The Washington herald., 1918-02-17
TOcieEy
V''''"0T0"7
By E. c. DRUM-HUNT.

Washington drew Q long breath-and
thanked heaven for Ash Wednesday
and the chance to draw one. Never. II
seems. have so many things-such In
teresting things and such different
things-that one didn't want to miss.
been crowded into two days, as were
jammed into Monday and Tuesday. OF
course, there was nothing doing at
all on Wednesday-and then the re-
vival began-very mildly and sedately,
as becomes the penitential season, but
none the less unmistakably.
IL wasn't the mad whirl Of big par
ties-balls, masquerades, etc.-that are
usually crowded into the last few days
before Lent. There were dances, but
they were comparatively small ones.
But the war conditions. which have
eliminated these big crushes. have
brought forth other things infinitely
more interesting things that one
doesn't want to miss. while nobody
cares about going to one dance. more
or less-for after all they're pretty
much OF a muchness."
But there was that Mary Garden and
Casals recital Monday night at Mrs.
Thomas Cans for the British-Ameri-
can war relief. One would have hated
TO have to pass that up. People had
been treasuring their tickets for two
weeks-in fact. for three. for Mrs.
Can and the others who were running
it had been obliged to announce a
week before the date originally set for
il that they could sell no more tickets
the house was completely sold out
the possible limits of accommodation
already exceeded. Then Mary Garden
hegaIonad arufa casa of
and postponed the affair. first for one
week. and then when blizzard piled on
blizzard. and trains were getting stuck
in drifts, for another. rather than risk
her very valuable larynx under such
travelling conditions. Nobody blamed
her-but when she did get here. Louis
Thompson, who was to have had his
part in the program. was nursing an
other case Of laryngitis and could not
appear. Charlie Tittman took his
place. He was able to sing. though
at Mrs. Champ Clark's at-home OH
"Wednesday. when she received the
members Of the Congressional Club,
Mrs. Clark gave as an inducement for
coming to her party the fact that ''sc
very handsome and charming young
man named Louis Thompson was going
to sing"
However. it was worth waiting
fOr-musically. And socialIy7 Even
in Washington one rarely sees an
assemblage of people who are at
once the quintessence Of smart
ness, and so thoroughly worth
while. OF course the diplomats Of
the allied powers were out in force
the French Ambassador and Mime.
Jusserand. the italian Ambassador
and the Countess di Cellere. and
most Of their staffs. and nearly all
Of the British Embassy.
Wasn't 1t a pity that Lord and
Lady Reading couldn't be there,
especially since it was for the Brit
itsh War Relief? 1t was hoped they
would be, since Mrs. Arthur willert
Arthur Willert has been here for
ten years, nearly. as correspondent
of the London Times and other
Northcliffc papers and recently. re-
lieyed of that duty. as Lord North
CIifIe's personal representative on
the British War Mission-hinted
that they were expecting word of
the new British Ambassadors arriv-
al at almost any minute-and she
did hope that he and Lady Reading
would be here in time for this con-
cert. OF course they actually were
in town. but until Lord Reading
had presented his credentials and
been received by Lansing and the
President. it would not have been
"comme II faut" for him to appear
at any such function. (As a matter
OF fact. he had appeared earlier
that same day at the Capitol and
listened to the President tell Con-
gress what he thought of Hertling
and Czernln. but 1 suppose that
sort OF an occasion is not exactly a
function-though it's not so far
from it there daysO
The cream of all the sets was