The Washington times., 1921-05-22
White House Garden
Party THE Event of
Busy Week-Guests
Linger Till Band Plays
End of Perfect Day."
VIE PRESIDENT AND MRS.
HARDING must be in league


nearly every al fresco fete planned
for the first half of May had to be
postponed at least once ION account
of inclement weather" But the Hard =
ings drew an absolutely perfect day
for the first garden party at the White
House, and when, as the sun was set
ting, the Marine Band played THE
End OF a Perfect Day. 1t expressed
the sentiments of every one of the 500
guests.
The only trouble was that the COM
pany was a bit obtuse. There had
been "a piece in the papers" about
The End of a Perfect Day" being
Mrs. Harding's favorite air and so
when the cornetist. who had played
several solos during the afternoon.
started on those familiar strains. no
body paid any attention to him.
The President and Mrs. Harding were
still on duty and the party was still
going strong. But presently the band
tried it again. and then the President
and Mrs. Harding, Col. Clarence Sher-
rill and another man stood "at at
tention" right down in front of the
band, listening. But even then-well,
you know some people are slow!
Finally host and hostess came up into
the East Room, where a second band
"a nice jazzy one--was playing for
show that they could, and listened
reverently while the band again-the
whole band this time-assured the
party that this was, indeed, The End
OF a Perfect Day." and this time, /
think, it penetrated.
So hereafter probably Home. Sweet
Home" will be considered passee and
when a hostess wishes to notify her guests
pleasantly and politely that the party
.nFll tAa 10 txl
for The End of a Perfect Day."
The White House garden party was
the crowning event of the last week.
And such week! The Peruvian Am
bassador and Nine. Pezet had big
party at the Pan-American Building
on Thursday evening to celebrate the
unveiling of a bust of DR.. Hipol!to
Unanue. to whom Peru owes her inde-
pendence, which was presented to the
Pan-American Union by the Peruvian
government. The last part of the week
has been given over to the entertain
ment of that most wonderful of wom-
en-, Nine. Curie. who reached Wash
~ ington on Friday and will scarcely be
allowed to catch her breath before she
leaves for Philadelphia tomorrow. The
circus came to town and was attended
by young people of all ages, from Mrs.
Harding down. ELECTRA" most ia
nous of the tragedies of Euripides,
with Edith Wynne Matthison in the
title role, was given for the benefit OF
the Wellesley endowment fund and
brought out a distinguished audience.
The annual garden party for the
House of Mercy took place at the Ca
thedral Close and came to a pleasant
close with supper served under the
trees, a panorama of all Washington
stretched at the feet of those who lin
gered to sup. The Third Cavalry out
at Fort Myer celebrated its seventy
NTH birthday with a review and an
athletic carnival-the President and
Mrs. Harding witnessing the review
winding UP with ball which lasted
until early morning. And the Horse
Show played n running accompaniment
10 all the other festivities of the week
-
There's something stimulating to the
imagination in the very word "frst"
and the first garden party of the
present Administration will go down to
history as a huge success 1t was. the
first big crush" of the Harding regime,
and big as 1t was it wasn't crush at
all. For the White House grounds are
big enough to accommodate crowd
that would tax any drawing room or
succession OF drawing rooms in town.
Given the lively White House
gardens in all their springtime
beauty, with the great fountain play
ing, the sunlight filtering through the
trees and an assemblage of the most
distinguished men and women in
Washington strolling about the slop-
ing green lawns-the women like tho
gorgeous giant blossoms in their sum
mer finery-and one has lovely
picture to remember. Moreover, the
President and Mrs. Harding seem to
OF
and of all the White House parties
have attended / have never known
one at which everybody seemed to
have such a genuinely good time.
There wasJno lack of stateliness,
every detail of the reception was care
fully thought out, but by their very
greeting the President and Mrs. Hard
ing did away with any possibility OF
stiffness and made everybody feel at
home. President Harding has a warm
handclasp for everyone and has down
to a fine point the art of injecting the
personal touch into the merest word
in passing. And Mrs. Harding Is a
born hostess.
Everybody felt that he-or she
was especially welcome and that 1t
nattered personally to the President
and Mrs. Harding whether he-or she
enjoyed the party. When the re-
celvlng line was held up Tor mo-
ment the President, laughingly, told
one attractive woman: Don't be in a
hurry; you know l like to hold your
hand"--and that woman is sure he's
the greatest President the United
states ever had-bar none. And Mrs.
Harding clung momentarily TO the
band of more than one pretty girl. to
Shom she whispered hurriedly as
she passed: stick around a bit, there
viii be dancing in the East Room a
Nttle later" And, OF course, the girls
stuck around. Who wouldn't when
thus invited?
Besides. one wouldn't want n
pleasanter place to stick around In.
with a constant procession of friends
and acquaintances with whom to ex-
ehange news and vewR a veritable