Wheiv WaufKingtoiv Ke^ri MOfeeiv Boud^e II /- - r , ~ —,,., . .• V •■-■?'.' . \ ,'• II VPT.s* —» - ' I \\ -v . - //^ \\ II H • ?2i4<« > // 7 SHIS is - one of the few cities.in the country where the old-lashioned cus tom of keeping op en house on New Year's day holds unchanged. Th e men who' are fond [V'IM of digging into matters historical U" say that, the New 4 Year's calling WBSjMfa practice originated among the Dutch ■■■■mMlw on Manhattan is land. Washington began the prac tice in the year that the city was founded, and it has kept it up with all its social formalities from that day to this. The greatest New Year's recep tion that the world knows is held every year in the White House with the president and his wife and the cabinet officers and their wives in the receiving line. The guests are a multitude, and they come dressed in all sorts of rai ment from the blue and gold trappings of the ambassadors and army officers of all nations, to the toil-stained clothing of the la borer and the calico gowns and bandannas of the old-time plan tation negress. 'J he \\ bite House, of necessity, must be democratic, for this is a democracy, and the same greet ing is given the workmen that is given to the ambassador of all the Russias. There is no more picturesque affair in the country than the White House reception on New Year's. Long before the gates are thrown open the ave nues leading to the executive mansion and Ijafayette square, which out lies the president's grounds, are jammed with people, and it is the duty of the police to get the Immense crowd in line and to main tain order. President Roosevelt came Into office in the > • month of September, and because of the assas sination of""President McKinley while holding a public reception in the Music hall at Iluffalo, it was urged that tfie New Year's receptions • at the White should be given over. It ■was. feared' that some half-crazed person might succeed in getting to the president's person' and repeat the awful crime of Buffalo. Mr. Roosevelt/ however, would not listen to the ar guments of fhe fearful ones, and the reception was held as it always had been held, and Mr. Tal't will keep up the custom. There have.been no interruptions to the New Year's day recep tions during the history of the republic. I'recedence of necessity has to be considered to some extent at the president's receptions. When the officials oi Washington life have passed in front »112 the president and his wife and have exchanged the greetings of the New Year, tb.e plain' civilians and their' wives, daughters and sons, follow in whatever order they may have happened to reach their place in line. If the miilionaire does not want to be preceded-by the poverty-stricken "lie can stfty at home unless fie chooses to get u}> early enough to make- sure that he can get &■ first place. If any discrimination were shown the president would hear of it, and there would be no end of a row. Out ol courtesy to the men who in a sense are guests-of the ntttion,. th.e ambassadors apd ministers and tlje attaches of legations are re-. - ceived first.» The ambassador who has been longest in the Washington service heads .the. tine and it makes no difference whether he from a great power or from a weak power, for the length of his Washington resi dence alone decides the matter. The. master of <Sereroonies at the White House- takes the diplomatic list arid the American official list and bi'idies them for a week prior to the re ception. If he should give place to some of ficial \vhi"h by precedence right belonged to another, there would be sulking, indignation ana "very likely loud complaint. It is one of the most delicate tasks in the world to arrange the official guests at a New Year's reception so that there will be no friction and no heart burnings. Following the ambassadors and ministers of foreign countries come the members of the su- court of the United States. In their trail come the senators and representatives in congress, and then come the officers'of the army and of the navy. Then the bureau chiefs and the higher officials of the various depart ments of government greet the president, and after them the ordinary citizen has his place in line. On New' Year's day President Taft shakes hands with 'sorilething like 8,000 of his fellow citizens and Citizenesses. Mrs. Taft does not shake hands, for if the president's wife should . attempt it she could not hold the pen for a good many days thereafter. Shaking hands is a more' trying occupation than most people may imagine." ' Grover Cleveland had tto give, over .the practice for some time because he actual ly lamed hig right hand and right arm until he could not lift them without paiti. Mr.. Roose velt had-.a handshake which enabled him to ,• give a seejnlngly hearty grip to everybody and yet to spare his own hand thfi slightest mus cular strain. Mr. Taft must have had the Roosevelt Secret imparted to him, for he gives the same kind of a hand greeting that was giv en by his predecessor. ' *• At the White House reception on New Year's affairs move forward as smoothly as the .proverbial Clock work. The guest's enter at the . piain doorway which opens toward Pennsyl vania avenue. Their course toward the presi dent 1s lined with watchful men in civilian dress. The line moves quickly and it is