Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1920-03-12
RICH IN TRADITION.
White House Replete With Ten
der Human Memories.
Associations Dear to the Heart of Ev.
cry American Cling About the
Historic Home of the Chief
Executive. ', -..e>

when President Wilson, because OF
his Illness, received the king. of the
.Belgians while propped up in bed, with
torn sweater about his shoulders.
and told the princeSof Wales that tie
bed in (which he lay had. been occupied
by Baron Renfrew. later King Edward
VII, and Abraham Lincoln, he added
traditions to the host that already
cling about the White House. With
this introduction the, National Geo
graphic society has issued bulletin
on the home of the presidents which.
it says, has more tender human MEM
cries than any otller public building
In America. From cellar, where col
ored "mammies" have cooked for pres
idents, pies like mother used to
make" to attic, where the Roosevelt
children played and romped, there are
associations which. range from the
quaint. to the sublime. ...
President Wilson's enforced : dis
habille recalls the premeditated negii-
gee-worn slippers, yarn stockings and
old .suit-hy which Jefferson sought to
impress the British ambassador with
American democracy when that Off
cial arrived in full official dress to pre-
sent his credentials. Early morning
callers on John Quincy Adams had to
cool their heels until that president
finished three chapters in the Bible
and walked down back of, the White
House for a swim in the Potomac. To
adrop in" at the White House eve
nings, quite the sociable thing to do. D..
during Jackson's terms, meant finding
the chief executive before an open
fire, in an old loose coat, doing duty
as a smoking jacket, putting at long
pipe with a bowl of red clay.
Every room Of the White House
abounds in history. The oak-paneled
state dining room knows dinners of
the homely sort that Jefferson gave
when the Washington village butcher
brought along, his son, because he
heard there was to be an extra place
at the table; of the picturesque Kind.
like one given more than century
ago to the Tunisian ambassador, who
was aggrieyed>because everyone would
not withdraw while he smoked his
pipe, though his secretary showed his
good will by tremendously kissing the
ladies' present; of the. bizarre kind
given by Theodore Roosevelt to cow
punchers, ex-prize fighters and dis
tinguished men Of letters, not TO men-
ton the famous one with Booker L.
Washington as. a guest, and many
memorable banquets, like those TO
Marshal Joffre and Sir Arthur Bal
four, when the, china set of 1,5oo
pieces and the famous cat glass;, ev-
cry piece of which is engraved with
the arms of the United States, were
used. &, -.
No room Is better know to the pub
lie than the east room, of late years
the scene of brilliant receptions and
White House weddings. 1t, too, has
memories of. a cruder democracy,
when all Washington fiocked there to
follow about the servants who car
ried refreshments, seizing upon what
ever they could get" and upon one
occasion two "ladies" perched upon
the chimney piece to get a better
view of the colOrful scene.
Recent discussion of gifts received
by the president and Mrs. Wilson
while abroad lends interest to- speci-
mems of those made to other presi-
dents and "first ladies'" which re-
main in the White House. The blue
room contains the most famous of
these. the gold mantel clock presented
to Washington by Lafayette, who re-
ceived it from Napoleon. In the green
room is the Gobelin tapestry, made by
process which now is lost art, and
framed in gold, which the emperor OF
Austria gave Mrs Grant. Near by is
a lacquer cabinet. gift of Japan on
the occasion Of the first visit to its
ports by American ships. And there
are many more.