The Washington times., 1921-03-20

Not only that, but Mrs. Harding
herself expects to lend q hand In
making the day q memorable occa-
sion for Washington kiddies.
Eater egg rolling on the White
House lawns has for several genera
tions been an event looked forward
to for months by washington chill
dren and doctors.
The custom was origipated. history
says, by. one Dolly Madison back In
1909 or 1Sl0. her, children being the
first in the White House. The only
difference between those days and
these 10 the price of the eggs.
The spectacle of swiftly rolling,
hectically colored eggs. and the salts
faction Of eating those that had
cracked after a long trip down hill.
rapidly became so popular among the
children that there was no longer
room for them all in the White House
grounds. and overflow meetings were
staged on the White House grounds
and later in the Geological Park. where
the roar of hungry lions and the roar
of hungrier children made the long
afternoon hideous.
EGGS ARE EATEN.
Egg rolling may be a science or 1t
stander has no method of determin-
ing. Whatever else happens, one
thing may be confidently looked for
ward to. The eggs will be eaten.
That Is certain. &
Whether the owner eats the eggs is
immaterial. except to the owner.
When q child at the bottom of q hill
sees a cracked egg coming his way
he grabs 1T, tears off the shell, and
attempts to cram the thing into his
face before the rightful owner, driven
on by fury and hunger. lands on him.
II he gets II all in, well and good.
If not. then somebody eats dirt along
with the egg. But the egg is eaten.
Make no mistake about that.
II a crowd OF boys gets together
especially If they are hungry-mere
rolling may be too slow a method of
disposing OF the hen fruit. Then the
egg hght begins.
One boy holds an egg in his fst.
strikes it with his egg. The
boy whose egg cracks must hand it
over to the other fellow to be de,
There's science in this game. The
small end Of the egg is hardest to
crack. A duck egg or a guinea hen
egg Is harder than a hens egg-that's
q good point to remember. IL the
boy is clever enough to get away with
II he can blow his egg and MI it with
plaster Of paris before indulging in
battle. Or he can ring in a ctina
nest egg. In either case he must ex-
pect beating sooner or later. The
big point gained is that his iaBards
are generally pretty full OF van
quished eggs before the beating be-
gins. And that Is a wonderful help.
The beating is merely an incidental.
There are things that hurt worse
that comes later.
Or, IL the egg fighter is skillful
he can hold his egg so that
it is protected by his thumb joint
without giving the trick away to the
other chap. Just a quick twist of the
hand as the other fellows slams his
egg down, and thumb joint instead OF
egg gets hit. And that's all hunky-
dory. A thumbs harder than an egg
anyhoY. Unless IT'S china nest
CLUTTER UP LAWN.
At the White House che rolling
takes place on the south slope, which
c completely covered with a carpeo q
Of squirming children and eggs which
"ouid be squirming IL they weren't
boiled. And after the last child and
The last egg has been carried off In
owing arms to the nearest doctor, the
avn is something to gaze upon. II
one stares closely enough an occas-
,ional spear of grass can be seen
weakly straining up through the
aver of broken egg shells and paper.
The next day the Department of
Public Buildings and Grounds gets
busy and cleans up the mess. But for
ronths tiny fragments of egg shell
ian be seen on the slopes.
All in all, however, 1t is some time.
And the children, having been de-
MED for some years, are planning to
make the most of it.
"Yoo-hoo, Shinnay! Aint you sick
yet? I've eat about twenty aiggs, an
Amt"
Listen for that one.