Evening Star Newspaper, December 30, 1928, Page 64

BY JOHN CLAGETT PROCTOR. F the New Year day reception at the ] according to every indication at this writing. no doubt it will be a they have had the pleasure of seeing much of Mr. Coolidge since he suc- However, with the newcomers and the visitors in town there will be regret, then, every one should realize that) even the President is entitled to a day his time in the past, and each year since he has been in the White House with himself and Mrs. Coolidge. His first New Year reception was held is not always the case, for upon many occasions the day is bitter cold, and ditions for several hours at least before being admitted into the White House Land. Mr. Wilson did not have a reception cessor, Warren G. Harding, shook hands with 6,576 persons on January 1, 1922, year was ealled off on account of the iliness of Mrs. Harding. The tempera- grees, ideal weather in which to catch pneumonia hanging around the White Oldest Inhabitants from turning out with three of its most venerable mem- in his one-hundredth year, and Mr. James T. Petty, aged 90. ILast year zero, For this and other organired | bodies, however a regular time is set| spared the necessity of hanging around in the cold and are given the additional WHITE HOUSE NEW YEAR RECEPTION.IN 1927 of his wine and then view “the mam- moth room” and see ‘the mammoth cheese,” which weighed some 1,00 pounds, which was presented through John Leland, a Baptist minister, who had brought it on a sleigh from Cheshire, Mass. Four years hence it was served with cake and punch at the White House is not held on Tues- day, which seems most probable, keen disappointment to many. Not particularly with Washingtonians, for ceeded President Harding eariy on the morning of August 3, 1023. for their opportunity of meeting the President may not oceur again. But off once in a while, and cspecially since he has been very generous with has given the public an opportunity on January 1 to meet and shake hands January 1, 1924, with the weather clear and the temperature moderate. This no doubt a number of people become 1ll by standing in line under such con- for just one brief handshake with the President and the Pirst Lady of the the last New Year day he was Presi- dent, because of his illness, but his suc- even though it was a very cold day. ‘The public reception for .the following ture at 7:15 am. on New Year day three years ago went down to 21 de- House fence. In 1927 it went as low as 30, but this did not prevent the bers: Judge Bundy, who' died recently; Maj. Willard S. Saxon, 98, and now it was uncomfortably cold, the ther- mometer registering 13 degrees above | for their admittance, and this i5 serupu- | lously lived up to, so that they are | opportunity of mingling with their friends in the east room and listening New Year reception. Mr, Jefferson was quite generous questing to be informed which was his birthday, as they wished to celebrate it with proper respect. “The anly bizth- | day I ever commemorate,’ repliad he, ‘is that of our indepsndence, the Fourth of July’ During his adminis- tration it was in truth a gala day in our city. The well informed and well ap- pointed milita of the District, the Ma- rine Corps and often other military THE GREAT CHEE! PRESIDENT JACKSO! ADMIN to the Marine Band until the recep- tien is over, the latter being an espe- cial attraction in itself. * % ok % THE New Year day receptions at the | White House originated with ‘Thomas Jefferson. At this period it was net only customary for the Presi- dent to receive guests on the first day of the new year, but also on Independ- ence day, and in this way Jefferson gave the first public reception on July 4, 1801, and on January 1, 1802, the first New Year day public reception. Perhaps President John Adams would have held a New Year day reception here had he occupied the White House longer, but he arrived here to take up his residence on November 1, 1800, and left without formality on the morning of the following March 4. He did hold there what were then called levees: one 11 days after his arri here and an- other on December 9, but evidently these were for men only, since Mrs. ‘Thornton, who chronicled the events, speaks of her husband attending both, while she and her mother, at least upon the first occasion, went to Georgetown. As a matter of fact the White House was then not in a condition in which to hold a public reception. The plaster- ing, which had only been begun in the Spring of that year, was stiill uncom- pleted, and not an apartment was fin- ished. The east room—where the car- penter's shavings still