The Washington herald., 1918-04-21

i've Jeanette Rankin.
time the receiving line broke up.
She dances quite as we'll as she
sings-and seems as fond OF doing it.
| The Daughters were right peevish
about the Presidents calmly cancel
ing his date with them at the last
minute. 1T wasn't as II he had TO
do anything else" as one of them
said. As a matter of fact he didn't
| do anything else. At least he didn't
go anywhere else. He stayed quietly
in the White House-and presumably
read-whiIe Mrs. Wilson possibly
knitted war comforts. and perhaps
tried her half finished helmet on the
Presidential head, as described by DR..
AXson. SO the opening exercises
were rather a Hamletless performance
Of Hamlet, though all the rest of the
cast was there-the French Ambas-
sador and the Italian Ambassador,
and the Belgian and Serbian min
listers. and Gen. McI.a achlan. the mill
tary attache of the British Embassy.
representing Lord Reading. who had
a perfectly genuine previous engage
ment. TO say nothing of the Secretary
And TO the grumblings that the Presi-
dent might have shown the Daugh-
ters the same courtesy as all these
foreigners there is the perfectly
obvious response that one takes
liberties with ones own.
1t was quite the most peaceable
lCongTess the d. A. r. has pulled of
in years-probably because it was
strictly war CongresS"-and as the
Prayer Book says: In the midst Of
war We are at peace" Which after
all is not in the least what the
Prayer Book says-but the Prayer
Book was not written yesterday. The
Daughters were so busy discussing
war measures. and war services, and
war relief. and voicing their patriot
ism that they didn't have time, or in
clinatiOn for internecine hostilities.
They attended strictly to their
knittin'-literalIy. for most OF them
had it with them-and fguratively.
Besides. II was an Off-year in d.
A. r. politics-no particularly in
teresting election on-nothing but
la batch of vice-presidents general.
1t set me thinking of last years
congress. with four candidates for
president general in the field-and
the many leading figures of that
congress that are conspicuously alb
sent this year-Mrs. Story-the late
president generaI-Mrs. Horton.
Mrs. Squires, Mrs. Lewis-the three
candidates who also ram" 1
haven't seen any of them this year.
Mrs. Lewis is in town of course
but I doubt II any of the others are.
Mrs. Horton was terribly dis
tressed last year at the idea of some
of her young kinsmen going into
the service and running such fear
ful risks--not that she would have
N?l them stay out, but it came very
NOR home to her. And Mrs. Squires.
r'fose sons and sons-in-law were
already in, and whose youngest son
was even then awaiting only her
permission to join the ranks OF the
aviCtors. And, of course, she had
wired him her blessing and told
him to go. il he must. But this year
the knife has gone much deeper.
Scarcely a woman there whose son
or husband was not in the service.
many of them in active service.
many more awaiting only their or
deTs for overseas. 1t was rather a
dramatic moment when the official
reader announced that one of the
Pennsylvania delegates was wanted
at the door. where her SON.. who had
received his orders, was waiting to
hid her good-by. Many another
mothers heart was In her mouth
lest she, too, get such a message.
. And even as I looked over the
Ipress table 1 wondered where were
the boys of yesteryear. Some OF
them in one or another of the can
tonments. Some already over
there. There was Tommy Darden-
smiling. freckled Tommy Darden,
of the st. Louis Globe-Democrat.
and a few other papers, telling ev-
eTybody. quite smilingly. of his
hopeless passion for Mrs. Lewis.
and his mad desire to smash that
little chap from Canada, who seem
ed to have made more of an impress
sion than he had. They tell me
Tommy Is now in France running
a tank, and smashing little chaps
who are not from Canada. Great
kid. Tommy! Bet he's still smiling
as he smashes.
1t seems only the other day that
I met him, still smiling. but very
self-conscious in his new uniform.
They tell me. by the way. that down
at Camp Meade when he heard his
fellow officers complaining bitter
ly of the injustice of not allowing
them commutation for their fami-
lies while they were in camp or at
the front. he listened--still smiling.
and said nothing. / doubt II 1t hit
Tommy personally. But, presently
he mildly suggested-''Why not
take 1t up with Baker?' Just like
that!
They nearly threw a fit." Anything
so simple and direct as that was abb
surd. 1t was unheard OF. They didn't
do things that way in the army. Tom
my listened. stfll smiling. and said
! nothing. But next time he had. leave
. he hoped on q car and came 10
Kashlngfon. And before any onS