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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.
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