remained—was used for laundry purposes in which to hang out the family wash, and to add to his other troubles Mr. Adams ex- perienced a scarcity of firewood with ‘which to keep the then barn-like struc- ture warm. It is even said that as late #s 1803 “the walls of some of the bed chambers, the great rocm at the east end of the house and of the principal stairs were still naked.” Indeed, this stairway had not yet been built. Not only are these conditions referred to by contemporaneous writers, but one of a satirical turn of mind called atten- tion to the enormous size of the build- ing by saying that it was big enough for “two Emperors, one Pope and the grand lama in the bargain.” Jefferson’s wines were famous and abundant and at the first New Year reception those who went to the White House to greet the President were per- ISTRATION HELPED THEM: EVEE AT THE-WHITE HOUSE, WHEN THE NEW YEAR GUESTS DURING LVES FROM A '1,400.POUND CHEKGE. afford to, for we are told by Mrs. Fam- uel Harrison Smith, tnat he “had no levees, but received visitors every morning at certain hours, excepting on New Year day and the Fourth of July.” Mrs. Smith further informs us that: “On these grand occasions = not only the President's House, but the i THE WHITE HOUS MAGAZINE. TIVE MANSION WAS THE STATE DEPARTME! with his time. Perhaps he could thenlrompanies, paraded through the ave- nues and formed on ‘he Gpen space in front of the President's House, their zafv appearance and martial musick enlivening the scene, exhilarating the spirits of the throngs of people who poured in from the country and ad- jacent towns. At that time (here were no buildings, no inclosures in the vi- selves and from whence there was a good view of the troops as they march- ed in front of the President’s House; and of the President, the heads of de- partments and the foreign ministers who stood around him on the high steps of the house, recelving and re- turning their salutations as they passed in review. Mr. Jefferson's tall figure and grey locks waving in the air (for he always on these occasions stood with uncovered head) were easily distin- guished among the other official per- sonages who surrounded him.” Mr. Jefferson was a great lover of nature and was especially fond of birds and flowers. During his occupancy of the White House he fitted one apart- ment, known as his cabinet, according to his own taste. Of this, Mrs. Smith says: “It was a spacious room. In the cen- ter was a long table, with drawers on each side, in which were deposited not only articles appropriate to the place, but a set of carpenter’s tools in one and small garden implements in another from the use of which he derived much amusement. Around the walls were maps, globes, charts, books, ete. In the window rebesses were stands for the flowers and plants which it was his de- light to attend, and among his roses and geraniums was suspended the cage of his favorite mocking bird, which he cherished with peculiar fcndness, not only for its melodious powers, but for its uncommon intelligence and affec~ tionate disposition, of which gqualities he gave surprising instances. It was the constant companion of his solitary and studious hours. Whenever he was alone he opened the cage and let the bird fly about the room. After flitting for a while from one object to another, it would alight on his table and regale him with its sweetest notes, or perch on his shoulder and take its food from his lips. Often when he retired to his chamber it would hop up the stairs after him and while he took his siesta would sit on his couch and pour forth its melodious strains. How he loved this bird! How he loved his flowers! He could not live without something to love, and in the absence of his darling grandchildren his bird and his flowers became objects of tender care.” oK ok X WARDS the close of President Jackson's administration some of his admirers felt that he should be remem- bered as generously as Jefferson had been and started a cheese campaign in the rural district of New York, which resulted in “Old Hickory” being pre- sented with a cheese weighing 1,400 pounds. On its way here, it was ex- hibited in New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore and was for awhile displayed in the vestibule of the White House, It was finally desided to serve it to the V. i 5 IN 1799 (AT RIGHT)., THE SMALL BUILDING AT THE I ) FROM AN OLD PRINT PUBLISHED IN MUNSEY'S ——— ces mitted to partake of his cake and drink JSE, WITH ADDITION OF THE NORTH Al FROM A DRAWING MADE IN 1807, city was thronged with visitors from | cinity of the President's House, but a George Town, Alexandria