accel erate'd In 'lts course by the politely worded re , quests of the ushers, requests by the way which have th£ force of orders,' although the word's are spoken in such a way that the guest has no thought that he is being unduly hurried. Wfien Consideration is giveh to ■ the fact that thftttsands upon thousands of people must greet the*president within a limited time, there is every excuse for the championship, by the ush ers'of what may be called the"forward move ment." President Taft has said that he will carry out the Roosevelt policies. He does not con ( sider it' necessary, however, in order to keep his 'pledge to say: "delighted" to everyone whom he greets. "Glad to see you," is the president's stock phrase of welcome and as his intonation is as heartily sincere as is his smile, he leaves a pleasant impression. Once in a while in the course of a New Year's reception, the president will "hold up the line" long enough to chat for a moment with some one v.'hom he knows well personally, or with some CAMERON COUNTY PRESS, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 23, 1909. official who has come from a distance to pay his respects. Mir. Roosevelt had a habit of holding the 1 line up quite frequently, and as a result his receptions were likely to be rather long drawn out. If Mr. Roosevelt ever had seen a man before, no matter how many years back, nor in what kind of an out of-t-he-way place, ho was sure to remember him, and as ( a. result his acqufiilnance was very wide, lie never liked to let a maw whom he had once known, pass by with merely n prefunctory handshake, , Receiving with the President and Mrs. .Taft on New Year's day are the vice : president's wife and women of the cabinet who range -them selves to the right in order of the cabinet rank of. their husbands. Mrs. Sherman has the place and cflin.es Mrs. Knox, the wife of the secretary o£ sjtate. Then 'comesvMrs. MacVeagh, the wife of the secretary of :the treasury, and so on in"order of cabinet precetlqnpe, until the wife of Mr. Nagel is reached who.h'Mds the'last place.in line as the wife of of the department most re cently creator $y act of congress. * ! A few other<woftien in official invited by the presuKffitt.'s wife to assist her in her du ties as hostess, arid it is not at all'an unusual thing to invite some of the older residents of Washington whose families have no govern ment connection. The cabinet pTlcers and theij wives remain with the receiving party until the reception Is about two-thirlls ended, an# then they goto their homes where they hold .semi-public receptions of their own. y The vice-president and Mrs. Shprman 'receive on New Year's day, and anyone who will, m&y call. At the White House no refreshments afre served because it would be a physical impossi bility to care for the wants of the enorintrtis crowds that are present. At houses of the vice-president and the cabinet officials, hew ever, great tables coveredwith good things to eat, and in some houses,,with good things to drink, are prepared for the visitors. • .The wo men of official life in Washington In'the main, are just as good politicians as aVe their hus bands. The humblest caller on New Year's day is treated with all the consideration- -Which is shown the most prominent people. The incon spicuous one of to-day is likely to be the con spicuous one of 'to-morrow, and no oqe appre ciates this better than the trained. wJ\e.s of of ficialdom. It is probably true in sojiie measure at least, that more ambitions have been killed by the mistakes of the wives of persons newly ap pointed to L«igh office than by the mistakes of the officials themselves. Washington is full of stories of resentment caused by the failure of the wives of new cabinet members to recog nize persons who supposed that all the world I Jcnew them. These mistakes are coil lined largely to the officials and their wives who are new to Washington so ciety and new to the political life gen-, erally. Men are appointed to cabinet 1 positions frequently who never before held office. The congressman who finds himself promoted to higher of fice knows what is called the social game as well as he knows politics, and his wife by association knows it as well as he does. So it is that at the great receptions on New Year's and other days, the hosts and hostesses who are accus tomed to the ways of Washington, manage to get through the trying hours of crowded receptions without giving offense to anybody. ( It is the bounden duty of every subordinate official in Washington to call on his chief on New Year's day. After all the officials have paid their respects to the president, they go at once to the home of the chief of the deafirtment in which they serve. From the ranking major general of the army to the youngest second lieutenant on duty at the cap -ital all the officers call upon the secretary of war The naval officers from Admiral. Dewey down to the stripling ensign, make their way to the house of Secretary of the Navy Meyer, ..and there, in order of rank, pay their respects. The New Year's day reception at the White "rtouse is the only formal reception of the year that is open to all citizens. There are other * receptions given by the president and his wife during the winter which are semi-public in ~ their nature, but to which admissior