Evening star., 1928-04-08

To society early IN the winter ana tiletl
went abroad to visit her British kin-
dEed. and Miss Anne, who is attending
a local school, The present envoy from
Great Britain to the Vatican. sir Oeio
RUSSELL will not make his adieus until
next month"; and the Chiltons are plan
ming with MI O'Brien short stay
at the Summer home at Charlevoi. on
Lake Michigan, before they leave for
Europe.
Mrs, Taft. wife of the former presi-
dent and the present Chief Justice, is
among those who can relate personal
:, experiences Of Washington which date
back to the iSTos, Perhaps only two
other members of washington society
/ can 60 back even farther Mrs, Elgene
Eale. who was daughter of Zach
/ Chandler, Senator from Michigan when
| Gen Grant assumed the presidency,
! and MIS- Stephen B. Eikins, daughter
! Of Henry GaSSaway Davis, q Senator
! from West Virginia at a period of years
| later Mrs. Taft got her first view of
/ Washington from the White House in
1877, when she was less than Is and
was the guest of President and Mrs
I Hayes. She returned as a young ma
/ tron in 1889, when President Harrison
/ had appointed her husband solicitor
4
/ Her next So1ourn was i'm 1908. when
Judge Taft, then Governor Of the Phil
| ippines, was invited to become Secre-
| tary OF War in President RooSevelt'S
cabinet, This residence in Washing
ton continued for four years in the
! cabinet circle and then for four in the
White House AS wife of the Chief
Justice Mrs Taft rounds out a re-
maTkable experience. beginning more
than SO years ago in an unoficial ca
| pacity, and then embracing view
| point from all the high posts under
| this form of government which her
husband has filed.
The Duchess of Atiloll Is coming to
this country the latter part of April and
she viii be accorded all honor when she
is received in the House of Representa-
tiveS as q visiting member of Parlia-
ment. She has a long list of achieve
naentS to her credit since she took her
seat in the Commons. and one object of
her visit is to study certain educational
problems in the congeSted cities of the
Atlantic seaboard and In the Middle
West. The duchess has given much of
her time to Britain's complex school
system. and her interest in such matters
may be said to be hereditary She is
the daughter Of the late Sir James
Henry Ramsay, Baron of Banff, in
PerthShire. an illuStrious historian of
the North country. Her sister is Mrs
Montagu Butler. widow Of the master
of Trinity. and her eldest son. nephew
of the duchess. Is on the professional
staff of Trinity College and IN line
eventually to attain his fathers honors.
Those eminent professors Of Edinburgh.
Sir George and SIR william Ramsay
| who were frequently the guests OF the
British embassy during the regime Of
the late James Bryce, were her uncleS
The Duchess Of Atlloll succeeded to her
| husbands seat In the commons when
that noble. who had been M. p. from
Biair-Atholl for 10 years. went into the
House OF Lords. As the duke is pos
sessed Of tireless energy. he has taken
over the housing problem as feYvently
as his wife has the educational. and al
present he Is engaged In 9 huge enter
prise for building all-steel plate houses
| IN crowded districts The Dukes of
Atl1ol have but slender fortune. and
their medieval stronghold. Castle Blair
| Atboll. in Perth, is now leased by Mr..
and Mrs. Axel Wichfeld. the latter
formerly Mrs. Clarence Moore Of this
city.
DR.. Ernest Henry wilson, director Of
the Arnold arboretum Of Harvard Uni
versity, has received from the Royal
Horticultural Society Of London the
Loder Cup. highest honor in the h0rti-
cultural world, and but once before be-
slowed on an American. DR.. Wilson Is
. naturalized Briton. who won his
laurels before he came TO this country
TO use his eminent talents in the build
ing up Of the Arnold arboTetum. The
Loder Cup gift of Sir Edmond Loder.
given annually for some valuable
achievement In the plant world. is
known all over the plant kingdom the
donor being noted for his successful in
PRODUCTION Of IS pew varieties Of Chinese
rhodOdendrum into the gardens of
Great Britain and later into the Euro
pean continent. DR. Wilson has never
been able TO hybridize these rare Chi
nese varieties in this country. but he
has had many notable triumphs along
other lines But though the Chinese
rhododendrums. so glorious in English
gardens. and especially at Kew, have
failed here, in no other place do the
Chinese lilies bloom more regally DR.
Wilson introduced these flowers into
New England, also that wonderfully
blooming new viburnum and several
kinds Of syringa He is regarded as an
other Asa Gray in China. where he
spent years Of painful exploration in its
most remote places. and he has pub
hshed many treatiSes systenlatizing It's
unique plants.
The Ambassador to Italy, Mr. Henry
p. Fletcher. as all his friends in WASH
ington and other places know. is an
enthusiastic golfer. ard just before he
sailed for this country 30 take his place
among the delegates 70 the Pan-Ameri-
can Congress at Havana, he enjoyed a
game With the former Ambassador TO
Washington. Gelasio Caetani. over a
course which Ia said 10 lie on the most
hallowed ground Of Europe This Is the
Roman campagna which Prince Cae-
tani, one Of the most skiliful engineers
OF Italy has entirely redeemed from
marshes, contagious fevers and scores
OF equally unpleasant things, and who
has had plantel by the thousands the
famous eucalyptus trees, the roots Of
which absorb water from the surface
Ike sponge. the aromataic foliage Killing
the deadly malaria. That part OF the
Roman campagna which lies just below
the Alban Hills and through which runs
mat splendid aqeduct built five CEN
turtles before the Christian era. and
which continues 10 supply Rome with
drinking water, has been the property
Of the Caetani family since the twelfth
century, and II is part OF this that has
been ieveled and s0dded in places and
made into and ideal golf course. ir-
tended principally as a club for active
diplomaLists and retired ones In the
italian service Sir Ronald Graham
the British Ambassador % Rome ID
president Of the club and Mr.. Fletcher
Is one of the directors. Through the
Acqua Claudia as the aqueduct along
the Appian Way Is locally known. the
golfer, resting for q moment, can see In
/. |
III Ote A \