Nebraska Newspapers

    it
rB
DAKOTA COUNTY HERALD; DAKOTA CITY, NEBRASKA.
Ilk
T
JUGU
e)-
4
1 M
Hoiv siopkeeping PFash
ington evened up on cam
paign expenses : : Com
edy, Tragedy and Splendor
have been mingled in this
spectacular affair
ULSIDHNT WILSON called attention
verv widely In Will to the nncient
and ho lorable custom of holding an
Inaugural ball to welcome the now
president to his job by refusing to
sanction the affair. And owing to
"pressure of olllclal business" there
will be no Inaugural ball this year of
(SXV M 1017. In other words, American of
1 XV J) iicialdom Is In no mood for gayety.
The inaugural hall, says tlie Kansas
City Star In a historical article, Is not a state
fund ion. financed by the Nation, as most of the
v.ni..ii lioitnves. Undertaken at first as a
oino to the new president by Washington society
it l.as become of late years the business venture
by which Washington merchants recover the
innnoj they spend to hang tlie capital with hunting
and hire bands and fireworks to ninke the occa
sion lively. While Uie ball costs a large sum of
money, the profit from the. sale of tickets, priced
nowadays at $f, is estimated at $20,000, and this
profit is distributed among the men who sub
scribed the. funds to make the celebration a sue-
. 'ess.
lint the lnuumiral ball does cost the Nation
something, because it discommodes whatever de
partment of state lends Its building for the fes
tivities, ltecent balls have been held 'u the pen
sion building. ad a vast deal of trouble and ex
pense has gone into the organization of their
gayety.
There has been bnlls In the past, like that state
ly first ball that welcomed President Monroe,
notable for the brilliance of the assemblages, the
beauty and wit and fashion displayed, truly great
social occasions, worthy of the dignity of the occa
sion they, celebrate. And there have been balls
of which old timers In Washington still talk,
notable for the widespread inconvenience they
have caused. For Instance, there Is the second
Lincoln inauguration ball, when Horace Greeley
lost his hat and standing on the stops of the
treasury building put a curse on the city of Wash
ington lurid enough to set fire to the snowdrifts
that blanketed It ; then there Is the ball that wel
comed President Grant, held In a vast pavilion
of muslin, unheated, whose walls swayed to and
fro In an ley blast that froze dainty ears and linger
tips yes, and noses and put a damper on the
merrj making not to bo forgotten.
March -1, 1S00, was the sort of chill, damp, un
comfortable day Washington expects for the pres
idential Inauguration, but In this year the Incon
veniences of bad weather In the now little capital
were far worse than they could possibly bo today.
The sprawling, ragged, unfinished city had no
pavements. Roads were so deep in mud that many
a coach was mired as It carried Its load of dis
tinguished persons to witness the Inaugural. There
were few hotels and boarding houses, and these
were crowded to suffocation on the great day.
Rut the society of the capital and notables from
lar and near were determined to overcome all
handicaps ,of weather, for this drear evening was
.to mark the first presidential Inaugural ball. An
organization of young men, the "Washington
Dancing assembly," formed seven years before,
had the affair in charge and hail, secured the as
sembly room of Long's hotel on Capitol hill.
The "four hundred" in America originated with
this first presidential ball. Washington society
represented the best of the Nation. The influence
of the Southern families of aristocratic tradition
was strong. There were few people of wealth,
but many of culture; and society was gay without
ostentation. The men of the dancing nsscinbly
who drew up the list of those who would be asked
to buy tickets to the Inaugural ball found that
four hundred would Include all persons of breed
ing and worth.
When George Washington and Thomas Jefferson
were Inaugurated they were glad to go early to
bod after the day of ceremonies, but on this night
cx-Presldont Jefferson, personally opposed to os
tentation, appeared In the ballroom promptly nt
seven o'clock, the time of Its opening. He camo
smiling and happy, glad to see his friend succeed
him in the direction of the Nation, happy at hav
ing the burden off his own shoulders, as he con
fided to a friend during the evening.
The orchestra plnyed ".TefTerson's March" as
the ex-presldent entered.
"Am I too early?" nsked the great Democrat.
"Von must tell mo how to behave, for it Is more
" than forty years since I have been to a ball."
Soon nfter the musicians played "Madison's
March," and the guests flocked about the door to
greet the new president, a slight, short figure
of a man, whose gray hair was brushed smoothly
bnck from his high forehead and tied with a black
ulibon. Ills small hazel eyes wero remarkable for
a humorous twinkle, for Madison, in private life,
enjoyed a good Joke and sprightly banter. Ills
long, pendulous nose came low over n long upper
lip. Ills teeth wore noticeably white and even.
