Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1921-04-29
HOUSEKEEPING IN THE
WHITE H0I ST

Mrs. Warren G. Harding must ge
ready 70 run the most widely known
residence in the United States. as tn.
thirtyfifth mistress Of the White
House.
To the average American housewife.
it would seem very easy 70 make a rea
home with such helps from Uncle San
as $4,000 salary. a 40 room house
rent free. a 10 acre park. automobiles
and many other requisites
| Yet such is the fierce light that
beats upon public life, such the de-
nands Of her position. that only e
woman genius can make and has made
the White House a home. For the last
few administrations the home element
has been uppermost. The Roosevelts
I from the President 10 the baby, Quen-
tin, loved the White House, and il was
home to them in every sense Of the
word. The Tafts. too, had a family Of
young people and the home spirit was
kept intact for them.
The present administration likewise
has fostered the home spirit and be-
yOnd doubt both the President and Mrs.
Wilson viii miss the atmosphere OF
home that the genius Of the woman
has built up in the White House. even
in the midst Of the war distractions
and illness.
In late years a housekeeper. Mrs
Jaffray. who has been al the White
House since Mrs. Taft was there. is in
direct charge OF all the housekeeping
details. although the White House
ladies supervise and check and direct
the machinery OF the household as
every good housewife should. Mrs.
Jaffray does all the marketing for the
household and controls all the ordinary
domestic expenditures, paying for
everything and submitting her ar
counts for a final audit 10 the Presi-
dents wife.
Three White House cooks. a chief
cook and two assistants. rule over the
kitchens which are modern in type
and fitted up with every reasonable
variety Of labor and time saving mach
inery. IN the pantry IS an electric
dumbwaiter and an electric plate
warmer. This instrument on occasion
has heated as many as five thousand
plates al official functions. The silver
is all cleaned by electric machinery.
No caterers get up state dinners in
the White House. Everything IS pre-
pared by the house cooks This even
extends 10 the ices. and that is prob
ably one reason why the White House
tables Of refreshments at formal func
tons are always so popular. Unlike
most nations. there is no entertain
ment fund. as such. for the American
President He pays out of his own
pocket for the food he furnishes TO his
guests.
Just off the kitchens is the laundry.
a large modern type. fitted with wash
ing machines and other devices. So
much clean linnen is demanded that
every day is washday at the White
House, and the clothes are hung out
in the air in the yard just back OF the
kitchens. Three women are kept ar
work constantly in the laundry. All
OF the family laundry is done here.
One Of the most attractive rooms in
the lower part Of the White House is
the flower room. where all the flowers
for the White House are prepared fresh .
from the White House Conservatives. +
Uncle Sam Is very lavish with his 4
flowers. Wonderful blossoms are cut I
.ivated. which keep the executive man !
sion mass Of fragrance and beauty /
sixty thousand roses were furnished i
or the White House. Local charities. /
hospitals. fetes and sick people often I
receive from the President boxes OF !
flowers marked From the White
House"
Three hundred roses are sent to the
White House every morning and dis
ributed about the rooms. Sixty and
more vases and recepatables are kept
Illed and placed in the public and pri-
-ate apartments.
The state dining room. n baronial
lan with paneled walls Of oak and
ichly carved cornlces embellished
With heads Of animals from our own
lunting grounds. Flemish tapestries.
massive chandeliers and exquisite
liver light fixtures and oriental rugs.
: setting enough for dinner TO poet
T king. When the big mahogany table .
set FOR a state dinner, the furnish
,g OF the room is complete The $50
20 dinner set Of china bought during /.
he Roosevelt regime Is used.
The P. r. O. Record