The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-12-01
Circles With,
Circles MOue IN
Vast. eddy Maze


own strange heaven. but draw.
- ing ito stars and it, nebul1. its
brilliant meteors and its servile satel.
ltes from the circumference Of the
world.
About this social phenomenon his.
toric pen points have scrubbed words
OF sticky alteration. have scratched
syllables of acid invective. II was .
peg Of news interest as far back az
the fall Of 1900. when Mrs. John
Adams. writing to her daughter, Abb.
gail Adams Smith. Of the incompleted
Presidents Palace" of which she
was the first mistress. conf1ded:
You must keep all this to your
self and. when asked how I like Il,
say that write you the situation II
beautiful and the great un.
finished audience room l make a dry.
ing room Of, to hang up the clothes
In"
And the phenomenon IL still impor.
tant enough to make state depart.
ment typewriters click frantically an
because a hostess from the Dakotas.
( at her first official dinner party. places
the French ambassador above the
Italian ambassador. when everybody
knows that Mobile de MARITIME was ac-
credited March 2. 1925. while NJ.
Claudel wasn't listed until March %,
1927.
Views on Crashing Vary.
The things that are written and the
things that are said-above ALL the
things that are Misrepresentation 50.
cial Washington are as divergent a.
the peoples who say them. Those peo-
pies who come from everywhere to
walk their official circuit and are then
pushed out of the national corridor
some to linger on as faithful. volun.
teer subjects in this Republican court
Of our democracy: others to Journey
back to remote hearths with tales Of
what Alice said to me at Charlie
Dawes dinner"
One annalist asserts. with robust
confidence, "Why. any fish with .
stack Of visiting cards and pair Of
white gloves can get into Washington
society"
Another observer, with equal II moro
!, frigid conviction. declares that tho
climber cannot get anywhere near the
uedOWdtcES VI Lie SOCldA swirl AlOH8
the banks of the Potomac, not even
II his scales be glittering with gold.
The optimist is not right. as mani.
fold failures prove.
And the pessimist Is wrong, as some
spectacular successes demonstrate.
A Complex Society.
Which goes to show how complex u
this society which, because 1t belongs
to the nations capital. Is. vicariously.
your society, and mine.
1t is a giddy. diverting proposition
IN animated geometry. is our capitals
Z society. 1t Is a Euclidlan diagram
sswith three dimensions. Frequently Il
has four dimensions: It Is cosrnic
and comic and an ironic problem in
Mr.. Einstein's theory Of relatively.
The social electrons whirl in may
orbits.
Here is mass Of circles Of differ.
ent sizes and variant speeds. There
are dozen independent little loops
and scores Of dependent circlets. Here
are fragile bracelets OF people trying
10 Irvine about firmer. better estab-
lshed ringlet OF celebrities. There are
wistful semi.circles that seem never
able to close the band to newcomers.
Here are tight cinctures squeezing
down toward the center: there are
bullying ovoids ever expanding.
over here two circles touch rims
and overlap for segment Of an arc
! (perhaps that arc ID charity: then they
swing away from each other with new
impetus. Over there IL q pattern Of
concentric circles. the larger banding
s4he smaller. each distinct II not dis.
tinctive.
The Washington Cave Dwellers.
On the very outside is a spiral coil.
It Is the corkscrew OF the social
climber. 1t winds its flexible way in
and out among the primary planets and
the secondary ones. Its fabric is tough
and springy. 1t recoils under all con.
ditions. But 1t never gets quite to the
center.
For at the very center is a small.
slowly revolving, perfectly closed cir
Gle. This is the most sacred lorna.
ton in the celestial empyrean OF the
national capital It is the home OF
Af1se social gods. the Washington
cave dwellers.
That, briefly. Is Washington: yours
and mine Everybody is member OF
some coterie. II 1t be only confedera.
ton OF stardust particles. They who
travel the most swiftly are often only
on tho outer arc OF a big circle, wiirl.
Ing about in pursuit OF orchids and
cham,aglve Others. and there arc
men az well as women here, swirl
along after handful Of gold lace and
an alien title Some want to have
their pockets stuffed with letters from
foreign diplomats: others prefer .
local senator to q Devonshire duchess
Some use society az stepping stone
70 politics; others use political power
As 4 social lever.
There IL. too, an infinite number OF
circle skippers-those intrepid social
soldiers OF fortune who risk rtdtcule
NV trying to flip from tho broad. -.
cure circumference OF large. inclusive
circle TO the razor blade edge OF .
small exclusive circle
These Mdventurers spin and swivel
and bob about: they clip and fall. but
they always land In some geometrtc
figure Or. II they nnd themselves
momentarily alone. they gather in tho
broken fragments Of other meteore
and form new cosmic lump. Some.
times. indeed. It is 20 obscure that.
like tho asteroid up in the sky. It u
invisible to the naked eye.
Srhe important factor In Al this
chart 10 relatively.
What relation does this circle bear
TO that. and to those?
X r
2 Henry Adams on Court Society.
This Euclidian plot II not disstmilar
70 the London society Of 1854. a. Dc.
scribed BY Henry Adams. grandson
Of John Quincy Adams In hls Edu.
cation" Adams. rsdectinR back on.
those days when he was private SEQ
rotary TO hts father. then American
envoy 1t the court Of 81. James. wrote
OF hiinself: