The sun., 1918-07-28

I'm sure this is true of the Herbert
Wadsworths and | believe 1t is equally
true OF other branches of the family
a great deal of money in horse trading,
buying cheap down in Texas and
building up and developing their stock
until they could sell for much in New
York.
Mrs. Wadsworth Is genuinely fond
of horses: indeed she Is one of the
most notable horse women the District
has ever known. She has been greatly
addicted to long cross-country rides.
When President Roosevelt ordered
those test rides for army officers to
determine how well they could stand
the strain there was an cutlery. a
storm Of protest. Ninety miles in
twenty-four hours was too much,
Whereat Mrs. Wadsworth laughed;
and just to show what a mere trIfe
it was she did it herself at one sitting,
and did a few other things calculated
to make some of the swivel chair
heroes of that period look like thirty
cents.
I Mrs. Wadsworth Helping CrippIes.
Usually II the the season was at all
suitable she rode back and forth be-
tween Washington and her New York
State home. when she went up there
in the early summer Sometimes she
chaperoned a company of Washington
girls who thought pretty we'll of them
selves as horsewomen. One season.
while her father was President, I re-
member Miss Helen Taft was of the
party.
1t rarely happened that the girls
| rode the whole route, but Mrs. Wads-
worth always did 1t is said that there
is a mile track on her home place in
tried out all sorts of stunts in horse
| manship.
Several years ago when there was n
Mexican crisis on she offered in case of
trouble to equip and maintain a NOV
I ing field hospital. which horse or mule
drawn. would be able to follow troops
into whatever wild country or noun
tain fastness fighting might take
them; her only condition being that
she should be allowed to go along
In any capacity they liked. so that she
only went along. She was ready TO
pay high for front seat in the show.
When she realized that that condi-
ton made the offer almost impossible
| Of acceptance she withdrew It. When
she made n somewhat similar offer a
| couple Of years later when troops
actually did get down to the border,
and beyond, in the effort to catch Villa
alive or dead. II was unconditional.
| Rut ~ ronrSa hn uoiIl5 ba ana ~
those to go over when the European
war broke, and she must have been
one of the most useful, for she has
along with plenty of means plenty of
good sense and executive'ability. For
several years she had. been little in
Washington, and the big Wadsworth
house on du Pont Circle had been little
used. So retaining only a few rooms
for the use OF the owners in case they
wanted to come here and making those
to a certain extent storerooms for their
belongings in the rest of the house, she
lent 1t to the Red Cross as headquar-
ters for the District of Columbia or
ganization.
Early in the winter she came back
afire with enthusiasm over the won,
| u
struction, that is-the miracles She
had seen performed in the hospitals
OF France and England in the way OF
rebuilding the human wrecks of the
European battlefelds. Red Cross
work, bandages, surgical dressings
garments, &C., were tame as compared
with the reconstruction work.
She organized classes among the
girls Of her own social circle. and
eventually took back her house or
du Pont Circle; the Red Cross found
other quarters; and the house which
had once been the scene of brilliant
entertaining became the headquarters
Of Mrs. Wadsworth's reconstruction
classes. whose pupils went out &c
Walter Reed Hospital, as they pro
crossed, for demonstration and prac-
tical work under the surgeons there
Some OF her girls have gone to
France-Lena Hitchcock and Lydia
Bush Brown Just recently. And un,
doubtedly more will follow though
now that many OF the worst wreck:
from all-the armies engaged-tns ths