The Washington herald., 1919-02-09

was tight about the feet. draped
little on the hips both to the left of
the front and the right OF the back,
showing a little of n silver lace I'M
derskirt. Nancy Lane and her broth
er, Ned Lane, were also in that din
ncr party but | saw them slip quietly
out of the hotel Immediately after
dinner. without even going uear the
ball room. You see Miss Lane i:as
not uade her debut and her parents
do not approve of her keeping late
hours so her brother took her home.
If he returned later for the ball l did
not see him.
Gen. and Mrs. Rarnctt were at
the ball and had with them very
attractive party Of young people.
friends of Mrs. Barnett's debutante
daughter. Miss Leila Gordon. who
entertained them at dinner earlier
in the evening. The honor guest at
the dinner was the very youthful
daughter of Col. and Mrs. John Rus
sell. l.. S NJ C. whose engagement
was announced that evening to John
Dryden Kuser. of Bennettsville, n.
j.. son of Col. Anthony r. Kuser.
and a grandson of the late Senator
John F. Dryden, of New Jersey. Miss
Russell is hardly more than a child
and if shn had not become engaged
would not have made her debut for
two years yet. She is very precOcious.
though. always has bean rather old
for her years. and IS extremely clever.
She has Travelled much with her par
entS. as her fathers duties have
taken him to different parts of the
world, and she speaks several Ian
guagcs Her mother IS an unusually
attractive woman. remember
meeting her once at n dinner party
and found her extremely enterta An
ing. She held the entire attention
of the whole party with her Horv"r-
sation all evening. Col. and Mrs.
Russell have just returned from
Haiti, but last winter they resided
in De Sales street. The wedding will
take place in the spring.
Which brings to mind the fact that
Lillian Birney has selected the date
of her marriage to Capt. Edward R.
Finkenstaedt, February 2G. 1t is quite
TO be expected that she should have
selected the little church at Chevy
Chase for the ceremony as it was in
that little church that those Birney
girls grew up. The Birneys lived fos
wears in Chevy Chase. Mrs. Harold
Walker, who was Miss Aloncita White
and a half-sister of Lillian and Cath
crime Birney, the latter now Nine.
Won Schoen, also grew up in Chevy
Chase. and it was not until she mar
ried and went to Mexico to live and
the BirnCy girls were left orphans
and went to Mexico to reside with
the Walkers. that they gave up their
home in Chevy Chase.
Then. upon their return to Wash
ington, Mrs. Walker opened the Chevy
Chase house for a while, but has leas-
ed it, the last two winters and rented
a town house. Their mother was Mrs.
Theodore Birncy. the founder and
first president Of the Mothers Con-
gress.
She has been dead quite few years
and Mrs Walker practically raised
those girls She has beer a real
mother to them from the time of their
birth.
Leila Gordon, perhaps. has the best
time of all the seasons debutantes un-
less it is Mildred Bromwell. When
Leila is not going to parties she is
on horseback Some one said the
other day that it was an interesting
coincidence that there are two ex-
ceptionally clever young poetesses
among the debutantes, Frances Hop
kins and Leila Gordon. Frances Hop
kins has written several books of
poems, having started when she was
but a little tot. But then one might
expect Eevil Munroe Hopkins daugh-
ter to do things like that for the Hop
klns are all genuises of one sort or
another.
But 1t develops that Leila Gordon
is not the poet of that family, but
her younger sister, Anne. She has
written poetry and good poetry, too,
since she was only and at the age
of 10 published q very clever little
fiction story called THE Awaken
ing" 1t was pronounced as quite
remarkable by many who knew
what they were talking about. She
hasn't written anything lately as
her days are full of so many and
varied interests that she doesn't
have time to think. Her mother
Mrs. Barnett, won't be at home to-
morrow as she and the General