Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-08-31
BY MARGARET B. DOWNING.

Mrs. Hoover, it Is reliably reported,
does not intend making any of the
sweeping changes so frequently discussed
| by those absorbed in interior decorat-
| ing, either in the living quarters or the
state apartments of the White House.
There are naturally many objects which
she would like eliminated and other fea-
lures she would enjoy introducing. But
tn Presidents wife Is an exceedingly
practical person, and recognizes that TO
plan changes, even of trivial nature,
requires more time than she has It her
disposal just now. Some of the quaint
furnishings of the sleeping suites give
her unceasing delight. even though
some of her visitors have said they
should be relegated to a museum. In
what Is known as the blue guest room,
one of the most spacious on the second
floor, is handsome walnut washstand
of pattern with the bed. bureau, table
and chairs, a perfect specimen of proper
equipment some q years ago. On tie
wall behind the waShstand Is that once
familiar Swiss 'splasher" to prevent
marring the wall paper, and in the
prim way Of the olde1 habit are ranged
the bowl and pitcher, the smaller
pitcher for hot water and all the other
accessories for the toilet in the years
when bath rooms were scarce or UNI
known. Even what the past generation
called the waste jar" rests on its
square of oilcloth, and a fine carved
walnut towel "a k is nearby. A s7,cn-
didly appointed bath room leads from
the suite, but no mistress OF the White
House has felt willing to change this
agreeable presentation of the lavatory
of the l670s.
M. CASTOR Doumergue, bachelor Presi-
dent of France, will complete his seven
year term next Spring. At every mo-
ment he could seize during the Summer
he has hastened to his much-lovecl
home in Argues Wives near Mines, To
look after the orchards and vineyards
In which he passes many happy hours
| and from which he derives quite a
years is fixed by Law, and this Presi-
| dent of the French Republic, having
performed every duty to his souls con-
tent, is not interesting himself at all in
the choice of his successor. A scholarly
| man, with a deep inherited devotion
to the soil. he recently declared that
he will return to country life as gladly
as Cincinnatus went back to the pillow
Argues Wives Is a tiny hamlet of the
| Midi, set on the flank of the greer
hills which lie between Mines and
Lunel, and to every one Of its 1900
| inhabitants the retiring President is
known as M. CASTOR, and they are al
very fond of him and Unfortunately
proud OF having him as a citizen Ir
| the low, gray stone house where M
Doumergue was born, as were many
generations Of his forefathers, his
nephew, Alfred (also a bachelor, or.
phan son of his brother, keeps thu
home fires burning, a the small bu
| h0llGohnld 70 in,
the Presidents unheIalded visits. Tx
each and every resident of the village
has Alfred communicated the lates
news from Elysees Palace, the White
House of Paris, during all the years tina
M. CASTOR has resided there All tn,
people know that M. CASTOR prefers Il
return home and again become a.. agri
culturist, and that he would not spenC
another seven years away from homI
for any consideration.
Mrs. Walter E. Edge has a literary
background and long before she reached
Paris in her present exalted role wa
| interested in the efforts of a few adj
mirers or Du Maurier to locate ans
set apart for study the environment SC
thrillingly described in "Trilby" anC
Peter IbbetSon." Indeed, Mrs Edge
as Camilla Sewall and an enthusiastic
reader of "rrilby," made several pill.
| grimages TO the Seine and saw thu
I'necklace of bridges through the ador.
ing eyes of Little Billie and sauntereS
along the Bots in fancy with the three
jolly companions, Little Billee, tn,
Laird and Taffy. But all that roman.
tic section of old Paris In which Dt
MauIier, according To his own word
INDUCED the wild dreams of his youth
that centered around the lonely ponC
in the Bots that has been swallowed III
by the railroad tunnel, on the top o.
which have been built formal, com
rnonplace little villas, and a noisy race
track quite robs the place of the soil
tude so often described But the mem
DRY of Henry James has been perma'
nently retained at Hampstead Heath
near London, equally crowded and des
titute of sentiment or appeal when tn,
renowned Bostonian placed it on TIN
literary map. Du Maurier has hos
of genuine admirers, especially in tn
colony from the United States, and NJ
to preserve what sem blance is left o
Paris in Trilby's drar1atic career ant
to mark vanished places with appropri
ate tablets. Like Dickens, Du Maurie
described real places Ia his novels, ant
every vital spot has been identified ant
.. correctly placed in the general perspec
|, tive.
IL Queen Mary of Britain regards W.T.
D amusement the furofe over the fac
} published in this cour try that she en-
|. Joys a cigarette or two at various time