White House gossip

by Edna M. Colman

The arrival of the presidential party was the occasion for wild applause, for not until the Grand March through the roped-off aisle was completed by the man and the woman in whose honour it was given could the multitude feel that the ball had actually opened. To the music of “Hail to the Chief,” President and Mrs. Taft, followed by Vice President and Mrs. Sherman, made the tour of the room, bowing and smiling their pleasure at the uproar of welcome. They then seated themselves in their box, the President taking the huge armchair which had been provided for him and which, to his amazement, sank down and down until he was almost lost to view in its cushioned depths. The President laughed with the onlooking crowd, but was careful not again to jeopardize his official dignity by floundering in a chair many times too large even for his generous build.

Every sort of costume was worn at the ball. The most elegant and costly hand-painted, jewelled robes, shirtwaists and skirts, Sunday-go-to-meeting dresses, sport dresses, and business suits, all were mixed in, as seems customary with the inimitable independence of the American public. Here and there were quaint native dresses of prosperous and curious foreigners, who evidently felt that they were highly presentable at what to them was an American Court function.

Nothing pleased the assembled throng more than a little spontaneous gesture by the President, who, when he was about to leave, stepped to the rail, waved his hand to the dancers, and called out “Good-night.”

Mrs. Taft, like the famous Dolly Madison, the queen of the ball of a century before her, was attired in a high-waisted empire gown. It was extremely simple, depending for its effect upon the fabric and the style of the cut. Made of white chiffon, it was embroidered in silver lace and crystal beads in a goldenrod design that reached to the waistband in front and extended thickly around the train. The waist was also simply trimmed with the embroidery and rich lace, and the whole mounted over a white satin slip. A pearl and diamond dog collar and a spray in her hair completed her costume. Miss Taft was becomingly attired in white silk muslin with touches of blue, while Mrs. Sherman was radiant in white satin.

Though taxicabs and carriages were at a premium, and the keen March wind penetrated the thickest furs, the ballroom was so packed that dancing was possible only in spots until toward the last, when the crowd had thinned out. It was estimated that ten thousand people attended, and they brought their enthusiasm along, for they constantly applauded the new President long after the Grand March was completed.

In Mrs. Taft, the White House had a mistress of marked individuality, strong character, and independence of belief. From the time of her marriage, she made her husband’s career and their home her chief interests. She is a college woman and a great believer in higher education for women, not to make them competitors with men, but to round out their femininity. On this subject she allowed herself to be interviewed:

“Higher education for women? My daughter has elected to take a full college course and is now studying very diligently at Bryn Mawr to equip herself for entrance into college, probably next autumn. I believe in the best and most thorough education for everyone, men and women, and it is my proudest boast that all my children are studious. My idea about higher culture for women is that it makes them great in intellect and soul, develops the lofty conception of womanhood; not that it makes them a poor imitation of a man.

“I am old-fashioned enough to believe that woman is the complement of man, and that what is most feminine about her is most attractive to man and therefore of the greatest utility to the world. No fundamental superiority or inferiority between the two appears plain to me. The only superiority lies in the way in which the responsibilities of life are discharged.

“Viewed in this light, some wives are superior to their husbands, some husbands to their wives, some girls to their brothers, and women to men in varying circumstances. Education for women, as much as is obtainable, possesses, to my mind, far greater advantages than the commercial one of providing means for making a livelihood. This is a very great benefit, when necessary, but for the aggregate woman the highest mission is the ability to preside over a home and to fulfil the highest obligations of a home with grace, dignity, and an exalted sense of duty.”

Few of the women called to preside as First Lady of the Land had the liberal equipment through birth, education, travel, social and official prestige which has been Mrs. Taft’s, and the reforms she established were of a character to call forth high praise. As a part of her plan to create a real home for her family while administering the social régime of the Mansion, she introduced a Jersey cow to the establishment, to the greatest interest and amusement of the tourists who stopped to watch bossy peacefully grazing about the grounds, undisturbed by any other animal or pet.