and the sur- [ wide extended pleasant and grassy rounding country. They were national | common, where the inhabitants found festivals, on which the doors of the | pleasant presidential mansion were rhrown open | flocks abundant pasture. for persons of all classes, where abun- | really a charming and lively scene cf dance of refreshments were provided for | this national festival. Temyorary tents their entertainment. On Mr. Jefferson’s | and boothes were scattered over the n to the presidency the mayor | surface for the accominodation of the d corporation had waited on him, 1e- gay crowds, who here amused them- | walks and ) SQUTH RORTICOS, the herds and It exhibited EFT public on Washington's birthday, 1837, and those attending the reception not only partook of it freely but also took away with them large chunks for sub- sequent consumption. Unfortunately, the carpets were almost ruined with the cheese that was dropped on the floor and trampled under foof, and for months the smell of cheese was prom- inently detected all over the house. Two years later a plece weighing 700 pounds was sold by -the direction of President Van Bureny Gen. Jackson's successor, for the benefit of the Female Union Benevolent Society, an organiza- tion formed for assisting the poor. President Monroe’s New Year recep- tion, held January 1, 1825, was an un- usually brilliant one, since it was at- and his son, George Washington La- fayette, then visiting this country and for the time being staying in this city. Naturally there was a very large crowd present who wished to meet him, and especially to shake hands with the greatest Frenchman America had ever known and its greatest foreign support during the American Revolution, in which he took such an active part. tended by the Marquis de Lafayettey ent to pay honor to the distinguished general, Mr. Monroe was very fortunate in having a wife who fit in so well with the social duties of the Chief Magis- trate. Nearly 10 years of her life had been spent at European capitals while accompanying her husband on his va- rious missions to foreign courts. She was extremely exacting in the matters of appropriate dress 1o he worn at her receptions and upon one occasion even refused admission to a near relative who was not prepared with a suit of “small clothes and silk hose.” * ok Kok IT may not be true, but it does seem that we are drifting somewhat away from the old-established custom of call- ing on our friends on New Year day. 1t is still within the memory of many when the newspapers could hardly ac- commodate the public in announcing the people who would hold ‘“open house” on January 1. This not only applied to the four hundred, but even to persons of moderate means; and, of course, refreshments were always served, and these generally included wines, egg- nog and liquors of various descripticns, now ruled out by statute. Many of our best people took this opportunity to make an annual call on their friends, which they were unable to do during the year; and as absence makes the heart grow fonder, so were they all the more welcome wherever they went. Many residents who did not indulge in intoxicants served ice cream and other things as substitutes, for Washington then had its temperance advocates, just as it has its supporters today. An idea of what a New Year day was like some four decades and more back can be judged from President Arthur’s reception at the White House on January 1, 1884, just before turning his office, over to President Cleveland. Mud and slush were in the streets and a chilly misty rain made traveling de- cidedly uncomfortable, and withal it is said there were more persons who kept “open house” then than who did the previous year. President Arthur received with Mrs. Carlisle, wife of the Speaker of the House of Representa- tives, John G- Carlisle, at his right, she being dressed in a robe of rich lavender satin, flowered in white, with Custom of Observing “Open House™ at the Executive Mansion on New Year Day Was Begun by Thomas Jefferson in 1802. Monroe’s Reception Unrivaled in Brilliance—Other Gala Events—Manners and Modes of Dress of Former Days. SOUTH FRONT OF THE ‘WHITE HOUSE IN 1825. tabliere of white satin, embroidered in seed pearls and raised chenille flowers; the open waist and half long sleeves were garnished with point lace; ear- rings and brooch of diamonds. The wives of his cabinet officers present were dressed in the height of fashion. Mrs. Frelinghuysen wore black velvet, with fichu of point lace and coiffure composed of point lace and a maroon feather. Mrs. Chandler white ottoman satin, with flounces of black Brussels