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Show GROUPED about the first lady of -at borne" day receptions. But these V JJpS 2SZA2 D,ICCin lVTScrt-l -.". 1- I Tt-l 1 31 1 A 1 (fl the laud, whose social duties as strenuous occasions are. after oil. tho afj? Wl'' Zd?afJc? azJZ lUSSiaH lVilgTariOn UHUSUai. natu.1101 cipiwn i 1 . ' et. . TK PrMMrnt vice Presl- &J?ftVSS7 v ' B f rora tbo people of Russia, always be a weary waste with a mere plttanco uU of the various member of Presl- naval set. tie members f the legal col- mans Irish. Austrian,, Swedes, count ess square acre, of good farm, cat- do T t1 C.b There should, ac- ony officially recognized In Washington Justly, with dread on the formidable Froncb, etc. have for centnrles tle-ralslng and timber land., cording to the Cns Itu Ion, be naturally and numerous private entertainments ore P& array of entertainment, for which she readily been migrating west as follow- The amount ot money needed to ac- Zl of tnem ns there are nine Cabinet ail considered us a natural and necessary fotW -''ir' 11 ".,! plan, spend great sums and stand the historical, line, of peopling tbo qclre the Russian public lands In Siberia members f"t Se Wb Hordl of Post- part of n cabinet woman's social duty. 'MV TJ.Hflfe n social sponser' for during each official sea- world since tbe earliest dawn of civil- is practically Infinitesimal The Russian io.rtrc.CDcrel has limited Mrs. Richard Balllnger, who Is the wife T d rMI 4 GUI "' fortunately Mrs. Taft Is surround- lotion. In Russia alone, aside from the regime has now promised that it will Mm Ta ft to but eight Cabinet ladles. of tbe new Secretary of tbe Interior, tva. U ft JWM''dSS "" , ed by an unusually capable staff of cab- persecuted Jews, tbe migration f tho even sell tho settlers In Siberia farming And f there is no doubt whatever but not a stranger when she came to Wash- SJJ AtS3 "t ladles. race for 2-1 years has reversed the bis- machinery on the instalment plan In that the social duties of Iheso eight Cabl- lngton as the hostess of a cabinet mem- WPJ ZZen? 7fZZ& Mrs- Charl" N'aS'- tu ,fc of tnc Seo" tolcn, order f th,DSS miSlor7 aad tbla w8f, tho next 10 years Is coantctl M net Indies are most exacting For one ber s borne. Secretary Balllnger as a y fr.' Tr- retary of Commerce and Labor. Is a new boeu In an easterly direction. . to greatly relieve the over crowded con- thin- tho womanSust entering upon tbe land commissioner not long-ago and made CZ cXeCd?J' PZ Z2&2Yd?r ncrult to official hostesses lo Washington. Tho vast majority of Russians migrate dltlonof European Russia nnd at the cureer of a Cabinet member's wife dls- such an efficient official that nobody was She bas. however, been noted for years acr0!S the Ural Mountains. This mlgra- "ante tlmo fill up much of tho present cover. Thnt ho I, exm-cted at least once surprised when be returned as n full- n one of tbe most clever social ladles of t(on of SUxa ,nt0 Aslullc RusaU ,8 at. wilderness now stretching cast from the cohere lunt fcne IS exp-ieu i - .... i.... .i . t St. T.nnls n-hprn hnr Imulinn.l tins hPU - ... ti i. tk. hoHnnlnii s,t Mn- Justly, with dread on the formidable array of entertainments for which she nusl plan, spend great sums and stand social sponser for during each official season. sea-son. Fortunately Mrs. Taft Is surrounded surround-ed by an unusually capable staff of cabinet cab-inet ladles. Mrs. Charles Nagel, the wife of the Secretary Sec-retary of Commerce and Labor, Is a new recruit to official hostesses In Washington, She bas, however, been noted for 'years as one of the most clever social ladles of St. Louis, where her husband has bceu prominent In business circles for over a decade. The wife of the Vice President of the I tilled Stales, while not a member of Mrs. Tuft's cabinet, Is In a way ns Important Im-portant socially If not more so. Mrs. Sherman Is a charming woman who has great responsibilities, more especially among the congressional set. Shot will prcvldc entertainments for the more prominent members of the Senate and House. So it Is quite apparent that socially tbe Vflfe of a cabinet member bas arduous duties that would tax tbe wit and tact of the most resourceful of womankind. ROUPED about the first lady of , i the land, whose social duties as hostess of tbe White House in the national capital of course take precedence, are eight ladles who aro tbe social heads of the establishments establish-ments of the various members of President Presi-dent Taffs Cabinet. There fchould, according ac-cording to tbc Constitution, be naturally nine of them, ns there are nine Cabinet members, but the 'baebelordom of Postmaster Post-master General Hitchcock has limited Mrs Taft to but eight Cabinet ladles. And there is no doubt wbotever but that tho social duties of Iheso eight Cabinet Cabi-net Indies nre most exacting. For one thing, tho womanijust entering upon tbc cureer of a Cabinet member's wife discovers dis-covers thnt she Is expected at least once n week during the official season to. keep "open house" on her "day-nt-houc." Wednesday ls "Cabinet day" In Washington, Wash-ington, not by regular ruling of the government gov-ernment or even by any executive order that Is on record. But for some curious social reason every Wednesday the members mem-bers of Mrs. Taft's own personal cabinet cabi-net ore compelled by the Iron rule of social usage to open their splendid houses and recelvo practically all the world. . There Is no card of admittance and.nl-most and.nl-most Invariably hordes of total'Btra tigers : nitend. They are, of course, beautifully dressed and uo doubt quite nlco people, but many a Cabinet member's wife, fresh from some far Western town, bas realized with acute dismay that cabinet ladle frequently must receive u tbelr "at home" dsjs total strangers, not even accompanied ac-companied by an acquaintance who might perform some Rort of Introduction between be-tween the hostess and the visitor. So great hes grown the crush of recent re-cent years that there Is no longer any attempt -to furnish any but tbe very lightest of refreshments. Strangers to Washington who arc merely