Evening star., 1925-07-05
BY MARGARET b. DOWNING.

Mrs. Coolidge and her sewing basket
or knitting bag will always be asso-
ciated In the minds of those who have
known her in the most intimate sense,
and her busy fingers at odd times
have accomplished marvels in the
way of results, when the output of
the year was counted. Just now she
is enjoying the seclusion of the Sum-
mer place, and though her neighbors
report her as reading oftener than
sewing or knitting, no one doubts that
she fills the waiting minutes in her
usual way. This amiable first lady
once confided to a friend that she had
knit an intricate set of doilieS in the
early years of her married life during
the moments when she was compelled
to defer to some event, such as dining
when her husband was detained down
town. This present season ushers in
a craze for Italian cutwork among
those who have furiously labored at
needle point and tapestry for several
years past, and 1t is an interesting
speculation whether or not Mrs. Cool
idge will try her hand at this ancient
and very beautiful method of adorn-
ing the table linen. She resisted the
needle point and tapestry fad most
valiantly, not that she does not ad
mire the exquisite products of many
of her friends. But this variety of
what is generally called fancy work"
requires an amount of concentration
which she could not in her present
role bestow. The Italian cutwork is
rapid sort of open embroidery, and,
like tapestry, it suggests the busy
ladies of the medieval ages sitting
among their handmaidens pIyiSg the
needle back and forth. All up and
down the north shore the broad
verandas are filed with ladies hold
ing their dainty bits of linen, snip
ping rapidly with their scissors and
filling in the cutout places with deft-
ness.
Mrs. Garret A Hobart, who is the
senior of the four women who once
on a time answered the description
of second lady of the land" is bear
Ing the years surprisingly well, and
with her three grandchildren, Garret,
Sd: Miss katherine and Miss Elizabeth
Hobart, she has been passing the early
Summer in Southampton. She will
shortly be joined by her son, Garret
I'd, and Mrs. Hobart, who was Miss
Emmeline Briggs, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Frank Briggs of this city, and
granddaughter of the late Senator
Frye of Maine. The young Garret
Hobarts have been making a brief
visit to relatives and friends in Maine
and have passed a few days with
Mrs. Briggs, who is at the fishing
camp of Senator Frye, near Bangor.
Mrs. Hobart was the most important
official hostess during the first years
of the Mckinley administration, since
the first lady was an invalid. Mrs
James Schoolcraft Sherman, who filled
the role of second lady during the
Taft administration, is, like Mrs.
Hobart, widow of a Vice President
LII MI
former second ladies, Mrs. Roosevelt
and Mrs. Coolidge. having been ele-
waited from the minor to the ma jor
post, are not much associated in the
public mind with their first position
in the executive set.
Representative and Mrs. Robert
Low Bacon, who have been in their
home in Westbury, N. Y, since the
middle of June, intend to sail July II
from San Francisco for Honolulu and
Manila. This Is Mrs. Bacon's first trip
to the Orient, and she is anticipating
it with much pleasure. Representative
Bacon has, however, covered the
ground before and can act as a splen-
did guide. He is gathering data on
the Philippines situation, and both he
and Mrs. Bacon will be the guests of
Gov. Gen. and Mrs. Wood when they
arrive in Manila late in August. Mrs.
Wood will take her guest to the high
hills above Manila, while the men of
the family go on their inspection tours
In the interior. It is the intention of
Mr.. and Mrs. Bacon to visit Japan
and China, and even to venture as far
down as Burmah and Siam. Repre-
sentative Bacon is intensely interested
in the merchant marine of his coun-
try, as we'll as in the problem of deal
ing fairly with the natives of the
insular possessions. He knows the
European side of the merchant ma
rine thoroughly, and he is determined
to see the Oriental point of view for
American trade vessels. The three
pretty little daughters of Representa-
tive and Mrs. Bacon, who have been
attending a private school in Wash
ington. will spend the Summer with
the elder Mrs. Robert Bacon, who this
year, contrary to her usual custom,
will be located in Newport instead of
near Southampton.
Gen. John Ross Delafeld, who is
the closest and among the few re-
naming descendants of the great
soldier, Gen. Richard Montgomery,
who was killed in the assault on
Quebec in December, ITS, lives in
the splendid mansion of that famed
American warrior at Rhineback, on
the Hudson, and nothing delights him
so much as to welcome those bent on
honoring his ancestral hero. Gen.
Montgomery married Margaret Liv-
ingston, daughter of Robert Living
ston, and the estate and mansion was
her wedding dover. Rhinebeck is
filled with Livingston holdings, which,
with the mansion, make up a goodly