Evening star., 1925-11-08
BY MARGARET b. DOWNING.

President and Mrs Coolidge were
unostentatious worshipers at the Con-
sregational Church, on Tenth and g
streets, during their residence here as
second gentleman and lady of the
land Though it would appear def
ance of the spirit of progress. most
Washingtonians would prefer that the
church which they attended in their
present exalted role would remain as
it is, instead of giving way to the
handsome new edifice contemplated.
But this seems the infallible pro-
cedure. or at least it is one which has
been followed ever. The Dutch Re
formed Church on Fifteenth street
near Q was torn down for more i'm
pressive building during the era of
Theodore Roosevelt. A similar spirit
of relentlessness seized on the church
of All Souls, which was attended by
President Taft. Likewise, when Wood
row Wilson became Chief Executive
and it was discovered that he had no
choice in selection, since he belonged
to the Southern wing of the Presby-
terian Church and there was but one
small structure in a very untashlon-
able part of Washington. Active steps
were taken at once, with the result OF
The handsome colonial structure at
Fifteenth and Irving streets. Presi-
new building, but in the case OF the
handsome new church of the Uni
tartan faith on Sixteenth and Harvard
streets. an admirable replica of Chris
topher Wren's splendid st. Martins
in-the-Field in London, 1t cannot
with historic correctness be said TO be
the church at which President Taft
WorShiped any more than the former
building at Thirteenth and L streets
ftD1T ,f,t, 1,ol at cd hIv
John Quincy Adams or Martin Van
Buren,. though the parochial founda-
ton is the same.
In fact, but four or five of the many
churches pointed out to the stranger
In Washington as those in which Pres
idents attended are in reality the
same buildings. The fine old Metro
politan Methodist Episcopal is one
of these, and of course st. Johns, the
place of spiritual comfort of all those
Chief Executives comprised in the
term. the Virginia dynasty" Jeffer-
son had no special religion but he
often sauntered across the park and
attended service in the first temporary
structure of st. Johns conducted by
the rector of the oldest Episcopalian
church in the Capital. Christ Church
In Georgetown. Madison, Monroe and
Il half dozen other Presidents were
First Ladies Continued the traditions,
Mrs. Roosevelt and Mrs. Taft. An
drew Jackson attended the New York
Avenue Presbyterian Church, but not
the one now standing. Grover Cleve-
land was constant to the First Pres
hyterian which his far-off Democratic
predecessor, Gen. Jackson. had aban-
doned. Benjamin Harrison selected
the Church of the Covenant Garfield
r,r+ - !, ;.f
but the Garfield Memorial church on
Vermont avenue was built after that
President had Succumbed to the assas-
sins bullet. The Calvary Baptist
Church, which both President and
Mrs. Harding attended during all their
residence in Washington. continues
the same, and SO does the Congrega-
tiOnal Church for the present.
Mr.. Richard NJ Tobin. the United
States Minister to Queen Wilhelmina' s
realm, set an excellent example by
choosing a Summer home within the
boundaries of the country to which
he has been sent. and his always
lavish hospitality made Scheveningen,
the picturesque seaside resort of Iiol-
land on the Zuyder Zee, one of the
popular vacation spots in North Eu-
rope TO Americans in general and
Californians in particular. Californians
vie with Australians as globe trotterS
and il would seem that half the State
visited Holland during this past sea-
son. At Scheveningen may be seen
the Colorful costumes of the Zuyder
Zee country not only on peasants but
on the older and more dignified mem
hers of the aristocracy, and this alone
makes 1t d wonderful place to visit.
The visitor may sit on the beach in
those wide comfortable chairs which
are TO be rented and see a pageant
go by which seems as though ii came
out of the Middle Ages. Mr.. Tobin
closed his villa just in time to return
10 The Hare for Queen Wilhelmina's s
birthday anniversary and the Ameri-
can legation was quite as much en-
fete as the statehouses and royal
dwellings. Despite the fact that the
Netherlands rank as a constitutional
monarchy, the country is one of the
most democratic in the world and the
Queen mingled freely with the popu-
lace on her feast day and the palace
was thrown open both as TO building
and grounds. Mr.. Tobin, who has been
entertaining former Senator Phelan,
his friend and business associate in
san Francisco, had also Mr.. and Mrs
sydney Blair as his guests and he
kept open house all afternoon and
evening at the legation, where his
board was spread with the traditional
dainties served by the Dutch
Mrs. Richard T. Cranes wonderful
vialla at Ipswich. on the North Shore
of Massachusetts. has been for many
years tha show place thereabout and
considered the most perfect type of
Italian architecture in that region of
beautiful homes. But Mrs. Crane has
fuccumbed to the prevailing fad for
French chateauX. And though the ex-
qulSlte formal garden peopled with
marble statues of the old gods has not
been completed more than a year or
two, already the Wreckers are demol-
lShlug the mansion and the garden has
been turned topSy-turVy. The chateau
is TO be like the many seen in the
southern part of France and will be
built of lemon-Colored imported brick
formal and well balanced in design
and with a low square tower on the
south wing. Fast t-growing vines will
soon spread over the facade and the
lower and give it mellow aspect
while the marble used in the former
Italian palace will be lavishly en-
ployed on retaining walls and pergolas
all over the grounds. Mrs. Crane has
a passion for antique French furniture
and she has secured recently some
historic pieces in Paris which will of
course look better in a French salon
Than i'll an Italian apartment. In
terror decorations from an old manor
recently demolished on the Loire will
add to the Gallo perfection of the
new house. but the North Shore peo-
.ple naturally deplore the former villa
and its Autumn glory set among dark
yews and spruces. The scene is now
one of confusion and the stately
evergreens are giving way TO low
clipped hedges