out "seeln' the sights" have several times been known to Include the wives of the President's Presi-dent's Cabinet- in their elgbt-seclng expeditions. ex-peditions. Much discretion Is necessarily placed on tho experience nnd Intuition of tbe mashlve and gilded butler who admit, ad-mit, the guests. It is bis province to abut off such visitors as msy give tokens of being undesirable. The cabinet ladles are assisted by relatives rela-tives and friends In shaking hsods w ttt and entertaining their callers on regular "at borne" day receptions. But these strenuous occasions are, after nil, the least Important portion of tho social demands de-mands made on the members of Mrs. Taft's cabinet. Tbe President, Vice President, Presi-dent, tbe diplomatic set. the military nod naval set. the members of the legal col ony officially recgnlzed In Washington and numerous private entertainments are all considered us a natural aud necessary part of n cabinet woman's social duty. Mrs. Richard Balllnger, who Is the wife of tbc new Secretory of tbe Interior, was not a stranger when she came to Washington Wash-ington as the hostess of a cabinet member's mem-ber's borne. Secretary Balllnger was a land commissioner not long-ago and made euch an efficient official that nobody was surprised when be returned as n full-fledged full-fledged member of the President's ad vUory council. Mrs. Balllnger ls unusually un-usually cultivated and ber personal friends will be chosen from nmong the most b-nrned and Interesting people of Atuerli a; that Is, the people who make this country one of the most Interesting oo earth. Many of them Iihvo to do with the numerous nu-merous bureaus and divisions of the department de-partment over which ber husband presides. pre-sides. Of course, the wife of the bead of a natloual deportment does not necessarily bavo to mingle frequently with tbe b-ss Important employes. Yet several times each season tbc borne of tbe department chief ls thrown op-n to all of these little known but necessary persons, and they are1 welcomed by the wife f tbelr respective re-spective chief. Among the Important men lu each department are maoy of the greatest culture whose wives are the very flower of American womanhood. Strange to say, the youngest hostess of all the cabinet set at tbls time Is also the ranking one In point of length of nervlce. This Is the talented daughter of Secretary Wilson, of the Agricultural Department, Miss Flora Wilson. But Miss Wilson, who ha. sung In grand opera, has spent mony recent years abroad, studying In Paris. When she first came to Washington she was eo young that official society was slightly aghast at the Idea of so youthful a hostess to rule over the social destinies of tbe Agrlcnltursl Department and to assume the duties of receiving with the wife of the President. Howef. Miss Wilson modestlr but cleverly Insisted that as the actually presided over tbc house- bold of her father she. was actually entitled en-titled to the precedence In official society which ber mother would have held bad she been living. This gave her precedence over the yonlb-fnl yonlb-fnl daughters of tbe late John Hay, then Secretary of State. It U nn Illuminating fact that this little matter of social pres-tigo pres-tigo nearly caused Important changes in high Washington official circles. Ultimately Ulti-mately 'Miss WHson wou out In her battle. bat-tle. Since then this talented young woman hits practically given up all the socuil importance of n cabinet lady for the laurels of a successful career In graud opera. , The vast Increaso in the amount of social so-cial entertaining required f ft cabinet lady nowadays has added tremepdously to the cost of enjoying the honor of being a member of the official female contlDgeot tbat Is grouped around the wife of tho President of th Uoltej States. There was a time when a smaller salary than ls pnld at present fully covered tb expenses nttacbed to the position. It ls safe to say. however, that since tho first McKln-Icy McKln-Icy admlnlstratlou no cabinet lady has ocr been able to confine the cost of entertaining en-tertaining lu her own home wlthlu the actual limits of her husband's honorarium fiom the government service. Thousands of dollar nre frequently lavished lav-ished on a single big social function given by one of the cabinet ladles. ThU mean cot only that they muse be the wives of vtry rich men. but they must also have a tune araountlDg almost to u talent for tbo conception and carrying out of elaborate social function. Official Waiblngton Is very critical In such matters and tho high standards set by recent cabinet women niakc the task of keeping up with the social so-cial pace one that requires not only much money but those even rarer accomplishments accomplish-ments that come from genuine brains and originality. If the present cabinet Is scanned critically criti-cally It is probable that Mrs. George Von L. Meyer, tbc wife of the Secretary of the Navy, would be picked out at once as a hostess pre-eminently well equipped for a successful career as a cabinet hostess. Mrs, Meyer served nn Instructive apprenticeship appren-ticeship In social entertaining while the wife of our ombassador to Rome. lo Rome the borne of the Voo Meyers was a j most delightful spot both for the cream : of Italian society and for American ko-Journlng ko-Journlng lo the Eternal City. Two years ago Mrs. Von Meyer camo to Wahlngtou and Joined the cabloet circle ns tbe wife of the Postmaster General. Under President Taft be has started In a the official hostess for the naval contingent con-tingent one of tho largent and showiest of all from a social viewpoint. Mrs. Von L. Meyer, as she Is usually called In so- j clcty, began her public entertaining while American ambassadress at St. Petersburg. She has n rare talent in picking both her guesti themselves anil the various forms of amusement she arranges for their cn-teriolnment. cn-teriolnment. It Is frequently dlffleu! for tho average woman, who looks forward with delight to the few utnners and parties sbe can afford to give to her friends, to realise i that tbe cabinet woman looks, and looks I |
