The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-12-06

1.-THE chief occupation Of the Presi.
dent Of the United States Is. Of course.
shaking hands"
President Folks Handshakes.
Here was Folks formula:
III a man surrender his arm to
be shaken by one horizontally, by an
other perpendicularly, and by another
with a strong grip. he cannot fail TO
suffer severely from it: but II he will
shake and not be shaken. grip and not
be gripped, taking care always to
squeeze the hand Of his adversary as
hard as his adversary squeezes his.
he will suffer no Inconvenience from
It. Now I can generally anticipate
q strong grip from a strong man. and
then take advantage Of him by
being quicker than he and squeezing
him by the tip of his fingers"
International ritual. too. seemed
rather senseless bit of perfunctory
labor to this President. for he wrote
II confess the practice Of announcs
Ing oficially the birth of foreign
princes to the President Of the United
States has always appeared to me su'
premely ridiculous"
Zachary Taylor and the social pro
gram? His wife smoked a corncoh
pipe!
Mrs. Fillmore gave the Whit
House its first library and its first
bathtub. Mr.. Fillmore had no pa
thence with the unwfitten mandate
Just then beginning to be expressed.
that a President should not 60 calling.
When Jenny Lind came to town hi
hurried over to the Willard hotel. ThA
singer was out and he left his card.
This IL said SO to have excited her that
she was all for rushing over to the
executive mansion Immediately. And.
for once, It was Barnum who played
the role OF the conservative and per.
suaded her to delay the visit until
the following day.
The Franklin Pierces, who had seen
their son killed In a railroad wreck
on the way to Inauguration. had small
desire for any entertainment.
Buchanan's Wet Inauguration.
It was great day for statistics when
James Buchanan took the oath OF
Office in 1857. Some $4,000 guests.
gathered at the National hotel for the
inaugural ball, consumed $4,000 worth
Of wine. The tower Of cake was four
feet high. and there were at least 400
gallons Of oysters. The dance lasted
until the shocking hour OF 4 o'clock
in the morning. and feminine com.
mentators. in describing the gowns.
the music and the ceremony. quite
squeezed dry the sponge Of adjectives.
Harriet Lane. gracious and witty
niece of Americas only bachelor Pres.
ident, was we'll liked. So was the
President. who iNitiated two pleasant
observances. One was the Mayday
parade and picnic for the children
from the Protestant Sunday schools.
This is no longer in vogue. The other
was the egg rolling contest formerly
carried on in hit or miss fashion on
Capitol hill. but now the most i'm.
portant official event on the White
House grounds on Easter Monday.
This ceremony fell by the way during
the hard days Of the civil war, but
was revived. against the advice Of
landscape gardeners. by Cleveland. and
now fiourishes to the happiness OF all
washington's children.
\ =
Washington Dresses Up.
, William NJ. Gwin gave the hrst cos.
, tune ball. Dress suits were coming
in. and the dinner hour was making
its continental way around and up the
clock. Visiting celebrities paraded the
streets. today a prince from the
Orient. tomorrow a potentate from
the south. The climax was the ar.
: rival Of Baron Renfrew who. at the
behest Of his mother. Queen Victoria,
came down from Canada long enough
; to set the national capital agog.
For exercise he went. properly
!. chaperoned. to play game Of ten.
pins at q girls schools. For enter.
tainment. he stood by the President
side at at elaborate evening reception
+ and did. the bowling as the President
: did the Handwriting. And for rest.
he went to sleep that night in the
q Presidents own bed while the coun-
e try's chief executive. so runs the tale.
:. stretched out on cot In an anteroom.
Q It came time. presently, and in
evitably. for James Buchanan and
Harriet Lane to leave the nations
pleasant, polished drawing room which
:. they had fashioned so skillfully. Ur
:. bane society. specializing on the nexl
= swing of the pendulum. lifted q chal
. longing eyebrow as it looked at thosl
: plain folks from Springfield. A few