Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-02-10
WOMAN WRITER'S
TURN THESP|AN
Members of Women's Ma
tionaI Press Club Hold Din
ner and Stunt Party.

Women's National Press Club went on
the stage last night at their annual din
ner and stunt party, entertaining, in a
series of burlesques and parodies, a large
gathering Of distinguished guests.
Scattered throughout the large ball
room of the willard were many who
have been generous contributors to the
social and news columns of the coun-
try's press. With the exception of
Mrs. Lamont, wife of the Secretary of
Commerce, the wives of every Cabinet
officer were present as honor guests of
the club.
Among other notables present was
Miss Amelia Earhart, who recently
married George Palmer Putnam, pub
Usher.
Proper seating of several of the
guests proved a problem, but 1t was
finally decided that a crescent-shaped
table would bring the luck of the new
moon, and it was at this table that
Miss Ruth Jones, president of the club,
within the curve of the crescent, sat
facing four of the most distinguished
guests, Mrs, Henry L. Stimson, Mrs.
E. E. Gam, Mrs. Nicholas Longworth
and Mrs. Charles Evans Hughes.
From this table, shortly after the
commencement of the dinner, Mrs
Alice Longworth and Mrs. Dolly Gam
were able to witness the long-deferred
obsequieS of their famous Ratchet,
which, though buried for some time,
was considered by the ladies Of the
press to have lacked proper ceremony
at the time of its interment.
To the solemn strains of the funeral
march, therefore, a number of black
draped figures appeared bearing a
white object which, when carried to
the spot where the Ratchet is supposed
to have been buried, was seen to be q
large stone, bearing as an epitaph those
nation-famouS words: Hello, Alice +!
Hello, Dolly!"
Greetings From Absent Friends.
Miss Bessie Poe. of the Washington
Post, served as master of ceremonies,
and. attierd in the costume Of Chinese
mandarin, announced that she had re-
Gently appointed herself representative
Of the Chinese Times.
Greetings from absent friends were
read, as well as several kilograms from
prominent officials throughout the
country, including Will Rogers.
No members of the superior" sex
were present at this exclusive gather
ing of women. as even the professional
Much credit for their skillful play
ing was due to the efforts of Mrs. Mil
dred Kolb Schultze, who not only
trained the musicians, but accompanied
them on the piano. Miss Katherine
Brooks proved herself an accomplished
orchestra leader Gertrude Marsden.
Dorothy Howerth, Virginia Price, Lily
Shepard, Miss Poe, Isabelle Story,
Corinne Frazier and Margaret Germond,
all members of the club, played several
popular numbers on a variety of diff
cult instruments.
Immediately after the dinner the
guests retired to the small ball room
for coffee.
Persons, problems and places, which
have filled the news columns of the
country, came in for comment in some
form or other by the writer's who held
the stage for the evening.
The program continued with q coll
orful presentation of several of the ia
nous ancestors Of club members.
These included Lady Godiva. Edgar
Allen Poe. Mrs. Harrison, first presi-
dent general of the D. A. r., Pocahon-
tas; Gen; Pickett and John Paul
Jones. Those who took the part of
these famous characters were: Corinne
Frazier, May Craig. Maud McDougall,
Katherine Lewis, Susan Walker and
Evelyn Condor.
Political Figures Discussed.
City nuisances, such as billboards,
parking, ETC., were thoroughly cleaned
up in q dialogue between Stella Nc
Cord and Dorothy Howereth.
Political figures, as seen by newspa-
per women, were discussed by Martha
Strayer, Ruby Black, May Craig, Mary
Hornaday. Ruth Finney and Margue-
rite Young.
The musical scribes then followed
suit and also went political. accom-
panying Katherine Brooks as she sang
several Mother Goose political nursery
rhymes.
This number was followed by Sena-
tor Lily Shepard, who brought forth
some favorite marionettes to amuse the
guests. The marionettes, representing
several characters very much in the
social and political spotlight, had a few
words to say relative to current events.
Those taking part in this act were
Katherine Brooks, Margaret Germond,
Gretchen Smith, Mary Hornaday,
Evelyn Condor, Virginia Price, Isabella
Story and Maud McDougall.
The Widows Might" as told by
Gourley Edwards Hooes, gave an idea
of what girls might do if they
could catch a certain prominent Wild
over in the moonlight on a mid-sum-
mer's night.
The "three-ringed circus" of the eve
ming was directed and managed by Miss
Margaret Hart of the Evening Star,
who proved her versatility as a stage
manager, producer and playwright.
Interpretative Dance.
The evenings program was concluded
with an interpretative dance by Miss
Democracy and Mr.. Republican, in
which a political pie was served as the
inspiration for many fantastic steps.
Corinne Frazier and Gretchen Smith.
respectively, took the parts of the DON
key and the elephant
Honor guests of the club were: Mrs.
Charles Francis Adams, wife of the
Secretary of the Navy; Mrs. Walter F.
Brown, wife of Postmaster General
Brown; Mrs. William N. Doak, wife of
the Secretary of Labor; Mrs Henry L.
Stimson, wife of the Secretary of
State; Mrs. Patrick j. Hurley, wife of
the Secretary of War; Mrs. Arthur M.
Hyde, wife Of the Secretary of Agricul-
ture; Mrs. Ray Lyman Wilbur, wife of
the Secretary of the Interior; Mrs. Will
liam Dewitt Mitchell, wife of the Attor-
ney General; Mrs. Edward Everett Gam,
Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, Mrs Harlan
Fiske Stone, Mrs. Porter Dale, Mrs
James J. Davis, Mrs. william " Pratt,
Mrs. Ben Fuller, Miss Amelia Earhart,
Mrs. Peter Goelet Gerry, Mrs. j. Bord-
man Hartman, Mrs. Frank S. Hight,
Mrs. William Chaplin Huntington, Mrs
Charles e. Hughes, Representative Flor
ence P. Kahn, Representative Ruth
Bryan owen, Representative Mary T.
Norton, Representative Edith Nourse
Rogers, Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross and
Mrs. Ellis Stone. Other guests in
cluded Miss Helen Bum, house guest of
Mrs. Mitchell; Mrs. Ruth Raymond
Gavin, house guest of Representative
Rogers, and Mrs. Mildred Kolb Schultze,
composer pianist.