The Washington times., 1934-12-21
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ich ergHds
Bad Evening
ROPER'S PARTY
BY Helen ESSary

ny aSASu ESSdFy
Donald Richberg, Number One
Boy to President Roosevelt, ar
rived at the White House Cabi.
net dinner the other night just
three minutes too late.
AS Mr.. Richberg was Strug.
Cling out of his coat and gently
but privately cursing the work
that had delayed him, an aide
announced, commandingly:
"The President of the United
States!"
All the other guests were prop
erly assembled in the Blue Room
waiting to greet Mr.. Roosevelt.
Mr.. Richberg and the delightful
Mrs. Richberg were outside. Mr..
Richberg jerked fiercely at his
evening uniform.
Pop! Pop! Pop! went the
three studs in his shirtfront.
A sympathetic servitor looked
at the gaping chest. Stepped up
quickly. Adjusted the studs. But
left smudges-one, two and
three.
All during the dinner, when
Mr.. Richberg wished to regard
his soup or his roast, or his ice
cream, his glance fell first on
Smudges-one, two and three.
1t made a nice evening.
Secretary and Mrs. Roper
have a Christmas custom which
they have been observing for
As years.
On December 25, 1889, Mr..
and Mrs. Roper were. married.
At 6:15 o'clock every Christmas
day since then the family of
Mrs. Roper, increasing happily
with the years, has formed
line, advanced smilingly, and
kissed the bride.
P. S. The annual ceremony
takes place at 6:15 because, al
though the wedding was planned
for 6 o'clock, the minister, As
years ago, was Is minutes late.
The Cosmos Club is a lunch.
con retreat of the Brain Trust.
At the cry, "Oh, ProfesSor!"
practically every man in the din
ing room, between IL and 2
o'clock, would spring to his feet,
rap on the table. and say:
"The class will now come to
order"
The other day the Undersec-
retary of Agriculture, Rexford
G. Tugwell; the Assistant Sec
retary of Commerce, John Dick
inson; and the Assistant Secre-
tary of State, Francis B. Sayre,
all former college professors,
were lunching together.
At our table was Sir Anthony
JenkinSon, a young English
man, who has been travelling
about America for the last two
months, preparatory to settling
down to London journalism.
Before the World War the
Grand Tour for young British
ers was the Continent of Eu.
rope. Now the sons of the realm
inspect "the States" and Holly
wood.
But returning to Sir Anthony
himself; he is brilliant and
observing. We had been dis
cussing the concentration of
personalities that makes the
Washington of today. Sir An
thony said:
"YOu don't realize how calmly
you take people of great con-
sequence in this town. In New
York or London or Paris, one
must 60 to immense trouble to
meet a celebrity. But in Wash
ingtOn the people who are
making over America are prac-
ticalIy under foot.
For instance, at the next
table is DIR. Tugwell. He made
the front page on every Lon
don paper while he was in
Europe. Here, he comes and
goes, unObtruSively.
"YOu are casual people, you
WashingtOnians. Maybe you're
blase."
Note from George Knopf,
professor at the South Kent
School in Connecticut, about to
spend the holidays with his
cousin, Mrs. John R. Ewell:
Cant wait to tell you about
. highly practical and interest
ing problem 1 invented for my
Algebra class.
"a boy gets IS in Latin, 10 in
History, and IS in English. He
also takes French and Algebra.
Unfortunately his general aver
age is only So. But if he had
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