lace, and black velvet bows. Mrs. Lincoln, the wife of Robert T. the martyred President's son, who died but recently, wore black and white bro- caded velvet, with tabliere of white satin, with flounces of black Brussels lace. Mrs. Brewster, wife of his At- torney General, was dressed in superb brocade, with rare lace, and brilliant “diamonds. Mrs. Teller wore garnet velvet, with point lace and diamonds. The wife of Walter Q. Gresham, who later became Cleveland’s Secretary of State, wore black velvet, with white satin front. Gen. Gresham now les buried on the slope in front of Arling- ton Mansion, a little to the south, close by the graves of Gens. Sherman Fortunes BY JAMES WELLAND. T is one of the most astonishing hold-up games in the world. The possible gains are truly egregious, and in the wake of failure follow exposure, loss of reputation and credit that is, in a business way at least, sometimes tantamount to ruin and disgrace. It is the game of en- deavoring to get the United States customs appraiser to stamp as very, very old, and hence of great value, ob- jects of foreign art and artistry. The game divides itself into two classifications, one of which centers around the efforts of scores of Ameri- can travelers abroad to get supposed antiques into the country on the ground that they are art objects and at least 100 years old, as the United States Government says they must be if they are to be admitted free. The second includes the attempts of more sophisti- cated cosmopolites who are forever cooking up monumental art or antique frauds and fictions and blandly offer- ing them to the customs men as some- thing bcyond compare in age and value. Let the customs men admit the claims and they take the products out and sell them, saying, “Even the United States Government certifies this is thus and so!” As to the first of these antique im- porters—the American visitors to for- eign lands—F. J. H. Kracke, customs appraiser for the Port of New York, ays more than half the things they tote home as antiques are plain frauds, often as not right out of some modern factory, His records show that foreign antique dealers—that is, unscrupulous, faking dealers—mulct these trusting sojourners of millions of dollars each year. And the travelers, rather than come out and confess their innocence abroad, let the matter drop. After all, it would be manifestly too costly and time-consuming to go right back to Europe, hunt up the faker and have him punished. Besides, the courts of Europe do not take kindly to Ameri- cans, all of whom are supposed to be rolling in wealth, and who kick about being cheated out of a few dollars through their own greed and gullibility. Tapestries, shawls, furniture, rugs, glass, china, silver, copper—indeed, al- most everything, says Mr, Kracke, comes within the scgpe of the faker. * K ok K NOT so long ago, there was brought into the country an antique, monu- mental in size, if in nothing else. It was a paneled room, so Mr. Kracke and his assistants were informed, taken from a British castle. As nearly as the importers could determine, it was built in 1740. The dealer who was responsible for its importation had a millionaire purchaser for it. The room was to have place in his newly made American palace. Of course, it would be admitted free? Mr. Kracke had his own men look it over—he has under him a corps of 1,000 men, all skilled to the last degree in some particular line, A little old gentleman who has spent his life in the service of the Government going over endless antiques and supposed an- tiques looked at the room, took off his glasses and spoke with finality, “This is a reproduction,” he said. “Some sticks and parts may be very old, but the room is a modern repro- duction. I should say that it calls for a duty payment of $10,000.” ¥ The importers were indeed indig- nant. The old expert was bland and firm. It was all nothing to him per- sonally; there was his judgment. Mr. Kracke, a genial, agreeable gentleman, called in outside experts who are glad to serve In such instances without pay. They confirmed the Government veter- an's assay. The top molding of the fine-looking fireplace was done in one period, and the cross paneling was shown to be composed in the styles of period, and the cross-paneling was more, in the back of the fireplace Upen this occasion it is said. that Mr. Webster, Mr. Everett, Mr. Clay, Mr. Otis, Mr. Crawford, Gen. Jackson, John Quincy Adams, Gens. Dearborn, Scott, Macomb, Bernard and Commodores Bainbridge, Tingey, Stewart and Mor« ris, all famous, or to famous, in the ADRALS Of OWr COURLYY, WeIe DiRse [ White House function. and