The now president wore plain black, with rufiles
at the throat and wrists, with black smalls and
silk stockings. There were big silver buckles on
his shoes.
Rut It was to Dolly Madison, formerly the fas
cinating Widow Todd of Philadelphia, that all
eyes turned. The now mistress of tho Whlto
House was a center of attraction wherever sho
went. Without great beauty of faco or figure, she
had a manner which won friends Instantly. Her
ready tact, her good humor, her vivacity, made her
easily a social loader find tho best-remembered
and beloved of tho many "first ladles"
Mrs. Madison wore pale buff vol v ot made very
plain, with n long train and no trimmings. Her
bend was surmounted by a turban from Paris of
pale buff velvet and white satin
When America's first "four hundred" danced nt
tho Madison ball the nlr of the assembly room be
came very close and the guests finding thoy could
not lower the window sashes broke the glnss for
ventilation. That In. the only recorded Inconven
ience, aside from the unlvenml Inconveniences
1R 11 f ii"'ti""ly'ri rTTk" Z
rai uaiis or loeijasE mssw rei
Msy mm w mm
y.tv rJiriwmmmi !jgm . s wwrMk
. - rS:X'22ZL ' yJ.W MU 15? P S.M., 'VVflyVJ v SsCVOMte t&? HSW-.i- l J.il WSWfh K llf.. .l f .' .',
wel- f 'jtsTB CKrWa . V&rOJ1s.l iX.rt- III II .i . :Z Til M iYW- ftV t r-.w Mjai,T;K,Wj rTSi? i -:-fc?KS
vSr'cSfiy
these notables experienced In getting to Washing
ton, but the balls held In later years made a less
enviable record. Probably the ball held to cele
brate the second Inauguration of President Lincoln
wns one of the most notable for the universal dis
tress It caused.
Mary Clemmcr Ames, in her book "Ten Years
In Washington," says of this exciting carnival :
"The air throughout the entire building was
perforated with a fine dust, ground until you felt
that you were taking In with every brenth a
myriad homcopnthlc doses of desiccated grind
stone. The agonies of that ball can never be writ
ten. There are mortals dead In their graves be
cause of It. There are mortals who still curse,
and swear, and sigh nt the thought of It. There
are diamonds, and pearls and precious garments
that are naught to their owners because of It. The
scenes In those clonk and hat rooms can never
be forgotten by any who witnessed them. The
colored messengers, called from their posts In
the treasury to do duty in theso rooms, received
hats and wraps with perfect facility, and tucked
thorn in loopholes as it happened.
"But to give them back each to Its owner, that
was Impossible. Not half of them could rend
numbers and thoso who could soon grew be
wildered, overpowered, Ill-tempered and Imperti
nent under tho hosts that advanced upon them for
cloaks and hats.
"Picture It! Six or more thousand people
clamoring for their clothes! In the end they were
all tumbled out 'promiscuous' on tho floor. Then
camo tho siege! Few seized their own, but many
snatched other people's garments anything, some
thing, to protect them from tho pitiless morning,
whose wind came down like the bite of death.
Delicate women, too sensitive to take the property
of others, crouched In corners nnd wept on win
dow ledges, and there the daylight found tliem.
Carriages, also, had fled out of the scourging blast,
and men nnd women who emerged from tho mar
ble hallH, with very little to wear, found that they
must 'foot It' to their habitations. Ono gentle
man walked to Capitol hill, nearly two miles. In
dancing pumps nnd bareheaded; another per
formed the same exploit wrapped in a lady's son
tng. "Poor Horace Greeley, after expending his
wrath on the stairs and cursing Washington anew
as a place that should bo Immediately blotted out
of the universe, strode to his hotel hntless. The
next day and tho next week wero consumed by
people searching for their lost clothes, and Gen
oral Chipman says he still receives letters de
manding articles lost at that inauguration ball."
One would suppose that tho lesson of the Lin
coln ball would have resulted In great reforms
when the Inauguration ball, which welcomed Pres
ident Grant, four years later, was held. Ono re
form wns notable, a complete checking system for
wraps was devised, but on this oeenslon not a
guest parted with his wraps ! They did not dare,
for as It was, noses and ears were frozen.
