Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-03

GTdnI DelnB lover OF nOrSeS. Inc old
stables were torn down and COM
modious building erected, removed from
the vicinity Of the mansion to a point
below the War, State and Navy Build
ing. But in later times. under William
Howard Taft, the horse was banished.
an auto service substituted, and the
honk and toot and screech Of the horn
and other accessories echo to the his
toric heights of Arlington and the
sacred places Of Mount Vernon.
Hayes followed Grant and the White
House became for the first time a home
not through any material changes.
but through the personality of his wife,
whose spirit pervaoed the place. 1t was
she who inspired the purchase Of the
superb set OF Limoges ware for state
occasions.
Garfield exchanged his seat in the
Senate for the presidential chair. ex-
changing life for death, the victim of
crank, after four months in office.
In this brief period his wife had engi-
neered the purchase of an artistic set
of ebony furniture which she never
had the satisfaction Of seeing in place.
being delivered after the tragic death of
her husband. Chester A. Arthur, sue
ceeding him. widower. An improvised
first lady in the person of Mrs. Nc
Elroy, his sister. was go successful that
their dinner parties and receptions were
the talk of the town for elegance.
Grover Cleveland. a bachelor, soon
provided the mansion with fair young
bride. the wedding performed there, the
guests throwing old shoes and rice after
the ordinary manner. But no altera-
place, save the installation of cleo
tricity by wires run through the mag
nificent chandeliers, some of which have
since been removed to the Capitol
Building, one now in the room of
Speaker Longworth, by a coincidence
the same one under which he and Alice
Longworth were married.
But under the Hoosier regime Of Ben
jamin Harrison and his wife the Gull
nary department came into its own.
Such upheavals in kitchen regions took
place as never before: old concrete lay
ers were removed and a floor of tiles
was laid on a foundation of cement
And dumb walters, speaking tubes and
filters were installed. making a sort of
kitchen paradise. But Mrs. Harrison
died, lying in state above the scenes
Of her lowly labors.
The next administration brought
back Mrs. Cleveland. popular as ever.
The one outstanding deed of that
regime was her assault on the massive
silver service, once the pride Of Mistress
Monroe. Enough silver in each spoon
for two and the forks large enough for
pitchforks, said the critics. So Mrs.
Cleveland wanted something dainty,
and Gen. John M. Wilson. then super
intendent of public buildings and
grounds, took the whole outfit to the
Treasury Mint. had it melted and
weighed under his personal super
vision and recast so far rs the amount
Of silver would 60, the idea being to
preserve the historic metal in new form
and design.
WITH William Mckinley came again
the shadow of war and assassina-
ton. So the only change was by way
OF war equipment, q war room" ar
ranged with elaborate scheme Of COM
munications. cable, telegraph and tele>
phone switchboard. For the first time
In history a commander in-chief con-
Quoted operations from his own resi-
dence. But, the war brought to a tri-
umphant conclusion ard the President
reelected by an immense majority.
again the assassin's bullet BROUGHT
anti-climax--a shot that echoed round
the world.
Theodore Roosevelt, the strenuous.
put 2 plan long under consideration for
improvements to the mansion under
way. In message to Congress he re-
fers TO disagreement Of the White
House by incongruous additions and
changes" So In this remodsling, var
ious departures from the original plan
were corrected, while others called for
by exigenc'es Of the times were duly
instituted. The east wing rebuilt gave
entrance to the general public through
an ample porte cochere, and the public
offices. having more space, did away
with necessity for q partition in the
main approach. Also the State dining
room needing enlargement beyond the
vision OF washington for formal enter
tainments, the partition between It and
the lower west hall was removed, this
increasing the size Of the formal din
Ing hall more than half. So by the
various changes the outline Of the build
ing was brought back 20 the original
plan. And the entire main floor was
rsdecorated and rcfurnisks1 = 80
mixed period scheme since causing
controversy
Tho next outstanding event, a. be-
fore mentioned, was the Punishment OF
the horse under TAFT which would not
have occurred under Roosevelt even for
The sake OF being modern" Motor cars
were Tor n'oliytoddits, according 70 him,