Show WE OR NO WINE Washington Ladies Discuss the Serving of It nn New Years THREE CABINET LADIES SERVE IT Mrs ChlefJnstlce Fullers Opinion Tli Views of Mrs Sherman and Mrs Senator Hale A Timely TipI Tip-I WASHINGTON Dec 20 1889rSIecial correspondence of Tun HERALDTne New Years reception is dying out in i Washington Year by year the ladies receiving re-ceiving calls decrease in number and the reception of the first of January 1890 will be confined to the White House the mansions man-sions of thecabinet ministers and THE HOUSES OF SOME FEW LADIES of the Senate and the supreme court The wife of the President and a number of the senatorial ladies tell me that the reason rea-son for this comes from the custom of serving serv-ing punch at New Years and the day when New Years calls make the excuse for a grand Washington spree will soon be gone forever This year Washington society with the exceptions above spoken of will leave the butler and a basket to re ceive the cards of the backwoods Congressmen Congress-men and others who have not kept up with the times Many of the girls will go to the matinee in the afternoon and there will be a number of big balls in the evening In all probability not a dozen houses which will be open next Wednesday will have a punch bowl THE SENTIMENT AMONG THE PEOPLE which has made Kansas Iowa and Maine prohibition states has affected in a great part the rest of the Union and a Senators wife tells me that the leading ladies in all the aid societies of the churches in her little town held a prayer meeting just before be-fore she started for Washington and asked God to enable her to resist the evils and corruptions of the capital AS she said this I looked at the lady and it seemed tome to-me that the Lord had helped her for she appeared as pure as spring water and as pretty as a peach I have during the past week called upon the leading ladies of Washington society and interviewed them as to their New Years receptions I have asked them their opinions as to the use of wines and I find that though they object to the serving of punch and port on New Years many of them think wine should be a part of every dinner A SENATORIAL TEETOTALER There is indeed only one public man who dares give a dinner without wine He is a Senator and when he came in a few years ago he announced brashly that he should give as many dinners as he chose with never a drop to drink He did give them and on each occasion his roof covered more suppressed swearing than the roof of a cowboy ranch One Senator went into the dressing room after the sevencourse dinner and violently vio-lently asked of every incomer if such a course should go unrebuked THE DINNERDIVERS OF 1890 In this administration there will be only four besides the President who will give dinnersVice President Morton Secretary Secre-tary Blaine Secretary Tracy and probably proba-bly Secretary Windom The postmastergeneral would like to de so for he is the soul of hospitality but it will be noticed that his entertainments will run to receptions and balls Mrs Wana maker says a dinner is not a dinner without with-out wine and as she disapproves as strongly as her husband because of the example ex-ample to the young there will be no formal dinners at Wanamaker house MRS JIARMSON WILL NOT DICTATE Nearly every social law but one emanates from the executive mansion and that luckily luck-ily is the serving of wine at the New Years reception Custom has it that the multitude need not be dined or wined at the White House on that day and the whole business of decision de-cision falls on the vicepresident and the cabinet Now Mrs Harrison is known to be liberal and as she makes a glorious punch she will not dictate to the cabinet ladies their policy on the question How many of them will do iU All but Mrs Proctor will keep open house and but three will serve wine MRS VICBPKESIDEXT MORTON When I broached the subject to the vice presidents wife she smiled winningly and saidReally dont you know I have been away from Washington so long that I have forgotten the customs I really do not know what they do serve here on a New Years day There is a deeprooted opinion however that no one will leave the vicepresidents mansion thirsty next Wednesday As the winebibbers of the capital the foreigners and navy officers form the bulk i of the guests of the secretaries of state and of the navy they will have punch bowl and decanter SECRETART WINDOM Secretary Windom has the kindliest feeling feel-ing in the world towards people who do serve wine but he will have none of it Wednesday In a little talk at the Presidents table a few weeks ago when Mr Wanamaker also present the secretary of the treasury advanced the opinion that every cabinet member should follow his own principles on the