The Washington herald., 1922-07-23

tendant, and sometimes more. to
watch over them. You see Mrs.
Mclean, who was Evelyn Walch.
will own the Thomas F. walch mil
lions, and then John Mclean left
his only son. Net, a very large for
tune, too. His wife was a Miss
Beale, an old, aristocratic and
wealthy family too, but not so
wealthy as the McLeans. So these
kiddies are very rich. And the big
gates had to be closed and guarded
for their sakes. A policeman from
the Tenleytown station nearby was
assigned to watch that house all of
the time for years.
Two charming features of the
park are the fountain just In front
Of the big portico-the house faces
'south-which plays when the Nc
Leans have company. At nights
sometimes lights are thrown on the
spraying fountain, making a very
pretty sight. Then there Is an un-
usual water tower. a stucco affair
with a clock in 1t. which Is a land
mark in that section. Recently
they have built a golf course. too
which is frequently enjoyed by
President Harding and his bud
dies" Then of course there are
tennis courts and stables and other
such things to help make. the Presi-
dent thoroughly enjoy his leisure
hours-if he has any. He doesn't
seem to have any, so far as can
see, unless he is out Of town and
then he frequently has to speech
or somthing of the sort.
sECLUsION
AT FRIENDSHIP.
But at Friendship he can close
the big iron gates ind be all TO
himself. The place Is surrounded
by a high grey stone wall topped
with an iron fence. That wall,
which runs for over a quarter OF
a mile along one of our main high-
ways, the Georgetown-Rockv
road, was recently moved back a
number of feet to make way for
the widening of the highway; rather
an expensive proposition. There are
extensive walks with old oox
hedges laid out in a style sugges-
tive of the French.
"Friendship" adjoins Grass
lands" one of, IL not the most ex-
elusive country clubs around Wash
inston, once the home of William
C. Whitney, when ne was Secretary
of the Navy, and father Of Mrs.
willard Straight. His town house
was in street. Across from
"Friendship" is one of Washing
tons historic landmarks. the old
Nourse house built in the good old
days when Georgetown was a
thriving city and Washington a
wilderness and swamp. 1 think 1t
was once the home of some of the
Dodge family, one Of the first fami-
lies of Georgetown and Montgom-
cry County. Md. Not far away Is
"Rosedale," the old Green estate,
now owned by Mrs. Avery Coonley,
on whose wide veranda George
Washington stood and overlooking
the Potomac River below decided to
put the baby nations Capital there.
Just a block away is Red Top. built
on what was once part of the Green
property and built by old George
Green for a son after he married,
and 1t was there that Cleveland re-
sided several summers while in the
White House, within stones
throw of Friendship" The Green's
now live in Georgetown. The
Nourse place was bought a year
ago by Admiral Cary Grayson, who
was President Wilson's physician.
The story goes that while the
Hardings are at "Friendship" the
annual summer renovations will be
done at the Executive Mansion. 1t
will be pleasanter for the Hardings
and easier for the workmen to have
the Hardings away while that Is
going on. / have heard often that
it was at Friendship" that the
strong friendship between the.
and his wife and the Nc
Leans was cemented while Harding
was in the Senate. / don't think
even we Washintonians realized
that there was such a strong friend
ship there until the Hardings came
into limelight. They did not take
any active part in society here and
the McLean's entertainments and
are not chronicled much
mainly because, being a newspaper
man, Mclean strives to keep out of
the papers. He owns q Washington
paper; also the Cincinnati Inquirer,
which probably has much to do
with the origin of the Mclean
friendship because the In
quirer, I understand, has backed
in his political campaigns
In Ohio in the past.
FORTUNE MADE
FROM INQUIRER.
The Mclean fortune was made out
of the Inquirer, which John RS
father, old Washington Mclean,
owned. OF course the money made
out of the Inquirer was wisely in
vested, which increased the fortune
from time to time.
But the particular, bond seems to
have been the love OF a good game
Of poker, and when Harding was in
the Senate he, and his wife-she is
as strong, II not a stronger, poker
fan than he-used to play poker
with the McLeans about twice a
week and usually at Friendship"
I hear that they still enjoy q game
now and then, state affairs permit,
ting. They celebrated their inaugu-
Fration with q big game the frst
fourth of March they spent in the
Mansion: their first night
there in fact. Something of the sort
was published. and heard that the
were flooded with letters
of protest from Puritanical minis
.ers and others who don't approve
Of cards. It = Is SO silly; even
President needs some recreation.
and on the scale that they play,
certainly is harmless enough. Peo-
de criticise the Hardings for going
~ on vncatfope -s-- a. -sss-- 49,