The New York herald., 1922-01-15

III
which 1t did with very little delay. The
Blue room and the Green room were
roped off-velvet ropes across the door
way in charge of guards. discreet guards
sufficiently familiar with official and
diplomatic society to know whom to
keep out and whom to admit to the inner
circle.
Three Groups OF Guests,
There were three groups OF guests.
the members of the diplomatic corps.
the bright particular stars of the party,
theoretically anyhow. They came in
by the south entrance to their special
cloak rooms downstairs and were as
sembled in the State dining room: a
second group Of rather favored mortals
who were given green admission cards
along with their invitations. and in
structed to use the North entrance.
the front" door facing Pennsylvania.
They were assembled in the red parlor
and were received Immediately after the
diplomatic group. Some of the dele
gates to the arms conference members
of the advisory council. members OF
the resident set who affect the society
of the diplomatic corps, the rather
ultra exclusives, or people OF rather In
determinate status like the wives Of
assistant secretaries, most OF whom are
distinctly smart; Miss Ailsa Mellon.
who came in a perfect dream OF
wrap Of white ermine, along with her
cousin Miss Olyve Graef and Miss Mil
dred Bromwell, who chums with both,
apparently under the escort Of Sir Ar"
hnr tn
red room. So did Prince and Princess
-Skeransky. and Princess
Bertha. Mrs. Fred Dent Grant. Prin-
cess Cantacuzene'S mother, came in
later.
But let's get back to the White House,
and watch the diplomats go down the
line, beginning with Jusserand, the vet
eran French Ambassador who has been
here nearly twenty years. with his
American wife. and ending with Count
Laszle Szechenyi. the new Hungarian
Minister. who presented his credentials
only last Tuesday-also with his Amer
ican wife, who was Gladys Vanderbilt
and his American mother-in-law-Mrs.
Cornelius Vanderbilt.
1t was interesting to watch the French
Ambassador and Nine. Jusserand after
they had themselves greeted their hosts,
pause, and one by one. present person.
ally to the President each member of
the French Embassy staff. And it was
interesting to watch the Szechenyis-
already well established here socially
making their debut as members of the
diplomatic corps. Count SZechenyi
was a noticeable figure In a uniform
that included one Of those little capes
that seem to hang precariously from
one shoulder. There used to be several
of them in the Austrian Embassy staff
in the pre-war days, but his was the
only one I noticed at the White House
on Thursday.
Mrs. Vanderbilt was a striking figure
in her deep rose colored velvet gown,
with jets and crystals and her jewels.
especially her curious headdress Of
strands of diamonds arranged in a lad
der effect. (Curious headdresses were a
feature OF the evening. by the way.)
Mrs. Marshall Field wore some mar
velous emeralds. And l wondered IL she
had settled in the green parlor because
/. matched her matchless Jewels. J
can't begin to tell you everybody / saw
there. Under Secretary Of State and Mrs.
Fletcher were constantly surrounded and
congratulations and questions as to when
they were going to Belgium kept tn IN
busy. Mr.. Fletcher assured all come-s
that he'd like to know the answer ~
least a month after the conference ad-
journs-and that is on the knees of tn,
gods"
5000 at the Reception.
You know It had not seemed to promise
at all well, this first reception of the
Hardings. The arrangements didn't ap-
peal at all in advance. But 1t worked
out beautifully, and was one OF the
incest state functions" ever held. There
must have been about 1900 people there
and a very large percentage of them
were interesting people--personage
And the thing went off without a hitci.
Never have 1 seen the diplomats stick
around for so long they didn't seem to
want to go. Even Nine. Jusserand. who
was really ill--had been in bed for sew
eral days with something very like grip
as the result of the nice little open air
ceremony on a chill wintry hillside when
she and Mrs Harding unveiled the statue
of Jeanne dare In Meridian Park last
week. and had made considerable effort
to get there-cOuldn't seem to tear ner-
self away. She looked unusually hand
some In "A very effective gown OF orange
chiffon velvet and gold brocade. and
some beautiful diamonds. 1t was after
midnight when 1 left, and the party
looked good for an hour or two yet
l should have liked to have gotten
hold of Mrs. Newton Baker, or Mrs.
Meredith. cabinetecrs of the last regime.
and found out how the changes inn
pressed them. / believe they we're both
there, although / did not happen to ses
them. The former Secretary of Agricul-
ture and Mrs. Edwin T. Meredith. are
here for quite "a stay. and all sorts OF
parties are being planned for them, for
they were ever so popular. They are at
hotel for the time being, but UNDER
stand that they are quite likely TO take
house-or an apartment and settle
down here for couple of months.
After all, Mrs. Meredith could not
have compared this reception with those
of the Wilson regime--at least. not
from the inside for there were no
White House receptions during the
time that she was I'm the cabinet. But
Mrs. Baker had her experience with
White House receiving parties. She Is
here for n visit OF n coupl, of weeks.
possibly longer. with Brg. Gen. and
Mrs. William u. Connor. who have
house In Massachusetts avenue this
winter. since Gen. Connor is on duty
at the War Department. She only
arrived Thursday but understand she
was at the White House with the Con-
nors. She naturally would be, you know.
Monday night. after the Hughes
dinner in their honor. the President and
Mrs. Harding looked in at the willard
where the Charity Ball was In full
swing-the ball for the Childrens Hos
pital. which is not merely one Of but