subject Oh of course we will keep open house said Miss Nellie Windom when I asked the question but I am quite sure papa will not have punch or wine although t al-though ho docs not disapprove of them on all occasions MRS SECRETARY NOBLES STORY OF DANIEL WEBSTER My husband and I have had one quarrel quar-rel said Mrs Noble when I asked her whether she would serve wine at her first Now Years reception it is the Daniel Webster anecdote and it comes up every year It seems that Daniel Webster went to the house of a friend for a weeks visit and when he found that his friend did not serve wine he packed up his goods and departed de-parted the first night Mr Noble says that a man of Daniel Websters genius should have had his wishes respected I say that the other man had as much right to his I principles as Mr Webster to his wine i I shall not servo wine at any of my receptions re-ceptions or dinners Two or three years f ago in St Louis Mr Noble wanted ato give a dinner in honor of some judge He i felt that he could not give it without some I wine said that there should be no dinner then Will he gave the dinner without wine and the day following ono of the I guests congratulated him on his courage I Dont praise me he said it was my wife I whn had the courage What will you substitute for wine Now Years day I I asked Substitute Thoio is no substitute It is a case of wino or no wine for nothing will take its place Wine is treed I I like it and keep it on my sideboard but I that is no sign I mean to serve it to young men and mixed companies What will you do Mrs Noble when the foreigners drop down upon you I am not a foreigner I MRS ATTORNEYGENERAL MILLER I next called on the wife of the head of the judicial department and asked her as to the wine question Mrs AttorneyGen t eral Miller replied I have never served wino in Indianapolis Indianapo-lis and I shall not do it here on New Years day The harm in the custom comes from giving it to young men MRS SECRETARY RUSK When the question was asked she said emphatically I shall have coffee bouillon and chocolate choco-late but no wine upon my table New Years day Neither my husband nor I are averse 3 to the temperate use of wines but we will never give it to a mixed gathering such as belongs to a New Years reception When I was here years ago I saw many a New Years caller who showed the effect of too much drinking MRS CHIEFJUSTICE FULLER Mrs ChiefJustice Fuller is another woman who objects to the use of wine She said to me I shall never serve wine another New Years reception I have always been used to it as in my fathers family it was the custom to serve it to guests but after what I saw in my first winter in Washington Washing-ton I have decided never to have punch andif anything at all only a light rlaret atm at-m receptions I shall never give a punch made of rum or champagne to any but people peo-ple I know well Do not think I have seen any cases of genuine intoxication in Wash ington society but I have really seen men and women too who showed signs of of too frequent potations I probably saw more of it than most hostesses as I lived so far out people came in cold and tired and before they knew it had taken too much MRS JUSTICE FIELD Mrs Stephen J Field is one of the best entertainers of the capital still she does not believe in the New Years punch bowl She says I have never served anything but claret New Years day Mixed wines as in punches I never give to my guests People Peo-ple come so far to Capital hill that I feel if it is their habit to use wine hospitality demands de-mands that I serve it Justice tleld like a cup of chocolate better than anything else when he makes calls and I always have it for people who like him prefer it I can notice a decided change in custom in ten years Sherry claret and chum agne used to be served but hardly a house in Washington has anything but claret for mixed companies in these days In the time I have been in Washington I never saw but two people intoxicated at my New Years receptions Nearly all the supreme court families serve light wines on such occasions I believe exJustice Strong is the only one who never has it even at his dinners MRS SENATOR SHERMAN Mrs Senator Shermans New Years receptions re-ceptions are always well attended She has lived in Washington over thirty years and though she is still a young woman she has gone through a generation of New hf tiOPfoon rlf d yhf oe Years days in Washington I found herat her-at the Senators mansion on K street She said I am sorry the old customs are dying out Senator Sherman always calls upon the President his cabinet and his colleagues leagues in the Senate who are his especial friends and I have always except in one or two cases received on that day I have never served any kind