Evening star., 1951-11-12
By Kotho rine M. Brooks

fame Is gone from there forever.
Oldtimers In Washington hoped
the mansion would some day be
returned to the gayety and splen-
dor of the early years of the CEN
tury. Now that the property has
been sold to the Indonesian gov
ernment that hope has faded forI
the house will be used as q chan
Gerry and never again will be the
scene of fabulous dinner parties,
balls and cotillions which were
the order Of the golden era.
The late Thomas F. Walsh built
the house just after the advent of |
this century. He made his fortune |
In gold in Colorado and brought his
family to Washington in the late
. COS. The house was planned after
the handsome residences he found
in Paris and Brussels and during
these visits abroad he met King
Leopold II of Belgium who was
anxious to interest Mr.. Walsh
and his money-in the Congo. In
1902 he promised to visit the
Washes in Washington when the
then King of Belgium came to the
st. Louis Exposition in 1908. The
house was completed and the
Washes moved in in the autumn
of 1908. There is no record Of
the Kings visit.
Probably the most important
entertainment given in the man
sion was the dinner for King Al
bert and Queen Elizabeth of the
Belgians on October %, 1919. This
was some years after Mr.. Walsh's
death and his widow still lived in
the house. She gave it to the
Vice President and Mrs. Thomas
Riley Marshall who were close
personal friends for that occasion.
King Albert as heir apparent to
the Belgian throne had visited
here before and at that time was a
guest at the White House. How
ever, shortly before the arrival of
the royal pair President Wilson
was taken i'll and no guests could
be entertained in the Executive
Mansion.
Dinner Regol Affor
The dinner was regal in all its !,
arrangements and Mrs. Walsh was ,
faithful to the gold that made" t
them. just as Mr.. Walsh had
been. Even the flowers were vel I
low. Yellow chrysanthemumS v
were in the vases and on the :
table there were yellow orchids ]
matching the gold service, knives, &
forks, spoons. ETC., as well as can l
delabra vases. epergnes, and COM l.
pote dishes. II
1t was following this dinner
that Queen Elizabeth inspected
the work done by Mrs. Walsh and
a group of Washington women
in salvaging old clothes and max
ing them over into warm, wear (:
able and attractive garments for
use by Belgian refugees during
World War I. After the Queens
inspection Of the work and the
machines used in the doing, q
Her Majesty awarded to Mrs.
Walsh the Order Of Elizabeth,
Queen of the Belgians. The pres
entation. made after the dinner,
was a complete surprise to Mrs.
Walsh. The handsomely pam
eled oak dining room was turned
over by Mrs. Walsh for this work
and corps of socially promi-
nent hoSteSSes were there every
day during the war keeping the
flow of useful wearing apparel 60
ing to Belgium.
The list of guests at this din
ner is of interest for even now,
though Washington's population
is floating" there are some who
still are favorites in the Nations
Capital. The King sat at the
right of the Vice President and
the Queen on his left. Beside
the King sat Mrs. Marshall and
the Duke Of Brabant, later. King
Leopold III next to her; Nine.
Jusserand, wife of the French
Ambassador. then dean of the
corps and the Belgian Ambassa-
dor, Baron de Cartier de Mar
chienne. The French Ambassa-
dor was beside the Queen with
Mrs. Frederick II. Gillett, wife :,
of the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, next. The Chief
Justice Edward Douglas White sat
opposite the Vice President some
what in the position of an as
sistant host 3
Other Guests at Fete
Those at the dinner that eve
ming still with us include Repre-
sentative Edith Nourse Rogers,
whose husband, the late Repre- I
sentative John Jacob Rogers, was
ranking minority member of the !,
Foreign Affairs Committee, and Z
Mrs. Henry D. Flood, widow of =
Representative Flood, who was y
the chairman Of that committee. =
The present Belgian Ambassa- =
dor, Baron Silyercruys, was listed
then as Mr.. Robert Silvercruys, :
secretary at the embassy. The y y
United States Military Aide to the =
King was Maj. Gen. William ?
Mason Wright, father of Vice Ad- q
niral ,Jerauld Wright, the latter !.
now back in Washington for duty. ! !
There were many such elabo- !
rate parties given in the mansion 4,
before the death of Mr.. Walsh.
The first large dinner given by
them in their new abode was in
honor Of Mrs. John w. Mackay of :,
New York who was their house !,
guest. This was on the evening Of i
December z, 1908. According to h
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