is? by card 'only. The first of these receptions is given on ' the second Thursday after New Year's day, In the ll ll is c » lled " the diplomatic re •'.ceptign," and the guests are invited to meet the ' ambassadors and ministers who are accredited by foregin governments, to the United States. Anbtlier reception is given two weeks later and the guests of honor whom the other guests are invited to meet are the justices of the su preme court of the United States. The third reception is for the senators and representa tives in congress, and the fourth and last, is for the officers of the army and navy. Nearly every flay of the year the president greets visitors in.the offices of Jhe White House at noon, and so it is possible .for the American citizen to exchange greetings with the chief executive even though circumstances prevent his saying "Happy New Year," on Jan uary Ist, at the great White House holiday gathering. Thought Much of Pet Dogs Four metrical epitaphs reveal to' us a pleas ing and unexpected side of the Roman charac ter. They are epitaphs on pet dogs. One was a great white hunting dog named Margarito, who coursed through the trafckless forests, as she tells us on her tombstone. Another "never barked without ''reason, but now he is silent." .. Myria, the little Gallic dog, barked fiercely if she found a rival lying in her mistress' lap. The stone of Patricus, an Italian dog, at Sa lernuin cOnSdrins this tribute from his mistress: "My eyes were wet with tears, our dear lit tle dog, when' I bore thee ,(to thfe. grave), a service which I should have rendered thee with less grief three lustrums ago. So, Patricus, never again shalt thou give me a thousand kisses. Never canst thou lie coptentedly In my lap. In sadness have I bliridd thee, as thou in a resting place of marble, and I have put thee for. all time by' the side of my shade. In thy qualities, sagacious thou wert like a human being. Ah, ihe! what a loved companion have we lost!"— From "So ciety and Politics in Ancient Rome." MEN TO LIVE 120 YEARS Rev. Newell Dwlght Hillis in Chicago Lecture, Foresees Human Long evity—Advocates Suffrage. Chicago.—That man may' l>y his own methods of living sustain tffe until he reaches the age of 100, .or even 120 years, is the contention of Rev. Dr. Newell Dwight Hillis, pastor of Ply mouth church, Brooklyn, N. Y. Dr. Hillis arrived in Chicago in the course of a lecture tour carried him through the middle?&;pst, bring ing With him the excellent good news that the time is near at hand when we will "all be ashamed to show our facefi in heaven before r are 100 old." Dr. Hillis .-is' convinced •tJIuU present day conditions are such Hs ty make for the longevity of the 'race. He believes that in a thousand years women will own all the prop erty. He was talking about "The Amer ica of To-day and To-morrow" before the Cook County Teachers' association when he expressed ' the opinion that the span of life is to be lengthened. "It has been proved," he said, "that the men of to-day are on an average four inches taller than the men of 500 years ago and that the women are five inches taller than the women of 1789. "The women are 'getting the most of the.education of to-day, and before long, if the men continue togo into business and get their recreation in the evening playing billiards, while the women follow intellectual pur suits, the latter will be the only edu cated persons of the country. "I don't know why the women should not vote. I am tired listening to these false statements about the women to the effect that they were made infer>w toman and should be kept subject to his authority and should have no sdy in politics or in religion. We are having -foo much trouble over that statement of Paul's that women should not talk In the church." OLEO MAN FOR CONGRESS Sixth Illinois District Voters Choose Moxley to Fill Lorimer's Place. Chicago.—Unless the plans of one of defeated opponents succeed an oleo margarine manufacturer will represent the Sixth Chicafert' district in congress. This manufacturer of a substitute for butter is William J. Moxley and he was elected after a hard campaign. So far as the Records show he is the only oleo maker in congress. Thti government has bad considerable trou ble with men in Mr. Moxley's business and a Chicago paper which opposed his election called attention to the fact that Mr. Moxley had not been without his own clash with Uncle Sam. Mr. Moxley was elected to succeed William Lorimer who was elevated to William J. Moxley. the rank of senator last spring. He is wealthy and his friends are certain that he will give the people of the Sixth district satisfactory service. "■Touch Wood." While are on the subject of evil spirits let us listen to a correspondent who informs us that he has lately no ticed a curious superstition among the children' pf his village. "Wjben a motor appears the children within sight all rim to touch something made of wood, i4>tainin.? hold of it until the motor is out of s'ght. When asked to give a reason for this they say that it brings geod luck 1 wonder if any of your correspondents in other places have noticed tl~is." We think it not unlikely. And except where the road is paved with wood, we should judga the incantation very effective. 17
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers