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Show CAPITAL LIFE M 1 -j Wives of President and Cabinet ( Xncers Kept Busy. ' Social Duties of Women In Wathlng ton Are Onerous Rometlrrtet Thy Break Down Under the Severe Strain. ' ' Washington. Women who aspire to ' j- hnve their hilelnllds beconii prcal- - , denla of the l ulled Hlnlcs or vice. "' 4 presidents, or members of Ihe prcal- y dent's cabinet, would do well to coo-alder coo-alder the social respollelhlllllea which would fnll to them, na well na to pre- -: pare themselxcs to give up their hue- hands to the public service. The lift) nf these women In Washington large- ,-' ly la public In Itself. There are heavy Jr demands on their time for anclnl riu- ' I, ' Ilea which are to many distasteful. , Neverthelessthese duties cannot be) ( Ihrual aalde unless by serious lllneaa. J . One winter's social campnlgn In ( Washington has wrecked more than j. r one woman'a nervea. f ' It la no aerret that Mrs Charlce W. . Falrhanka. wife of Ihe former vice- president, broke down under the prea- V sure of her soclnl pnatllon. I fe Bllll more recently, Mra. William H. , Taft. the wife of the president, passed , through a serious lllneaa, which, while) not due to a winter's soclnl campaign In tho White House, la believed to ha the consequence of the long strain she endured during her husband'a campaign for the presidency. One la Inevitably struck In Washington Wash-ington with Ihe fact that the aoclal ' dtitlea of the wife of the vice preal- ' dent practically parallel the official I dutlea of her husband. The office of vice president hna come to be held by the American people aa a aort of fifth wheel, for use only In caae of emergency. emer-gency. Nevertheless, Ihe vice president presi-dent prealdea dally over the session of the senste and baa his lime a lully occupied aa Ihe president himself. him-self. The vlce-prealdenl, If he la a 'congenlnl companion for the prceldrnt, becomes a aort of an assistant to him. In the Taft ndmlnlatrallon the relationship between President Taft and Vice President Jamva 8. Hherman is closer than In recent administration administra-tion e. Aalde from appearing al all such social affaire, none of which la ever beld al tha booie of Ibe vlcepresl- Mrs. James S. Sherman. di nl. thereby relieving his wife of much of the labor of preparing them, few social dutlea devolve officially on these public charactera. They frequently fre-quently entertain Informally at the dinner table, and once each soclnl season sea-son give a reception to Ihe member of the senate, which la one of the moat pleasant events of Ihe entire - - . winter. Contrary to the White House receptions, refrealimenta are served to all Invited guests. The wife nf the serretnry of slat assumes her official social duties formally for-mally on New Year's day. Bhe la expected ex-pected lo participate In the prealdent'a reception nt the White House from It to 11:30 a. m . when she departa for her home to receive the dlplomatlo corps at a breakfast at noon. Invltu-llona Invltu-llona to the diplomatic brenkfaal ar conllned to the niembera of the rorpa and their families, the asalalant aecre-tarlea aecre-tarlea nt slate, the chief clerk and chiefs of bureaus of the department nf stale and their wives. If they are mar- I rled. t When all are assembled the sec re- . lary nf stale gives hit arm to the wife f of the dean nf the corpt and leada tha f way to the breakfast room. They are followed by Ihe other gueata, no , further allenllon being paid to the or- t, der of precedence, except thnt the I wife of Ihe aecrvlary of atate and the lV dean of the corpa ar the laat to enter the breakfast room. If the secretary , - 'J' of state occupies a house too small 'v r. to teat a large party of gueata In the '.'!'' dining room the unwritten code pro- ' ' vldce Hint small tables ahull be placed V: In convenient placea about the rooma i''V for aervlng refreshmenta from , Hi,' buffet. It la also required by the coda ', that only aiich refrealimenta aa can be M' ' quickly aerved. such aa creamed oye-ters, oye-ters, croqueltea, salads, hot bouillona, coffee. Ices, cakes and bon-bons In V-.J short, such dainties aa cnu be eaten without the aid nf a knife shall ba '.. M served. Champagna Is usually tha only wine aerved. - !, j At two o'clock on Now Year's day the wife of the secretary of state Is t J expected to hold a public reception . P ' for three houra and all other cabinet r 1 wuuien aro expected to do the satu. S r |