relics are arranged
in the same section with the old sill
yer. The Cincinnati plate, presented
to the collection by Mss Mary Custis
L.. . ha loo Iix.t,,. h.,
Washington descendant of her genera
ton. has the place of honor, while near
il are the blue and white platter and
plate which were given by the Misses
Thompson of New Jersey and which
were a part of dinner set which was
used by Washington in the first presi-
dents house in New York.
On the cabinet wall at the back of
the glassware hangs a silhouette of
Abigail Adams, and 1t is of interest to
note that this Is the only picture Of
the first mistress of the White House
which the executive mansion contains
The John Adams goblet, presented
some years ago by Mrs. Harry Reade
of Lowell. Mass, Is placed directly
below the silhouette. These two items
constitute the President John Adams
exhibit at present, but as some of Mrs
Adams' lovely Sevres, which was the
first china used in the White House.
is still in existence it is expected that
the patriotic descendants of the sec
.ond chief executive will add some of
the china to the collection.
On the FIRST shelf at the left Of the
IWashingtoniana is the well-known
Jefferson blue and white Cantonese
porcelain. which was presented to the
White House by the late T. Jefferson