The Wilmington morning star., 1946-07-07

farm, a beautiful piece OF lane
which originally belonged to Judy's
great grandfather before he moved
to North Carolina. Guests started
arriving for a swim around 4 il
the afternoon and supper was
served at the waters edge around
7. Among those at the party were
Miss Doris Hutton, Miss Sarah Lily
Blythe, Miss Helen Mcdonnell,
Mrs. Jane Rogers Jones, and Tom
Howard, Bob Miller, Dick Spencer,
Ralph Vickery, Bill Lassiter, and
Manley Hunter.
Down at the Marine Barracks
the other evening the Comman-
dant and Mrs. Alexander A. ander-
grift gave a dinner for three
Marine officers and their wives,
Maj. General and Mrs. Thomas
Watson, Colonel and Mrs. William
J. Waling and Col. Howard E..
R~osecrans. 1t was a farewell
party for General and Mrs. Wat
son who are leaving this week for
North Carolina, where the general
will command Camp Lejeune. An
other occasion when Washington's
loss is a distinct gain for the home
state, for the Watson's are among
the outstanding service folk in the
Capital. The party was in true
V~andergrift form-and during the
evening the charming hostess was
persuaded to tell her favorite
story. It's about the house of the
Commandant of the Marine Corps,
which is now, of course, her home,
and which is so old that it pulls
your heart strings. 1t is, in fact,
said to be the oldest official house
in Washington, built in 1904 and
was one of the new Capital land
marks not burned in the War of
1872 for the simple reason that
it was occupied by the British Gen
eral Ross, who used it for his own
headquarters. The amusing thing
about the history of this fine old
buff-colored home is that while our
government got it from the British
without much ado, it had consid-
cradle more trouble in retaining
it from the family of Gen. Archi-
bald Henderson, who was Marine
Corps commandant of the Marine
Corps from 1920 until his death in
1859, and consequently was master
of this house for all of 80 years.
In fact he lived in it SO long that
he forgot it belonged to the gov
eminent and willed it to his fam
lily. The case had to go to the
District Court of the United States
for the District of Columbia before
it was finally settled in Uncle
Sans favor. 1t is truly a lovely
old place.
Carolina Women
Out at the spacious C~ongression-
al club, haven from the heat and
maddening summer noises, a num-
Der Of Carolina women gathered
last Saturday in something of a
summer farewell to each other, be-
fore turning their heads vacation
ward. 1t was me of the very rare
occasions when Mrs. Josiah w.
Bailey delights her friends by
joining with them at the luncheon
hour, laying away more pressing
matters for the moment. Also
among the guests were Mrs. Ken
meth c. Royal, Mrs. o. Max Gard
ner, Mrs. Lindsay Warren, Mrs.
Thomas Anthony Walden. Mrs.
William H. Hessick, Jr., Mrs.
Macie Lowe, Miss Genevieve Rey-
nolds, Mrs. John K. Slear and
Miss Annie Lee Chisholm. Mrs.
Royal was being congratulated
again on the success of the party
which she and the undersecretary
gave, almost on the spur of the
moment-1ast week, with every de-
tail perfect in the end. All over
again she had to give. the recipes
for the delicious food served that
afternoon, so highly has it been
complimented all over the Capital.
Mrs. Gardner, whose charm and
sweet graciousness have endeared
her to all Carolinians in Washing
ton was saying a brief farewell
for she was off the next day for a
real holiday. With the Chief JUS