Show 1 01 q W iva CA tn L 5 i MOM in washington Is not altogether like the north ern holiday even though there be snow on the potomac hills and in the low ly IY ing valley of the river itself here on the sunny slope of the white house lawn dande lion and the heartsease are christmas blos somers while the hepatica not infrequent ly shows itself white and blue to the sun on the banks con fining hock rock creek christmas is a particularly genial season in washington there is enough of the southern atmosphere in the capital to make the holiday partake of the nature of the christmas of the further south tor for the natal day of christ always has been given warm and exulting recognition in the country south of the mason and dixon line there are axe children tn in the white house at this holiday season as there were all through the administration of mr tatt taft s predecessor in office theodore roosevelt the president haa has three children at home with him to enjoy the holiday festivities in the house of state it Is 1 true that of the three children one is just en bering manhood and the other womanhood while the third is just out of knickerbockers robert tatt taft the president presidents s oldest son is home from college for the season a merrymaking and his sister helen is here also tor for the gayeties of the younger set charlie taft has not out grown the christmas tree age and a christmas tree he will have during the seven years of the roosevelt ad ministration although there were five chil dren in the white house there was a christ mas tree only once mr roosevelt did not like the christmas tree idea because he Is a great believer in the conservation of the for ests of the country and he held that the christmas tree trade worked havoc with the supply of evergreens so it was that while christmas in the white house during his term of office was all that the holiday otherwise should be the children were not allowed a tree the youngest roosevelt boy however had christmas tree views of his own and once he secured one trimmed it in seclusion and the then hid it away in a closet where it was not discovered by his father the prest president dent until the christmas season had pretty well waned ar towru tow yu ZT if A rf 4 Z ia v 46 A A christmas tree hereafter probably will be in evi dence at the white house at every holiday mr taft need have no scruples scruples on account of forest ei eia station because gifford pinchot formerly chief forester of the government has said that chr atmas trees enough can be cut to supply the market demand without threatening the future apply mr pinchot believes in saving the trees and he would not have issued this statement with out proper study of the situation he did not give out his edict however until the roosevelt family had left the executive mansion and while the former chief forester Is one of colonel roose a intimate friends it Is probable that the roosevelt children childre ii think that the verdict of mr pinchot on the tree question ought not to have been so long delayed they play golf all winter in washington and it pe perchance reliance there Is snow on the ground they play the game with red balls instead of the ordinary white ones and so when president taft plays bis his holiday games he will not stand in any danger of to fu felting a stroke because of the loss of a golf ball A red ball Is a conspicuous mark against a white background every employed of the white house receives a big christmas turkey as a gift from the president and his wife some of the white house household servants and some of the members of the of flee fice force have been in the employment of dents en s through rough many administrations col william H crook who Is the executive clerk has been in the service ever since grant a day and recently be bas has written his reminiscences of white house life under eight presidents since the early civil war day days there have been children in the white house under nearly every administration but whether or not there were children of the president a own families to gather about the fire and the christ mas tree young people always found their way into the white house circle to help hell their elders celebrate the holiday christmas parties tor for young people are always the regular order of things in the white house during the holiday season the children of the cabinet officials of the army and navy officers of senators and representatives and of the diplomat ests stationed here always are invited to a merry making in the big east room christmas is the great day in the household of the ambassadors and ministers from foreign coun tries and in the families of the juniors of the dit dif terent ferent embassies and legations the representatives of southern european governments and tt of the countries of central and south america make much of christmas not an embassy or ft a legation in thie this town but keeps open house virtually dur ing the entire holiday season gift giving among foreigners eigners represented here Is carried to an ex at which even americana americans who give gener bously and are giving more generously and widely L ail 1 1 4 at W V A K IT i art lq ay 4 4 A ICA 10 P each year stand sur the christmas receptions and parties given by the foreigners are not given as a rule on christmas day they the holl t 4 0 CV day proper is essentially a home day the day when the family likes to be a party unto itself so it Is that the affairs to which society and sod atys children are bidden usually take place be tween christmas and new year years s although in every particular they are christmas gatherings for two weeks prior to the dawning of christ mas day the washington markets are filled with holly and