Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-03-05


from his own pocket?
What was the most expensive dinner
ever given at the White House?
When did royalty dine very simply
there?
When are members of the White House
family virtual prisoners in their second
floor quarters?
To what famous White House bed is
ascribed a jinx?
What is meant by the twilight zone'
of the White House?
What becomes of china no longer flt
for White House use?
What White House article is prey to
souvenir collectorS?"
What comprises the White House
antique shop?
What rat trap from White House attic
brought 500 at an auction sale?
What gifts to the White House are
invited through an act of Congress?
When are White House chairs given
away?
Why is the value of the White House
establishment purely speculative?
If you can answer all these questions you
know your White House. If you cannot you
may be interested to discover few of the
unique features of the first home in the land.
h IEARLY half million dollars is spent
~ yearly by the people of the United States
for the upkeep of their President and his do
nestle establishment Budgetted, this amount
1922 100, to be exact-runs something like
thic:
The Presidents salary of $4,000 heads the
list as the largest single item The cost OF
maintenance of the White House is $135, 900 a
year This amount takes care Of staff Of lit
employees, exclusive of military and naval aides,
police and Secret Service agents, with wages
ranging all the way from $500 for the head
chef to $3.50 for 0ishwashers. Ike Hoover, the
doorkeeper. in service for over 80 years, Is
the major-dom of the domestic staff. He can
tell you how much sugar the last six Presi-
dents take in their coffee. In the clerical force
the Presidents secretaries-there were three
under President Hoover-head the list at $10,-
600 yearly apiece.
1t takes 10000 to keep the White House
clean. With over thousand visitors day
trekkng through rooms and corridors there is
a continual floor polishing and busting pro-
gram in session. The great crystal chandeliers
which light the State chambers, the east room,
the red room. the blue room. the green room.
the cabinet room and the State dining room
contain over 5000 pieces of crystal. which are
polished by hand; $4,000 a year keeps the
White House silverware shined up. The light
bills run between $500 and $4,000 a year,
which is an average of SIS a month per room
computing the White House 50-room man
sion inclusive of corridors and anterooms.
That the President may be warm in Winter
and cool in Summer another 5000 IS needed.
Twelve greenhouses take $4,000 q year for
coal and upkeep of $4,000 allows the White
House to say it with flowers on all occasions.
The emerald sward of the 10-acre White House
lawn and great flower beds with their cycle
of blooms demand another $4,000 q year for
planting and tending.
The Treasury Department protects the
President and his establishment to the tune
of $3.50 a year.
Out of his own pocket the President must
pay for the food that goes on the family table,
his personal valet and his wife's maid, as well
as all personal entertainment Oddly enough,
funds for State dinners are available from
the PRESIDENTS travelling fund" budget.
President may count himself lucky if he gets
of with less than $4,000 q month grocery bills.
Presidents Hoover's ran much over; President
Coolidge's much under.
THROUGH A system of domestic records kept
ON file at the White House it is possible
to ascertain what the Presidents eat at each
meal of their incumbency: The most expensive
dinner-and the most expansive-in White
House records was given by President Roosevelt
in 1902 for Prince Henry of Prussia. It was