Evening star., 1935-09-01
MRS. |CKES' DEATH
SADDENS' CAPITAL
Wife of Secretary Was
Known Here for Diplomacy
and Hospitality.
BY SALLIE v. H. PICKETT.

While diplomatic Washington
mourns for the death of the Queen o
the Belgians, Washington society, Of
fetal and unofficial, will mourn tn
death of Mrs. Harold L. Ickes. Sh'
was known to all classes of womer
here.
In no sense a society woman, Mrs
Ickes fulfilled every social obligation
within her range, entertaining officials
her husbands friends in all walks o
life and especially offering hospitalit.
to her woman friends. While her bus!
husband would often have procrasti
mated In giving a dinner in his owr
house, or searched for a reason fol
declining an invitation, Mrs. Icke'
held him closely to such obligations,
She punctiliously observed the duties
of her position in receiving and return
ing calls and the hospitality OF hei
home. while lacking in great form OF
ceremony, was very wholesome anu
characteristic. If dinner party OF
noliticians was to be entertained, sne
assisted Secretary Ickes in selecting MS
guests and her method OF seatine'
while not according to State Depart
ment rules, was that most conducive
to good conversation.
Dahlia Named for Her.
There was a good deal Of sentiment
between the Secretary ana MIS-.
1ckes, and one of his show places
was a long row of dahlias which me-
more than an ordinarily good hortl-
culturalist, propagated, and, a1ter
several seasons with growing success,
finally achieved a perfect bloom,
gigantic in size, which he named
the Anna Wilmarth. Mrs. lckes
often took her woman callers to tnelr
garden to show them this triumph
In politics Mrs. Ickes did not
ALWAYS agree with her husband, ano
indeed. she thought so much OF the
Republican party, which she repre-
sented in the Illinois Legislature
that she left politics shortly after
Secretary Ickes went into the cabinet
that she might not embassass either
her husband or her party.
Mrs. Ickes diplomacy might have
entitled her to any post abroad, and
men out in her State tell OF DAYS
when she excused herself from the
legislative floor rather than en-
barrass them in their discussion and
criticism of the administration ano
its efforts. 1t was said that wnen
= Mr.. Ickes first entered the cabinet,
and she returned to her position as
member of the Legislature, she tried
remaining on the floor during any
discussion or criticism of the DEM
ocratic party, but one day finding an
embarrassing hush come suddenly
over her colleagues as she entered
the room, she ever after looked and
listened for signs and refrained from
being present. However, her own
wish would have been to have re-
NAMED on the floor during even the
most personal discussion.
Upheld Woman's Cause.
While Mrs. Ickes liked to talk poll
tics with men, she also was imbueo
with the idea of the power and IN
fuence of her own sex along those
lines, and discussed big issues with
them. Her feeling was that no line
should be drawn against them and
one Of her great delights was in en-
tertaining the ladies of Congress"
Mrs. Ickes was a pioneer clur
woman in Chicago and when sht
came to Washington she still main
tanned that interest. Even during th'
days lust after Mr.. Ickes' appoint.
ment to the cabinet and while she
was being initiated into the intri-
cacies of official life in Washington
she accepted the invitation of club
women to speak to them on clut
life. or whatever topic they sug-
gested. It was a few days after she
entered her new position that she
accepted the invitation of a profes-
sional and business woman's club
and kept them amused with stories
of her entrance into club life. One
of her stories was about the little
girl on the next corner. who had a
large front yard where children of
the neighborhood loved to play. Mrs
Ickes' mother decided, however. that
her little daughter had better not
play in that particular yard because
the little girls mother belonged to
q club.
Mrs. Ickes was perhaps one OF the
best authorities on Indians of various
tribes in the country. Her study of
them was not so much from the pic
turesque side as from a desire to
assist them. She deeply appreciated
Indian handicraft and art and the
Ickes home is rich in the choicest
specimens. She owned everything
pertaining to their art and domestic
life from elaborate war costumes OF
chieftains, to jewelry and trinkets made
by various tribes. Her particular
hobby, however was centered in the
Indians of New Mexico, where for
some years she spent a part of each
Summer
Attended "News PARTIES"
A phase of social life in Washing
ton originated by Mrs. Roosevelt was
that of inviting groups OF women
officials in the various departments,
like Nellie Tayloe Ross, Mrs. Blail
Banister, and others and then asking
newspaper women to join them. Sh'
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