Tho Grant Inaugural ball cost $00,000 and great
things wore expected of It. A pavilion 1150 feet
long, with a ballroom .'500 by 100 feet, wns built
In Judiciary square. This pavilion was mado of
light boards, roofed with lar paper nnd sealed
with pink and whlto muslin. "The mighty Ameri
can eagle," to quote the olllclal report, "spread his
wings over the president's platform and from his
pinions sprend streamers 100 feet long, caught
up on either side by coats of arms. The presi
dent's reception plntform was 00 feet long nnd !!0
feet wide. Twelve pilasters supported alternnto
gold figured, red nnd bluo stands, which held pots
of-bloomlng (lowers. Plntform nnd steps worn
richly carpeted nnd thousnnds of cannry birds
wore placed toward tho celling to add their chorus
to the music. Tickets to this magnificent enter
tainment cost $20.
Then camo Inaugural day with n blizzard and
cold wave so severe that marchers In tho Inau
gural procession dropped by the way, ovcrcomo by
cold ! Tho north wind swooped down on tho
muslin palace nnd rattled Its flimsy grandeur un
til the roof was swaybackod In one place and bal
looned out in another, while the tar paper and'
loose boards rose la tho gusts and rattled down
far and wide.
President Grant recovered sufficiently from the
exposuro of tho Inauguration to spend a short time
nt the ball, arriving at 11 o'clock In the evening.
He nnd his brilliant suite of guests, many of them
foreign dlplomntfl, and their brilliantly clnd ladles,
remained huddled In voluminous wrappings, look
ing down upon the guests dancing In overcoats
nnd wraps, dancing like mad In order to keep from
freezing to death.
The canary birds did not sing. They tucked
their heads tinder their wings and shivered piti
fully. The elaborate refreshments froze Into
blocks of Ice. The bnll ended before midnight.
The first Inaugural ball In the pension building
was that hold to honor President Cleveland's first
Inauguration. Tho building was then unfinished
and the courtyard was roofed by temporary con
struction, elaborately decorated and lighted bj
tho then now electric lamps. The ballroom lloor
was :ilC by 110 feet, nnd It was crowded. Tho
ticket sale for this ball brought In $10,000.
It Is plensanter to contemplate more recent In
augural balls. A notably brilliant ball was that
which welcomed President McKlnley. It wns held
In the pension building, and for that night tho
building was transformed by bunting of white nnd
gold. Not a particle of woodwork or original dec
oration of the building wns left uncovered. Elab
orate electric lighting (elaborate for 1807) and a
huge fountain were notable features of this ball
room. Judging by contemporary accounts this
bill was a complete success, socially and finan
cially. Mrs. William Howard Taft, In her charming
book, "Recollections of Full Years," tells the story
of tho Inst inaugural ball. Mrs. Taft's account of
how tho Taft family moved Into the White Houso
Is thoroughly captivating because of Its many bits
of domestic color, bits that find an echo In com
mon experience everywhere.
It was at tho close of a very busy day that .Mrs.
Taft put herself into tho hands of her nervous
hairdresser and sat looking at her new ball gown,
spread out on the bed. The )ti gown had ar
rived at tho very last minute and the new "first
lady" had wondered for several anxious days
what In tho world she would wear lo the ball If
tho dressmaker failed her.
"It was made of heavy white satin which I had
sent to Tokyo to have embroidered," writes Mrs.
Taft, "nnd the people who did the work surely
know their art. A pattern of goldenrnd was out
lined by a silver thread and cleverly fitted Into
the long lines of the gown, and no other trim
mings had been used except some laco with which
the low-cut bodice was finished. It fitted me ad
mirably and T hoped that, in spite of all tho mls
iiims In rav nrennnitlons. I looked my best as I
descended from the Whlto IIhim automobile at
the entrance of tho pension office.
"The pension office was not built for balls, In
augural or otherwise, and on the evening of March
1, 1000, after a day of melting sleet and snow, tho
entrance was not especially Inviting. Neither was
tho dressing room which had been assigned to
me. I suppose that for years It had rung with
the censelcss click of scores of typewriters and
that Its walls had beheld no more elaborate cos
tume than a business blouse and skirt since tho
occasion of the Inst Inaugural ball which had
marked the beginning of the second Roosevelt
administration, four years before. Rut as I needed
to do very little 'prinking' It really didn't matter
and I quickly rejoined the president nnd pro
ceeded on his arm to the presidential box, this
being a small round gnllery above the main en
trance of the grent ballroom, which is Itself, In
everyday life, the principal workroom of tho pen
sion office.
"A brilliant, an almost kaleidoscopic, sceno
spread before us. The hall Is of tremendous pro
portions, pillared with red marble ami with wnll
tinted In tho same color. Every inch of lloor
space seemed to bo occupied. Tho bright colors
nnd tho gleam of women's gowns met and dashed
or hnrmonlzed with the brighter colors of diplo
matic uniforms. Officers of the army and nnvy In
full regalia met and mingled with the hundreds of
men In the plain black of formal evening dress.