Wright, who also were present upon this occasion. At this reception it is said there were more elegant and costly dresses worn than were ever' before seen at any The Presi- dent himself was in morning dress and all black, buttoned to the neck. * K ok % IT is interesting to read over the list of prominent Army and Navy officers present on this occasion. Few of them are still living and no doubt the reader will recall some of them at least with much pleasure. Judge Holt and Gen. McKee Dunn, who served as judge advocate generals of the Army, were there, as were the aids of the lieutenant general, Col. M. V. Sheri- dan, Col. Volkmar, and Capt. Gregory; Adjt. Gen. Drum, Gen. M. S. Keever, Gen. Ruggles, Col. Benjamin, Col. Bar- ber, Gen. Feely and Gen. Van Vliet. In the Medical Corps were Surg. Gen Murray, Dr. Baxter and Dr. Basil Norris. . Among the Engineer officers were Capt. T. L. Casey, Gen. Parke, Gen. Poe, Col. Wilson, Maj, Hains, Capt. Hoxie and Capt. Mills. Perhaps only a few of The Star's readers will recall the name of Capt. Richard L. Hoxie and still it is & name that shall live in local history. Captain —now general—Hoxie is still with us. dividing his life between Washington and Florida; quite interested still in all that goes on in the Capital City, where he served as Engineer Commissioner under the temporary commission form of government here, back in 1874. He is a Civil War veteran and must be getting along in years, since he en- tered the First Iowa Cavalry as a private on June 13, 1861, and served until June 9, 1864, when he was ap- pointed a cadet at the Military Academy, from which he was graduated four years later, receiving an appoint- men as second lieutenant of Engineers. When Gen. Hoxie entered upon the District engineer service one of his first duties was to make a careful sur- vey of the entire drainage surface of the District, posting himself as the natural flow of the rainfalls. One must bear in mind that when Gen. Hoxie took a hand in improving the sewerage systems in the District, sanitary conditions here were very bad. Bathtubs in Washington then were few and urJaetween and only com- paratively few houses were equipped with running water, and such con- veniences as we look upon today as ab- solutely necessary were then only to be had by the more wealthy or those liv- ing right in the heart of the city—con- fined then to an area of a mile square. Made in Fake Art Hold-Up It Is a Field Day for Antique Dealers When the American Mill ionaire Goes in for Old English Paneled Roomsand . Ancestral Silver. “ALI, WHAT'S THIS FIGURINE . RUPEES, WHEN THE BOSS WORTH?” “OH, 'BOUT 10,000 MAKES A DATE FOR IT.” structure was nothing less than Ameri- can pine and chestnut that supposedly had been buried for a time in caustic soda to make it look old, but none the less was wood that by no stretch of the imagination could have been in England in 1740. The discomfited importer asked for a day to decide whether he should pay the $10,000 duty and take his room— now no longer an antique, at least in Government eyes—or leave it. Twenty- four hours later he returned, presum- ably after having seen his ciient. He paid the money and took the room, and today, as Mr. Kracke says, it is installed in the American home— though a reproduction just as good could have been built by native deco- rators in the first place. * Aok % MORE typical, however, of the rank and file of American antigue vie- tims was the man who recently brought home with him a golden armlet which he had picked up in France. It wids a broad band of gold, with two minia~ tures, one a fair picture of Napoleon, and the other of his consort, Josephine. A small frame beneath each picture contained strands of hair said to be that of the conqueror and his first em- press. “A million-dollar bracelet!” was the owner's enthusiastic characteriza- tion. He belleved the bracelet was a true antique and worth a fortune to some museum or collector. He had gotten it, he said, in the settlement of the estate of a relative in Europe, accepting it as his share of the property. The story was that the brace- let had heen given to a greatuncle. of his by the Emperor himself in recog- nition for an act that saved the con- queror’s life in Poland in 1814, Mr. Kracke turned the bracelet over to his experts, and four of them in turn decided” not only that the armlet was less than fifty years old, but that it wasn't even of French design and make. his view criminally wrong. But one of the antiquaries pointed out that in 1814 Napoleon had divorced Josephine and had married Marie Louise of Austria. He proved that at the time the bracelet