Evening star., 1933-04-04

tfon, is giUfn5 "reminiscences OF her
/. Interesting. experiences in politics
s6nd society in Washington. fi
BY DOLLY GAM. r
III do. not long for all the old ways
but like to recall fashions and doings
That, now seem so remetes There may
be much we should have retained from
fhe forgotten manners and customs o1
our youth; yet I am sure improved
conditions in the present era of sophis-
tication outweigh the less Of the SIM
when I was q youungster in Kansas
/. We had gas lights, and used wood OF
+! coal in our. cook stoves-on which
/ learned enough about cooking to know
my family will never have to live on
unpalatable, food, even II the market
/: in domestic service falls to zero! We
: did not think of having a telephone
; until that marvel had passed through
; its expensive testing stage f
I, II we visited 10 or 20 miles away
from home, the Journey required all
! hay. perhaps longer In. the evenings.
3Giieni we had no company. and no
ighborhocd. party. we could read or
talk or knit, but tire honie fireside was
/: quiet by contrast with its gayety in
: ILLS dSt VI dllQ ldQlO. VIC WClC, i
have no doubt, as happy then as the
young people today. We played, rode
] and danced, at slower pace perhaps,
but none the less joyeusly. The girls
did not stay out until the small hours.
They started earlier in the evening, and
they were expected to be up and doing
earlier the next morning.
If I had a daughter today Don't
think I should wish to curb her, The
new generation behaves itself, on the
whole, to my liking. I envy its inde-
pendence, self confidence and poise. If
it has lost anything by casting off re-
straint or abandoning the pious inhibi-
tions of its predecessors. the loss is
overbalanced by its conquest Of fear.
Our boys and girls think for them
selves.
Nothing marks the difference be
tween old times and tt new so strik-i
ingly as OUR clothes. Show me a wom-
ans photograph. and I can tell when
it was taken by the neck or sleeves, or
in recent years by the length of the
skir:.
The rebellion against unhealthful
clothes has reformed fashions. In the
process of liberation the larger cities
used to be months or years ahead OF the
inland towns and rural regions, where
inherited prejudices hung on. Only
since the World War has news of style
changes been flashed Immediately to
remote places.
Drove "Snappiest" Horses.
have never been able to decide
whether the French mentality was
really Superior to ours in creating
STYLES, or whether our manufacturers
were, so BUSY. along other lines that
they we're merely awaiting the psyche
logical moment to take over the busl-
ness. IT,, the unpleasantness between
us and the French over the debt re-
suits in our originating styles for our
selves, at least one good thing will have
come out of the quarrel.
=. have wandered away from my rec
objections of the old times-from girl
HCod IN Kansas TO fashions along the
boulevardsI ssEz. ~ s}sf
I'VE yere alter al youngsters OF much
HE Safae k as our successors or to-
DAY, .orliysEfth 81 different setting. ]
@ ssasssi n Eisas bes ssas e tUSsy Sisy
tipline, is. less rigid?a The. schools Dt
Topeka Wcfs small beside the vast
structures THE city now boasts. We
thought they were good schools and !
think so still. ! had an ambition to go
10 college, but gave up the idea to be
with brother Charles In Washington
and serve as his secretary. -
/ My return, trips to Kansas, between
sessions of Congress, were. vacations
except, in times Of campaigns. / used
to drive as.trap--a high, four wheeled
vehicle with. two seats back to back. /
.hrove none but the snappiest horses.
MY trap made its daily, rounds Of the
town, and when a horse show was on
b was a regular exhibitor, often a win
her. A trap was. in my opinion, the
kquipage de luxe., but I. doubt whether
kshouid enjoy it now.
l. Before 4 moved to Washington my
tc$toeptton of architectural grandeur
tegfat. Il was zfnalIy obliged to adfnit
that the National Capitol upset my old
IDEAS. in my early, lonely weeks, before
f.knew anybody in Washington, ! in-s
testigated the Capitol from one end to
: had looked forward to seeing the
-Supreme Court in session, as had
heard much talk of the tribunal of
which a member of our family on my
| mothers side, John Jay, was first Chief
Justice Imagine my disappointment
fupon entering the small room of the
fcourt, formerly the Senate Chamber
Ed1o PdoCSA DCk0AI WIG iiiOfChiACAit w
1fcnstruct Supreme Court building,
tlow being built. overcame the tradi-
Mional objections to-, shifting the home
scf our highest judicial body.
With Mrs. Dennis Flynn Of Okla
thoma, whose husband arrived in Con-
s.Eress the same year as Charles, once
lgot lost exploring the Capitol. remem-
her how Interested we were in the Pres
9dents room, where the President signs
,.biils In the closing hours OF Congress,
md nearby the Vice Presidents room.
SMg one lingering boast, as a Kansan,
was due to my failure to discover any
beautiful collection of mounted birds,
such as we had in, the Topeka State
House. .., ...'.=.<
Washington of Old Days.
. The Washington Of old was as differ
/ enC from the Capital today as my ma
; tive city in Kansas was different from
/; the present Topeka. The two were not
i then as far apart as might be imagined
T! Washington was still like an oyergrowr
village IN 1888. ..,.
j Trees lined. all the streets radiating
{: from the Capitol and beyond. Most OF
them have been felled in widening and
!: fepaving operations. Horse cars ira
versed F street. A cable line ran. along
5 Pennsylvania avenue. The herdic-s
low-set bus with it's entrance at the
back and seats along the sides. named
after the Pennsylvania, Peter Herdic
who invented it-was the means o.
|. transit on Sixteenth street.
Open victorias served as cabs. WI
! did Dot have many OF the hanson:
which were the vogue in New York. Fol
making calls, if one owned no carriage
one hired a closed coupe, very stuffy
/ drawn by one or two horses too old o
! feeble for fast movement The granc
persons riding in their own carriages
behind horses in glittering harness
l aroused envy in the Kansas girl whit
had left her smart trap and spirite'
\ bay home. I die 1ot care especially TO
the pohderous carriage, but the sleel
horses made me homesick.
Basement kitchens were the rule II
Old Washington; they are rarer today
] Houses then looked upon as model