mistletoe it is believed that before long the legislatures of maryland and virginia will be forced to pass laws protecting the beau ticul holly tree from the hands of the despoiler des the demand tor for christmas greens yearly kills hundreds it if not thousand of holly trees the trouble Is that the men v N 0 cut the branches for the market use little or i 1 discretion U securing their spoils holly branches can be cut without injury to the tree it the simplest precautions are taken but in their greed to secure quantities of the beautiful boughs wity their shining green leaves and polished red herries the gatherers hack great limbs from th tree injuring it so that in many cases it cannot vive the wound the mistletoe which found in great ties in the markets of washington at the christ mas time is a parasite which fastens itself upon the branches of many species of trees its removal does the tree good provided the limbs from which it springs are not injured in the cutting the mistletoe of the pot 0 mac river country is very much like the mistletoe of england it is supposed that this parasite growth was used by the ancient druids in their religious ceremonies among the ancient britons all kinds of super are connected with the mistletoe and many of them are traced back to the days before the saxon occupation of john bull a island these superstitions were brought across the water by the early english settlers and they are found in some parts of america in the same form in which they have existed in england tor for century on cen tury the white house in a holiday season literally is turned into a conservatory washington loves flowers and every man and woman who comes here to live finds that the flower affection speed lly ily takes its hold the white house is supplied with flowers from a great conservatory carefully tended by men trained to floriculture there are probably more flower shops in the capital in proportion to the population than in any other city in the united states almost literally they are on every corner the demand for flowers here at the christmas season beason Is buch such that notwithstanding the tact fact the district ot of columbia maryland and virginia are flooded with ath conservatories the phil adelphia adelph la and new york markets are called upon to help out in the work ot of supplying the enor district trade the central and south americans who come to washington in official ca are accustomed to outdoor flowers every day tn in the year in their own lands and they sina sim ply will not consent to get along without flow ers in this northern of mate their houses resemble conservatories all through the winter months but at the christmas season the spanish american literal ly banks himself and his family with blossoms president tatt taft attends christmas service at all souls unitarian church mrs airs tatt taft Is an episcopalian and with her chil dren she she attends st john s church on lafay ette square known halt half humorously in washing ton as the church ot of state it Is so called because so many ot of the presidents ot of the states have worshiped regularly within its walls st john a Is a small church but it has fine music and the christmas service and its en viron ments are made as beautiful as it Is possible to make them in the official foreign colony tn in washington the christmas holidays are an especially lively and joy ous season the managers of the american branch offices of the governments of the world are eer eiver eager to show their patriotism and loyalty by ob serving all holidays or ceremonial occasions lust just as they would be observed 1 if they were at home in their own countries consequently christmas Is the occasion tor for many diverse and picturesque celebrations in the homes of the official foreign colony there Is scarce a household in the cos politan mo community that has not its quota of children many of the young people in these for eign households are for the time being attending american schools and have become imbued with some of traditions of the yankee christmas thus the yu e tide programs bro programs grams in many a diplomatic home at washington presents an odd mixture of 0 foreign customs and american innovations especially is this the case in the homes of many of the diplomats from south and central america Ame where there are many young people these pan american juveniles exchange presents as do their american playmates and await with keen anti cipa tion the proverbial christmas dinner but they also show allegiance to the customs of their native lands by attending mass at midnight on christmas eve and afterward paying homage at a miniature representation of the city of bethlehem the most conspicuous place in which Is occupied by a grot to in which are tiny figures of the infant jesus and joseph agether with the three wise men in the homes of the mexican diplomats there Is followed a novel plan for the distribution of the christmas presents all the gifts are placed in a huge earthenware jar which Is suspended from the ceiling and Is then attacked by all the young people armed with canes when IN hen tho jar Is broken the christmas presents are precipitated to the floor and there Is a mad scramble tor for the mysterious packages the handsome new home of the french embassy at washington will this year afford a spacious set ting tor for a christmas frolic that has become one of the important events of holiday week at the capital at the german embassy likewise there Is a christmas tree with tokens tor for all the young people in the embassy circle while the british Ambas sao dor entertains all the members of his official tal staff and their families at an old fashioned english christmas dinner |