Evening star., 1926-06-06
Tales of Well Known Folk
In Social and Official Life
Roadside Gardening and Improvement Engages
Secretary Jardine-Joseph Pennell Col
. lection Attracts Attention Here
BY MARGARET b. DOWNING.

BY MARGAkET Is. DOWNING.
The Secretary of Agriculture doe
not lack advisers fruIn all parts o
the country about improving the fac,
of the land from the roadside. DR.
Jardlne has, however, practica
mind, and he is Illuminating at leisure
about the many ideas offered him o
scattering flower seed broadcast alons
country roads and in fields not under
cultivation. The department has nat
urally many seeds to spare now tina
free distribution of them has been dis
continued. But the head of the DE
partment of Agriculture is of tht
opinion that old Mother Nature ma,
be relied upon to take care of wilt
places herself. and that flowers grow
In every inch where there are con
genial surroundings. However, Phila
delphia on several of its splendiC
country roads has demonstrated thai
an intelligent aid may be proffered the
great. good Mother nature. by sow
ing strong, well prepared seeds along
the open thoroughfares. No one who
has driven from Philadelphia to Val
ley Forge can fail to be convinced OF
this. From the first touch of Spring
until the Winter sets in. stage OF
ice and snow, there is something in
bloom along this boulevard. Giant
pussy willows grow at intervals and
then come every kind of dogWoo
and the red-buds in its various sorts
with clumpS of the socalled weeds
of Spring and Summer so large and
IuStrouS as to compare favorably with
garden flowers. Dainty edgings of
v1oletS may be seen for miles on the
way to Valley Forge, and when the
park is reached. a blaze of color
greets the visitor from every point.
There is a finished LOOK about this
restraint of wild growth. which DR..
Jardine is studying with view of
Improving Potomac Park and of en-
couraGing such planting along all well
cared for country thOroughfares.
The French Amba ssador, NJ. Henri
Berenger, who. with Nine Berenger
has recently sailed for Paris the for.
mer to conduct the war debt settle
ment through the perilous waters of
the French Senate. confidently hopes
TO return to Washington in the Au-
tumn. Every one who met this de-
lightful couple shares this hope and
likewise that with the heavy respon-
sibility of the funding problem off
his mind, NJ. Berenger will set about
forming fencing club, his ambition
ever since coming to Washington
The American Capital lacks many of
the attractions which Paris offers, or
even New World cities like Havana or
Buenos Aires. Both these municipal
centers have well organized fencing
clubs and give regular exhibitions
But fencing lapsed in popular favor
with the. going of the cultured and
gracious Russian Ambassador, Count
Arthur Cassini. in the wake Of the
Russo-Japanese War. He was the
patron of fencing, rented the quarters
where the club met and frequently
entertained its members. NJ Berenger
is skillful with the foils and he had
much trouble finding any one in
Washington who could keep him in
practice, and this, of course. in the
privacy of the French embassy, since
no other place was available In New
York there is a flourishing fencing
club, which gives annual tournaments
and challenges members of the British
and Canadian clubs to show their
prowess.
Since Joseph PennelFs chief produc.
tions both in art and letters are to re.
main in Washington, and the proper
arrangement of them in the Library
of Congress and in the National Mu-
scum of Art is to be the labor of love
of Mrs. Pennell From the beginning
OF their married life his constant COM
panion and literary collaboration, Mrs
Pennell, who had gained a wide repu-
tation as Elizabeth Robins, will be
more or less denizen of the Capital
during the next few years, and she
will find scores of friends and admirers
of her talented husband. In the biog-
raphy published by Joseph Pennell,
and in which his wife had so large a
part. he always describes himself as
an illustrator, but his fame will cover
a much wider field, though his work
In this line will form an invaluable
contribution in the Library Of Con-
gress. where such treasures are
housed. He Is deemed one of the
finest etchers this country has pro-
duced, and Washington is to be con-
graduated in that the majority Of
these were bequeathed to the Congress
slonal Library. Mr.. Pennell may be
said to be the discoverer of the splen-
did possibilities for art in the skyline
of New York City, and his sketches
for articles in magazines dealing with
the mighty metropolitan city may be
said to furnish the beginnings of this
distinctive type of picture. He also
wrote most enthusiastically of the
deep cleft of Broadway cutting the
city across the sky and making one
OF the grandest urban views in the
world, "one," which he mentioned in
his autobiography. ''as great in it's
way as the Grand Canyon Of the Colo
rado, and which If offered in any Euro
pean city Americans would race across
the ocean to visit"
When Miss Mary Parsons of Charles.
ton, S. c., married Mr.. William Means
of Boston a few weeks ago, there hung
from the portico of the old church.
called locally the Goose Creek Chapel
and situated on the Parsons property,
a hatchment containing the lizard and
Parsons coat of arms. Time was
when a hatchment with the Washing
ton and Mason arms hung from the
venerable church at Pohick, and again
old Trinity in Georgetown owned one
furnished by the Bealls and the Addi-
sons. original proprietors of the
ground on which it had been built. A
hatchment is a rare possession now.
but Fifth avenue had many displayed
on occasion before its churches even
so years back. In medieval times the
hatchment displaying the armorial
bearings We're used only at funerals.
but in the New World a more liberal
construction was placed on it's pur-
poses and they were hung at weddings
and at christenings, and in the case
of the Pohick Church, when Gen.
NCa nd hiS or offnndad n a