Evening star., 1920-01-04
Society,

| Court and the cabinet do not show such
encouraging figures. The Secretary OF
Labor has the largest family in the cab
met. but he is Scotch and his wife is
also the daughter of the heather, and
they adhere to the traditions of their
clans. Mr.. Daniels has the next largest
| family. and then the others either have
no children or descend from three to
| one.
The old Corcoran house. on Lafa-
: yette square, which, because it is so
soon to be demolished. is large in the
public eye. for it's historic interest has
! a little-known incident which adds
yet another to it's civil war adven-
| lures.
| The fact that the late William w.
! Corcoran. banker and philanthropist.
was an ardent southern sympathiZer
knowledge But the fact that his
stately old home escaped by a hairs
! breadth from being seized bE the
| United States government ana tnat
| this seizure was aVerted practlcaily
at the last moment by a happy in
| spiration of Mr.. Corcoran, is known
| to comparatively few. -
Word having been conveyed to Mr..
Corcoran that his home was to be
confscated by the United States gov
morning, he set his wits to work
| lightning quick at the late hour at
which this word was received.
| Quick to think way out OF the
appalling situation. Mr.. Corcoran was
| equally quick of action. and Wlthin
! the hour was closeted with his friend.
| NJ. Montholon, minister from FRANCE
| to this country. The. conference is
stated to have lasted but short tlme,
! and before the city bells toiieu lile
midnight hour two eVen,s u rorcnran
| was we'll on his way to New 1oTk.
from where, in the early dawn, ne
sailed for London-and above ms
front door, waving from an imposing
| flagstaff, floated the trlcolars u
| France. .t
| The Government officials arrived al
the appointed hour formally TO CON
! iscate the property. toNo ~; ~
tholon with his staff comfof lapiy y,i1a
tablished in their new leea'lon,
the flag above the doorway, prociaila-
| ing il to the termination OF the wal
&C French soil, effectually preVeireu
the contemplated seizure by me
| United States government-uil Inn.n
| course this country hao thIo" ncb
tba gauntlet of war to the rrenc
| jpoyernment-a course OF actioh o
| sired by either country.
Mrs Courtlandt Van Winckle' VINO
Until Wednesday last was MISS a
raretta Symons, possesses an accom-
pIishment which is much ral +h.t
ttan II was about ten years ago ina
! of being able with her own fngers 10
b;nd hooks. Mrs. Van Winckie pc
oan,e enamored of the old bindings
| of missals and that heavily coroe4
binding which is always associa'eo .o
with vellum. and she proceeoeu ~
learn the honorable trade from us
very rudiments. This she accom-
nIished at a well known school OF ar
| tistic book-covering and she peSseo
away at the first lessons lor "eeh
after week during the summer even
while she was yet at collese. ohe
mastered every detail and can now
| tmrn ont a production which would DO
| credit to the monastic centers OF the
, middle ages where the craft saw It's
besinninss She has taken many OF
her favorite books from thelr orig
| inal wrapping and fashioned one OF
her own. getting models from the oio
l;hra ries hereabouts. Georgetown Col
llege and several private collections
| Many exquisite evidences of her SKIN
| may be admired in the nome Oh Coi-
and Mrs. Thomas H. Symons, her par
! ents But her great ambition is 10
select a specific design for her hus-
hands collection of books at Yale
and to rebind every volume, task
| likely to extend through long lie
but which furnishes Zest in abun-
dance During the life of the late Ell
bert Hubbard, East Aurora was the
mecca of women who wished TO learn
this craft and many we'll known mem
bers of official society spent few
weeks there every year brushing up
or getting special instructions for
definite task. This fad has, however
ilansuished in recent years and pos
sibly not a half dozen washington
mans go actively into bookbinding
Those who did so formerly had OBJ
! tanned such great strength in their
| fingers that they were in constant de-
i; mand during the sad times of the
past three years, rolling bandages and
fashioning surgical necessities
Wyatt Bourne of Portland. Ore, wife
of the former senator. and Miss
Greedy. daughter of the arctic ex-
plorer. and several others.
Years ago the limits of official so
ciety expanded beyond the individual
| strength, and the time at the COM
| mand Of any member of it. and every
| season ways and means are devised
| In other capitals the feminine con-
tingent is permitted to discharge the
| obligation of making and returning
calls by mail. Mrs. New Member OF
| the house of commons or of the cham
| Der of deputies receives from her huS-
bands secretary a list of all existing
| officials, and she at once begins to
| send her card and her spouses to
| each address. BY and by she will get
| a card in return, and perhaps after a
| time. an invitation to some at home
| which the higher-ups intend to give.
! Her role is perfectly quiescent, to
wait and see. Catch the London or
Paris woman spending her time call
ing on women she does not desire
particularly to meet and who without
doubt are Indifferent as to whether
they meet her. They have their
| afternoons for the really enjoyable
events of the day. concerts. lectures.
the salon of some distinguished per-
| son. These ladies never dream of
keeping more than one at home day
| in each season, and frequently not
that often. They give small dinners
and theater parties or tea after some
art exhibit or studio affair. and this
way of doing takes the deadly mo-
notony out of official life which many
women find so oppressive here. Every
year there are committees from the
Congressional Club who ponder on the
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