Evening star., 1925-05-10
Tales of Well Known Folk
In Social and Official Life
President and Mrs. Coolidge Generous as Hosts
Aboard the MayAower-Many Notable
Events Sketched
BY MARGARET b. DOWNING.

BY MARGARET B. DOWNING.
President and Mrs. Coolidge have
zen generous In extending the hos
itslity Of the May1ower to many
cups of Washington people. Max
~ the journey as regularly as they
-. they have become familiar enough
tn the lines of the noble Potomac
10 identify it's most significant points.
The river bank is, in reality, the old
st part of Washington proper, and
the redoubtable Capt. John Smith
'ailed up as far as the Little Falls a
'entury and half before the agents
- President Washington arrived with
;neir measuring lines to plan the Fed
al City. L'Enfant. the French en-
: neer, who drew the ground-map Of
he Capital, has left in his correspond
nee many references to trips by skif
~ the Potomac as far as Georgetown
hen he was viewing the future city
ON every angle and designing what
has proved to be the most beautiful
end adaptable plan of any city in the
world. On what is now one Of the
r1ost unsightly parts Of the wharves
nearly 200 years ago there stood the
egant mansion of Motley Young, one
,,f the original proprietors of the land
resident Washington purchased for
The Federal District. This was part
:" the Duddington Pasture grant, and
,he house of brick was spacious, sur
rounded by noble groves of trees, and
stood on the high bank, at what is
now G between 9Th and 10th streets
southwest. In this mansion was the
first Catholic chapel in what is now
the District of Columbia, and in it
,rrass was celebrated in 1852 for the
rst time within the boundaries of the
Capital.
II the Chief Magistrate 10 years
hence takes his friends a-sailing down
the Potomac instead OF up In an air.
hlane, now probability. there will
lie among the sights of interest a
white marble cross, which Is to be
erected on the site of the Motley
'oung mansion in connection with the
rational celebration of the 300th ami
Nersary of the landing of Gov. Leon
ard Calvert on the Dove and the Ark,
At st. Marys City, Md, which will
begin March 25, 1894.
The Spanish Ambassador. Senior
Don Juan Riano y Gayangas, dean of
decoration of the Grand Cross of
Charles III, has lived in this country
~ long and speaks the language so
perfectly that outside Of Washington
fe Is rarely identified in his present
eNalted role. During his recent visit
10 st. Augustine he was constantly
slapped on the back by some one
,laying golf on the Fort Marion
green, who called him this and that,
state In the Union. But the Ambas-
,ador's most amusing experience was
when a caddie rushed up breathlessly
md asked him to watch two bottles
of pop, while he. the caddie. went on
IN errand, request which the Am
Dassador most gracefully granted,
hough the youth delayed his return
or half an hour. Charles III of
spain, who founded the Order of the
irand Cross, just bestowed on the
lean of the Washington diplomatic
corps. was the monarch under whose
patronage nearly all of the famous
spanish missions of the Southwest
we're established and in whose honor
10 many in California, New Mexico
:lnd Arizona are called San Carlos.
He was the benefactor of Padre
.Iunipero and made many gifts to
the missions of California.
George Henry Vanderbilt Cecil,
the young son of the Hon. John
Francis Amherst Cecil and his wife,
who was Miss Cornelia Vanderbilt,
could not have had more .colorful
christening festivities had he been
born in the Old World castles of
either Amhersts or Cecils. This i'm
portant 'youngster renounced the
devil and all his works and pomps,
of course, by proxy, in All Souls
Church. where his parents had been
married, and the chief godmother was
Princess Beatrice of Battenburg,
with Miss Rachel Strong of Cleve-
land acting in her place. The Henry
in the name is for the late Prince
Henry of Battenburg, the intimate
friend of Mr.. Cecil and his chum in
college and in the army. The George is
for his maternal grandfather and
likewise the Vanderbilt. The religious
ceremony took place a little after 4
o'clock and then a buffet supper was
served for about 800 guests in Bilt-
more House, while at the same time
the tenantry of the vast estate sat
down to similar supper served in
large recreation hall on the
grounds. AS soon as it was dark,
across the wide esplanade hlazed
forth in large electrically lighted let
for three hours there were set pieces
of bouquets, flags and fountains
lighting up the scene while the
merry making went on and light re-
freshments were served during the
entire evening. 1t was, with per-
haps a half dozen exceptions, a party
composed of the Biltmore neighbors
and friends, many from Asheville
and from adjacent estates. Young
though this will naturally be short
ened into Van" long before he
reaches the school age, is in the care
Of a fine ruddy-complexioned English
nurse, the same who watched over
the infancy of the Hon. John Francis
Amherst Cecil and his numerous
brothers and sisters.
The Earl of Lathom, who is passing
The Spring in New York, and who has
come very quietly into Washington
several times and renewed ties Of
friendship here, is about to produce a
play, published under a nom de plume,
and he is awaiting the outcome Of his
venture. The earl is not in the most
robust health, the result of a painful
wound during the Dardanelles cam
paign, and he has sold all agricultural
interests in England and Is going in
for a sedentary literary career. He
has so carefully guarded his assumed
name, which he has been using in his
visits to Washington and Chicago, that
no one save a few know 1t or where
his play is to appear in New York.
though the offerings OF all new candi-
carefully watched. The earl is the
first cousin Of the former Ambassador
from Italy, Prince Gelasio Caetani,
and he inherited the title when less
than Is years Of age He has a large
fortune, which he devotes principally
to aiding impecunious playwrights
and authors, though always In an in
volved and anonymous way. He has
been for years identified with the
young literary group in London, and