Evening star., 1950-10-22
By Jessie Font Evons

By Jessie Font Evons
Two of the Nations leading
private citizens. DR.. Gilbert H
Grosvenor, president since 1920
of the National Geographic So
ciety, and Mrs. Grosvenor, the
daughter of Alexander Graham
Bell, inventor of the telephone
have just returned to their home
Wild Acres, near Bethesda. Md,
after three months in Europe.
Tomorrow, their six children,
Melville Bell Grosvenor, Mrs.
Samuel Alexander Gayley, Dr.
Mabel Harlakenden Grosvenor
Mrs. Grosvenor Coville, Mrs.
Walter Kendall Myers and Mrs.
Torflnn Oftedal. are celebrating
their parents golden wedding an
niversary at an $50 pm. recep-
ton at Wild Acres, in the pres
ence of the members of their
families, other relatives and the
Grosvenors' most intimate friends.
Mrs. Julian Ripley OF New York,
Mrs. Grosvenor's cousin, and her
1900 bridesmaid, is expected to be
present. The GroSvenors were
married in 1900 in the King
Way House Chapel on Gros-
venor Square, London. which was
bombed out during World War
II.
Incidentally, golden wedding
anniversary observances are a
tradition in both their families,
for DR.. Grosvenor's parents, Dr..
and Mrs. Edwin P. Grosvenor,
both internationally known for
their work at Roberts College,
Istanbul, Turkey, celebrated their
golden wedding. So did Mrs.
Grosvenor's grandparents in the
Hubbard and Bell families. In
fact. Mrs. Grosvenor's Grand
father Hubbard and three of his
brothers and their wives each
celebrated golden wedding days.
Visited Daughter in Paris.
DR.. and Mrs. Grosvenor are two
intrepid air travellers, who invari-
ably choose airplanes over other
methods of transportation. Their
objective this year was to visit
their daughter Gloria and her
husband, Torf1nn Oftedal, in Paris.
Mr.. Oftedal, formerly with the
Norwegian Embassy here, is coun-
sellor of the Norwegian Mission,
with the Office of European Eco
nomic Cooperation. In the Of
tedalS' home near St. Cloud, on
the Seine. DR.. and Mrs. Grosvenor
renewed their acquaintance with
Mrs. GroSvenor's namesake, Elsie
Mabel Oftedal, and met for the
first time their newest grandchild,
Olav Tonnes Oftedal, namesake
of his 94-year-old Norwegian
grandfather. Gloria, with the two
children, returned with the
Grosvenors for their golden we'd
ding celebration, and is now with
them at Wild Acres.
Practically all of our short
sightseeing trips on the continent
were made by motor, either with a
car and driver Or by bus" Mrs.
Grosvenor told me. with my
husband taking many polychrome
pictures of our journeyings, we
really enjoyed being tourists, and
with the exception of our motor
trip from London to see Sir Evelyn
and Lady Wrench at their coun-
try home near oxford Che is the
founder of the English Speaking
Union. you know. and they have
both visited us in this country
we made few other contacts with
friends whom we had known dur
ing previous visits to Europe"
In London, they noticed the
absence of queues, and thought
the people looked happier than
they did during their last visit
and were greatly impressed with
the amount of rebuilding which
is being done.
Experience in Paris.
An unusual Paris experience was
being caught in showdown
strike during a traffic rush hour
conducted by the traffic policemen
in an effort to better salary con-
ditions. Like many French civil
servants, they are poorly paid
Usually, Paris policemen are the
embodiment of courtesy and help
fulnesS," she emphasized. The
white batons which they use in
directing traffic. plus their white
gloves are both distinctive and
useful, in her opinion. The cob
blestones in the Paris streets
are imported from Norway, she
discovered.
In contrast to the cities in
Belgium. where all sorts of high
priced American cars are to be
seen on the streets. there are few
American cars except Fords in
Paris. Most of the models are
French or British without luggage
compartments to which we are &C
customed. Mrs. Grosvenor found
prices almost as high as they are
in the U. S., with clothes, under
wear and shoes perhaps higher
although there are still many