The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-12-01

CAGE D,Cellers Plant
Money il, One Bas,k,
Souls u, One Church
than ray: formal rather than fulson. ),
10 the social program Of these serious
minded men and their wives.
SENATOR and Congressmen.
Senate and society ars not synony.
nous. Every senator 10 listed In the
social register. but that 10 automatic.
not Automatic. Some Of the more
seriouA following Borah's lead. are
wary Of silken. social entanglements.
Some Of the more strategic md that
. place on an important committee u
. neat corollary to . place at IN i'm.
portant dinner table. Some Of the
moro frivolous. failing to make the
inner circles. twlrl about In outer ones.
There are. perhaps. six or ten dining
out senators whose wealth, birth. or
reputation cause them to be wooed BY
nearly every hostess In Washington.
In the house of representatives 30.
cial distinction 10 even less an In.
evitable adjunct Of election. Whereas
g hntA Ia NJ
register. q congressman has to have
q prior reason Tor getting In. There
are fewer than = score now listed.
Most OF these hail from New York
polo fields or Back Bay libraries.
The average politician. then. knows
really little Of what the world calls
capital society" He goes through
the proper motions: his wife makes
the proper calls; leaves tho proper
cards: attends the proper receptions.
But they may 60 through an entire
season and know. socially, nobody
ave the members Of their own dele.
CATION.
The Army and Navy.
No diagram OF the major circles at
the Washington court would b com.
pleto without q picture of that gay,
jaunty, cereIhonious group. the army
and navy folk. Proud OF its ancient
tradition. this circle bows low. clanks
its sword precisely. and revefes IL
etiquette as something canonicAl.
Pleased, too, with modern good times,
II gives. with all its ritual and cere-
mony, some Of the most spontaneous
parties in tho town. This combina.
ton Of the old and the new, together
with a third important element, the
fact that 90 many Of the young men
are bachelors. makes the army-nAvy
group exceedingly popular with the
young women Of the town.
OF the two compan MON "Reminiscences,
army and navy. the first seems to b.
the blither. 1t IL headed by Chief Of
STAFF Charles p. Summerall. the most
gentle man who ever shouted q hard
boiled order. There are the army
dances at Fort Meyer, the Sunday aft.
ernoon teas at the Summerall home,
the famous military circus. the polo
matches.
But the war has done to these cir.
cles, directly. what the war did. indi.
recuy. to the others. The army and
navy first families have. in the very
practice OF their professions. brought
into tho family newcomers whom the
old timers eye sometimes with some.
thing like social disapproval At any
rate. the circles have stretched ana
bulged and expanded quite beyond an.
ticipation.
The Climber.
And then. everlasungly, there ia the
climber. The capital on the Potomac
10 both an opportunity and 4 CHALLENGE
to the climber. An opportunity. be-
cause 1t Is the one city In the country
where the newcomer takes the initiA.
tive, and 10 supposed to: the one city
where the newcomer can climb, rap
idly. on to the circumference Of sew.
eral large circles.
But It is also a challenge. a bitter
challenge. for Washington. above every
other city In this democracy, IL still
swayed by the gentle hand Of the past.
1t is harder. therefore, to get from
the circumference Of the big circle to
the center Of O small one. than 4 simi-
lar journey 10 in many another city.
OF this opportunity and challenge.
Henry Loomis Nelson. writing in 1902.
said:
In the ebb and flow Of the classes
which would be sharply divided from
one another In typical American
city. the flood picks up individuals
from the unaccustomed mass and car.
ries them into quiet social pools whore
they are shaped In q measure to the
requirements Of conventions. but
where they also shape 4 little that
with which they are brought into con-
TACT
Mrs. william Howard Taft, recol.
lecting the changes that have come 70
the town since she went there. the
young wife of q young Justice. de-
clares:
Washington was much smaller
then than II 10 now. Since that tine
q great many people Of very large
means have gone to Washington to
live because OF its unusual attrac-
lions. It's innumerable advantages al
q residential city. They have changed
Washington by their generous hospt
tality into one of the most brilliant
centers Of the world"
= \
Changes Wrought By War.
Then. once again a change. world
war this time, changed . sleepy south
ern village into 4 Gathering northern
city. The new democracy prted deep
wedges into the rim Of the ArtstocrAtic
circles. There was confusion. chaos.
After the war the curves tightrnsd.
there was an attempt to reconstruc.
the old figures. with each circle 0S the
precise ante-war dimensions. i wAs
. failure. For WashinA ton. sortAlly
can never return to its prt-wAr tnbo y
ana tettshes any more than Washing
ton, numerically, can sGlet.ze down 70