of wine although 1 do not recall seeing any serious results from it MRS SENATOR HALE OF MAINE I next met Mrs Senator Hale of Maine and cot an expression from Neal Dows prohibition country She said Tea is the bulwark of Washington society and it should have kept the old custom cus-tom from falling if wine was the cause of the fall I have always thought however that the reason people gave it up was because be-cause they were too tired after the Presidents Presi-dents reception to stand from 11 to 0 receiving ceiving At least that was the reason I gave up my New Years receptions It is a pity too especially for the elderly gentlemen gentle-men They used to enjoy it so much When I received I always served tea and asI am somewhat bigoted upon the subject and think tea should be good tea I have not been particular to place pretty girls at the table but always put some one who knows how to brew a drink although the person might not be a debutante I have always had a decanter of sherry on the table and the guests might use their own judgment about taking it ANOTHER PUFF FOR TEA Mrs Senator Hawley also sticks to tea Said she Dear nn I never have anything else but tea at my New Years receptions I think them great fun as they are all new to men me-n England they do not have the custom and iu France instead of giving the hostess host-ess receives Her friends come to her with bonbons flowers or any delicate little h t roe UlUgBut about wine I never noticed anyone any-one who had been drinking too much when he came to call upon me and really now I cannot recall ever seeing anyone intoxi cated in Washington although I have heard dreadful stories at a reception But then I am not very observant MRS SENATOR SPOONER My next interview is from the wilds of Wisconsin It is from Senator Spooners wife She said The woman or girl who offers one of my sons a glass of wine will personally affront front me For that reason I never serve wine at my receptions for the sake of other womens sons and daughters too for in many instances it has proved as dangerous danger-ous for Washington girls to drink wine as for young men For my boys sake I never keep wine in the house nor drink it at any other house It was a hard struggle when I came to Washington to refuse at a diner din-er I was cowardly that is it is really delicacy of feeling with a woman She does not want to rebuke other people who nay not have the lame reasons for refusing refus-ing it It was d Moult then it is an easy matter now 1 always allowed the butler to fill tho first g < as so that attention will not be attracted to my plate then when he comes for the other wines I put my finger on my glass and he passes me There iso is-o use having the glasses filled and thus waste the wine From what I have seen I judge there is as much wine drinking now as there ever was except at New Years receptions Fancy women think thsy must even have it at their luncheon parties MRS REPIIIISKNTVTIVU BURROWS I have never received at any house on New Years day wbue tiny served wiw They have hail emit o chncUU tea apol linariswater aid tie ut bet tiling ro wine shrub mado of lemons and raspboirj oruial The barn is i not in tlio vine but in the giving of it to young people TIlE GIRLS Fitcrni rDxcn AND CHAMIMGVE The debutantes do not apron with the matrons They like the old custom and say if it is to be kept up it is DUJJ by serving serv-ing wine One > f the prettiest of last years con ervai rs had her comingout party last New Y ars As the men were pre + eoted to her she turned blithely to her aids and sail Take him out now and fill him up with champagne Goodness with what horror the nit t TS do quote her They prophesy ml MI ts ol evils for her but she ia now pursuing a course of notab t > hucc ss She is a Senators daughter It is indeed a bli > ck outlook for Genera Van Vliet and thi pttiu famous men who have called ou th ir friends for the lust quarter of a century If they get unytninsr at allit will be what a chagrined justice of the supreme court at reception last j o < ir called A mild tip truly a mild tip a California fornia claret punch with straying slices of lemons There is one ray of hope At some houses the sparkle of Mumms oxtra dry Etill makes the gleam in the tailors eye und the cork of Veuve Clicquot mounts upward up-ward with his spirits A TIMEI TIP FOR DPINKING STATESMEN I will give him a tip The wives of Senators Stockbridge Quay McMillan and Frye as well as those mentioned before will not give n drop to drink but most oJ the halo justices of the supreme court will havo decanters as well coffeeurns and there will be a light punch and perchance chinpafnir where the wives of Senators Evans Edmunds Dawes Dnln Paddock Sinnford Ingalls Cockrell and Davis are hostesses Miss GRUNDY JR |