Evening star., 1960-02-29

WIlSn Jne stronger sex
glanced overhead while nerv-
ously mounting the stairs at
the Sulgrave Club Saturday
night and read:
II the men will smile
And giUe their all,
They tUon't get stuck
At the Leap Year Ball.
a few blanched noticeably.
This was the acid test, not
just OF charm, or even fancy
footwork. though both helped
enormously. This was the
test of whether a man had
been doing his duty dances
for the last four years, or
holding up the woodwork
while coolly surveying the
scene in stationary serenity.
This night mere male was at
the mercy of woman. He
couldn't dance or drink with
out an invitation to do so
from a female. The shoe was
on the other foot.
WIVES HAD PREPARED
their spouses with such reas-
suring, kindly tips as: For
heavens sake, don't let your
self get stuck. If you've
circled the floor twice. ask if
you can have a drink, so
your partner can escape"
The sign over the doorway
to the ballroom offered a
little encouragement:
II your dancing is poor
NeUer fear:
The best in Washington
Slipped here.
Inside the ballroom Never
Davis was beating out the
rhythms for which he is
famous, and the men were
dancing their feet off. Long
ing for a breather but loving
the rush they were. getting
and afraid if they didn't give
their all they would be lost
by the wayside were Sena-
tors Mike Monroney, John
Sherman Cooper and Pres
colt Bush; Edward Foley,
Clark Clifford, John Kenney,
Alec Hagner, Chip Bohlen,
French Ambassador Herve
Alphand, Peruvian Ambassa-
dor Fernando Berckemeyer,
Portuguese Ambassador Luis
ESteves Fernandes. British
Ambassador Sir Harold Cac-
cia and Tracy Barnes, who
had such a whirl he lost a
pearl stud and never did
see it again.
THE DOE LINE was some
thing to behold as they
crowded with relish into the
ballroom and sadistically sur
veyed the scene to see whom
they would cut in on.
Said Evangeline Bruce as
she charged into the fray.
beautiful in pale-blue satin,
"Isn't this divine?" Said Joan
Gardner Browne. looking
over the black-suited dane
ing men, They all look
alike from the back"
One woman announced at
the beginning, II have a list
I am going to dance with
and I have a list I am not
going to dance with"
Wives who cut in on their
own husbands were frequent
ly frowned upon, especially
when the latter obviously
didn't need any family help.
Such husbands were
Freddie Lee, Philip Watts,
Arthur Gardner, Taylor
Chewing, Freddie Merrill,
Desmond Fitzgerald, John
Hammond, Jack Lanahan,
Luis Pedroso of the Spanish
Embassy, who was tapped
often during a paso doble;
Herbert Klotz, Rowland
Evans, George Wheeler, Neil
Carothers, Bernard Stanley,
Forrest Van Slyck, Drew
Pearson and Claiborne Pell,
who was down with Nuala for
a few days from Rhode Island,
where he is campaigning for
Theodore Francis Green's
Senate seat in case Repre-
sentative John Fogarty
doesn't want it.
THE MEN WOULD HAVE
TO PLEAD every so often to
be taken to the bar. Women
would rather dance than
drink. and they saw no rea-
son to waste time on the lat
ter when they could do the
former.
Emily Foley said this was
one time when the women
didn't have to look glamorous.
They could wear any old
thing. 1t was the men who had
to wear corsages and look
their best.
They had to do all that.
too, even when eyed through
lorgnettes! Bea FahneStock
and Scottie Lanahan both
picked their partners after
first peering through the
high-toned spectacles.
Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss
was in the doe line along
with Mrs. Robert Low Ba-
con. who had Just returned
from Poland where she &C
companied the Arthur Ru-
bensteins; Minna Legare,
Betty Paul, Martha Knock,
Kay Graves, Ceci Carusi, Ella
Burling, Faith Ackerman,
Nancy Mann, Gwen Garnett,
Dorcas Hardin. Jane Nc
Baine, Nicole Alphand. Shir-
ley Woodward, Gwen Cafritz
and Harty Wadsworth. who
was soloing it Saturday night
as her husband, U. N. Ambas-