Evening star., 1951-01-09
By Margaret S. Diekey

BY Margaret 5. Dickey
Mrs. Truman headed the list
OF serious, quiet spectators who
filed into the galleries of the
House of Representatives yester-
day to hear President Truman de-
liver his State of the Union mes
sage to a joint session of the Sen
ate and House.
The Presidents wife, accom-
panied by her husbands cousin,
Mrs. Mary Romaine. arrived in
her front row seat of the execu-
tive gallery about 20 minutes be-
fore the speech was to begin. Her
entrance was inconspicuous and
throughout the speech she did not
move either to applaud or con-
verse with others in the gallery,
but remained in silent concen-
tration looking out over the Ma
tion's legislators.
AS if taking their cue from the
Presidents wife. the wives of cab
met members who took up the
second and third rows of the ex-
ecutive gallery talked little while
awaiting the arrival of the Pres
ident. Occasionally Mrs. Oscar
Chapman leaned to one side and
spoke to Mrs. Dean Acheson who
sat on her right.
Directly behind Mrs. Truman
sat Mrs. Jesse Donaldson flanked
by Mrs. George c. Marshall and
Mrs. Charles Brannan. Also in
the executive gallery was Mrs.
Harold Burton. wife of the Su-
preme Court Justice. Completing
the company were Secret Service
men who sat near Mrs. Truman as
well as in the rear of the gallery.
Costume colors in the execu-
tive box were as muted as the at
moSphere except for brilliant
orange hats worn by Mrs. Ache
son and Mrs. Brannan. Mrs. Tru-
man wore a black Persian Lamb
coat over a dark green wool dress
which she accepted with a gold
necklace and earrings. Mrs. Chap
man, Mrs. Marshall, Mrs. Ro-
maine and Mrs. Burton all wore
black suits and Mrs. Brannan a
black dress. Adding another
note of color was Mrs. Donaldson,
clad in wine wool suit with a
lavender hat.
Two empty seats in the execu-
tive gallery were unusually con-
SpiciouS when seats for the
Presidents speech are rare and
coveted. Yesterday, however, these
were not the only empty seats in
the galleries. About 10 in all were
vacant perhaps because television
cameras were bringing the ses-
sion to five times as many people
this year as last. Because of this
one Of the most familiar non
Congressional faces seen on Capt.
tol Hill-that of Mrs. Nicholas
Longworth-was absent yesterday
Mrs. Longworth explained that
she, for one. had decided to watch
the proceedings on television in
the comfort of her home.
DipIomots' Wives Present
No chair went begging in the
diplomatic section of the balcony,
on the left of the executive seats.
This small gallery was filled with
wives of Ambassadors and Minis
ters, one of whom wore the hand
some dress of her country.
Seated in the center of the
front row, Mrs. Corea, wife of the
Ceylonese Ambassador, provided a
brilliant spot of color in the gall
lery with her gold embroidered
yellow and green sari. On her left
was Princess Wan Waithaykon,
wife of the Thai Ambassador, and
further back were Mrs. Klein
waechter. wife of the Austrian
Minister: Nine. Bruggmann, wife
of the Swiss Minister; Nine. LIE
Calais, wife of the Minister of
Luxembourg, wearing a chic black
hat adorned by plume of black
feathers tipped with white, and
Nine. Van Roiijen, wife of the
Netherlands Ambassador, who
wore a mocha wool dress and hat.
The wife of the dean of the
diplomatic corps, Nine. de Nor
genstierne arrived a little later
than the rest wearing a beige
corded silk dress and sable cape.
She was followed by Nine. Thors,
wife of the Icelandic Minister, in
a bright red dress. 1
Lady Legislators
The quiet that pervaded the
galleries also was apparent on the
floor of the House where Repre-
sentatives assembled early and
with little of the handshaking and
milling around usual at the joint
session. These legislators had
done their mingling at earlier ses-
sions and sought their seats with
few greetings and salutations.
AS they arrived they settled
down to low-toned conversations
with their neighbors. Indulging
in such quiet fraternizing were
Representatives Marguerite Stitt
Church and Frances P. Bolton who
sat side by side at the session,