It was a wonderful, gllttoiinr throng, moio mag
nificent than any I had ever seen. It was not pos
sible to distinguish Individuals except In the spac
directly below the box, but there, as I looked down.
I saw a great semicircle of faces thousands, It
Kccmed to trio smilingly upturned toward us. The
din of human voices was terrific; oven tho loudest
band procurable had difficulty In making Itself
heard. Hut the scene was no gay In color, and tho
faces that gazed up at us wero so friendly and
happy that I felt elated and not at all ovun
whelmed."
-ttjsr-
Plumpness Pleasingly Arrayed.
Now Is the day of tho round
and not too slender figure. Plump
ness Is pleasing arrayed la a one
piece frock, hanging In straight
lines. There has been an Infini
tude of designs, and here Is one of
Ilium which might be of serge or satin
or soft wool material, but tlie chances
are that It Is of wool Jersey. The
skirt has a fiat flare at the hack and
front, and at the sides Is laid In groups
of narrow fiat plaits separated by
wider ones. This model fastens at
one side on tho shoulder nnd under
arm seam. It Is finished with a flat
girdle of the material, having the ends
embroidered nnd ornamented wilh
pendant balls covered with small
beads.
All sorts of wide, soft girdles are
made for these one piece frocks, nnd
they are often the most Interesting fen
tare in them. Magnificent oriental Ins
sels and handsome silk cords on wide
girdles of velvet, lined with silk, lift
even u plain gown Into the realm of
splendid things. Ry means of these
girdles, and of separate collar and
cuff sets, one may ring many changes
on u plain one-piece frock of wool or
sal In.
The latest arrival among fads Is n
matched set consisting of wide silk
girdle, hat and ling, or Instend of the
bag a parasol Is brought Into tho
scheme. Since everything Is embroi
dered It Is not difficult to harmonize
dress accessories by this means, nnd
since Chinese tassels of nil sorts nre
available and fashionable, another
way Is opened for the woman who un
derstands the value of matching up
dress accessories. Tassels may bo at
tached to hal1; or girdles or bags or
parasols bj the very simple expedient
of such fasteners.
m-MSZil
Considering Blouses for Spring
If you have considered blouses for
the coming spring you already know
that feminine allegiance Is divided be
tween the skirted blouse and our older
friend that meroly reaches lo the waist
line. The skirted blouse, appearing
first with a short peplum, has met
with an enthusiastic welcome, nnd
now we have the Russian blouse, In
many developments, tho chemise blouse,
ii ml many overblouses, all covering
half the length or tho figure. Rut the
practical blouse tho shirtwaist of oth
er days (modified for the house)
goes serenely on Its way, which leads
it Into every wardrobe.
Rlouses of today, If well made, arc
higher priced than they were. Inex
pensive ones are attractively designed
but poorly made, and tho woman of
refined tasle must either reconcile her
self to paying higher prices or make
her blouses at home; she cannot
reconcile herself to the poor work on
tho cheaper rendy-inndo articles.
Two new models are shown In the
picture. One Is of yellow orgnndlo,
finished nt the edges with black In
machine-made buttonhole stitching. As
in the majority of new models, tho
back and front are set on to straight
shoulderpleces. Thers are two small
pockets to relieve the plainness of the
otherwise unadorned fronts.
The white blouso Is of India lawn
trimmed with val hico and edging.
Small tucks and tiny pearl buttons
give it very tasteful finish. The sleeves
re long, and these models may bo ac
cepted as good examples In practical
blouses for the coming summer. Col-
ors promise to bo as popular as white,
and among them yellow nnd roeso urn
evidently In high" favor.
Runners in Stockings.
"I saw an Item In tho paper tho
other day about stopping u run in a
silk stocking by rubbing It with a hit
of moistened soap," said a young girl,
"but l'vo discovered that It can bo
stopped merely by dampening It. You
can't always get hold of a pleco of
soap as soon as you discover a run, you
know ; but you can always dampen tho
stitches that aro left open at tho end
of a short 'runner,' and this serves to
stiffen tho thread until you can get
homo and catch tho runaway stitch."
Chnrmcusc In Vogue.
Charmeuse, which was side-tracked
by Dame Fashion for a spell, has been
restored to fnvor for afternoon and
Informal evening frocks, and many
charming models In this supple and
becoming fabric have uinde tholr p
peanince this season. One In raven's
wing blue was noted In a recent dis
play. It was relieved by embroidery
In aluminum tone which outlined tint
round neck and bordered tho wide
I sleeves In bell Ueslgu.
i. tf wirfVA-'iyMt'"