Evening star., 1953-03-05
SocietyNews

Sulgrave Clun yesterday a1Ler.
noon, the Senate adjourned at
1853 in the afternoon and the
House didn't meet at all. In fact.
considering who the party was
for, it was probably the reason
why the gentlemen on Capitol
Hill had an easy day.
The President Pro TEN Of the
Senate and Mrs. Styles Bridges
and the Majority Leader OF the
House and Mrs. Charles Halleck
were the honor guests at an OH
cial-studded reception given by
Washington Lawyer Francis De
Lashmutt Thomas and his popu-
lar wife. Among the two or three
hundred guests who dropped
by was an impressive repre-
sentation from the Congress. the
cabinet and prominent local Re-
publicans.
The three couples stood at the
head of the stairs in a line that
began with the hostess and
ended with the genial host. Mrs.
Thomas wore a srnartly styled
navyblue afternoon frock, blond
Mrs. Bridges a low-cut black
lace-trimmed cocktail dress with
a black lace stole, and Mrs. Hal
leck a faille dress that will be de-
scribed here as "Halleck rose"
for want of a decision as to
whether it was really mauve or
ashes Of roses.
Vice President and Mrs. Nixon
and Senators and Representa-
tives by the dozen filed down the
line, There were Senator and
Mrs. Lyndon johnson, Senator
and Mrs. Leverett Saltonstal,
Senator and Mrs. James Dun.
senator and Mrs. Homer Fergu-
son, Senator and Mrs. William
LANCER, Senator Barry Goldwa,
ter. Senator and Mrs. Karl
Mundt, former Speaker Sam
Rayburn, Representative ana
Mrs. Leslie Arends. Representa-.
tive and Mrs. Dewey Short ana
Representative and Mrs. JACK
Dempsey.
Comments flew fast as political
friends passed. Some OF them
touched on the impending deatn
Of the greatest thorn in Amer
ica,s flesh-Stalin. "If it was
wrong for Cabot Lodge not TO
shake hands with Vishinsky,
Mr.. Halleck said he had asked
Secretary Of State Dulles that
morning, "are we supposed to
say we are sorry about Stain
dying?"
Royburn's 40th Anniversary
Chief Justice vinson came to
the 5:30-to-8 party and Tor
awhile he, Mr.. Rayburn and the
Dempseys formed a little island
of Democrats in a sea OF Repuo-
licans. Sam Rayburn said that
Yesterday marked the 40th an
niversary of his service in the
United States House Of Repre-
sentatives, but apparently ne
had kept quiet about it up until
then.
when Halleck came to me
Yesterday and said, let's ad-
journ until Thursday, I said
'flne,' because I knew that If we
met today there would be all
those speeches about me-" OBJ
served the humorous Mr.. Ray
burn with a worried look as II
he couldn't stand to hear all
those nice things about himself.
"Why did you adjourn?"
some one asked.
Because we didn't have a
darn thing to do" he replied,
and letting politics creep further
into the conversation, 1--WE
haven't done anything yet" the
veteran Democratic Representa-
tive added.
President and Mrs. Eisenhow-
er's first dinner host since they
moved into the White House ar
rived at the party in his Army
blues. Chief Of Staff Gen. j.
Lawton Collins wouldn't say any
thing about the dinner he and
Mrs. Collins gave the night be-
fore except that it was an infor-
NAL affair. They wanted to keep
it that way so that President and
Mrs. Eisenhower would want to
dine out on other occasions. Ev-
erybody who knows the Chief
Executive and his wife is aware
that they only like informal
parties.
Arthur Middleton Hill asked
the Vice President when he was
coming out again for another
game Of golf. Mr.. Nixon pro-
tested that he wasn't a very good
player. Mr.. Hill didn't agree.
Mrs. Nixon wore her most be-
coming hat, made Of petals of
large pink roses.
Humphreys and Wilson's Attend
The Secretary Of the Treasury
and Mrs. Humphrey and the
Secretary Of Defense and Mrs.
Wilson were there, the latter in
dinner clothes. Mrs. Wilson wore
a handsome champagne colored
chiffon dress, heavily beaded on
the bodice.
Mrs. Humphrey and Mrs.
Harry Moses chatted together
and decided they were a good
combination. Remembering their
husbands business interests, the
former said she represented steel,
the latter coal.
The Postmaster General and
Mrs. Summerfield dropped by in
time for Mrs. Summerfield to
take her turn at the tea table.
She looked as pretty as a picture
in q slim black dress with q
ruhled fold Of flesh-colored
mouseline de sole around the
bateau neckline, and a mere sug-
gestion Of q hat in the form of