was supposed to have been issued by the Emperor, Josephine was no longer empress, and that certainly he wouldn't have had her likeness on an official gift. Eventually the supposedly very valuable armlet was appraised at $10, and the owner paid a duty of about 40 per cent! b e T NE of the most unusual efforts to get the customs raen to certify— and that is what it actdally would have amounted to—that an importation was authentically antique had to do with a remarkable collection of little golden statuettes, or figurines. With much ad- vance notice and ceremony they were placed before Mr. Kracke by a man of Oriental origin with a gift for atmos- phere. This man maintained the fig- urines had been dug from some very ancient site, and were older than Christianity by at least 2,000 years, It was obvious that they were very old, that they were pure gold, and were worth a great sum. If they were as old as the importer said their value would have been well nigh incalculable. But Mr. Kracke noted that one of the figures was that of the Madonna and Child. There was no mistaking it. How, then, could it have been in a burial site 5,000 years old? The experts finally established that the figurines were not more than a few hundred years old and, although the owner had no customs to pay, he was much disappointed that the appraiser did not fall for his claim that his unique possessions were thousands of years old. But one of the most interesting in- cidents in the eternal battle which Mr. Kracke wages against the perpetration of frauds had to do with a magnificent set of silver. The salver was five feet long. There were a punch bowl, tea- ‘The owner was indignant, not to say enraged. The experts were wrong, in pot, sugar bowl, pitcher and a coffee urn. The whole was done in splendid design and style, and as it sat in Mr. Kracke's office it looked, because of the intricate artistry of its m: 3 almost -beyond price. All of the pieces had handles shaped in the form of deer's heads. The workmanship was obviously of the first order. Ten thou- sand dollars was the lowest offhand estimate of its value. But one of the Government antiquaries discovered that all of the hall-marks—marks made by u&fi maker—had been carefully chiseled off! * K k¥ THls removal of marks caused some suspicion on Mr. Kracke’s part, and the importer was sent for. He was a suave, distinguished looking man of about 45. He spread his hands in deprecation of the ?mhfl‘a slight reflection—there ce be no doubt about the age of the silver! Why, it had been in his family for more 100 years! He remembered it on the sideboard in old Austria during all his boyhood. = Was he sure? .Of course! How did it come that the hall-marks had been cut away? He could not say. There had been a period while he was in America, and the silver had been in the hands of relatives. Some silly notion on their part—for which he was not responsible. He was so plausible that Mr. Kracke was more than half convinced that his story was true, and that the beautiful silver was, in truth, very, very old. He begged for time, and that night had one of his trusted men go over all that silver. On the under side of the bottom flange of the sugar bowl this man discovered a small hall-mark with the name of the maker, and the date—1898! Needless to say, the importer pro- fessed ignorance of everything. It might be that this silver was not the old silver he remembered on the sideboard of his boyhood home. There was probably Some substitution. Yes, he would pay the duty and take the silver. Which he did. And whether he sold the silver as antique, without customs appraisal and stamp, Mr. Kracke neither knows nor cares. He and his men had put their finger on, and in a sense checkmated, one more possible fraud ., . . as far, at least, as the Government was con- cerned. Factory Railroad. HIGH-SPEED electric railroad, drawn by a 20-foot locomotive, is the newest aid to factory efficiency. In a steel mill at Aliquippa, Pa., & recently installed minature railway keeps the terrific pace of the machinery in mov- ing about the material. It carries 4-ton ingots of red-hot steel from the furnaces to the rolls, where the pre- | liminary flattening out is -performed. The locomotive, which is the first of its kind in the world, feeds the mill with 75 of these ingots each hour. It has a greater acceleration than any other rail machine. After being load- ed with its red-hot cargo, the engine speeds down a track 250 feet long, dis- charges its load and hurries back again —all in 48 seconds, including 8 seconds of standing still. To safeguard against having a huge mass of glowing steel run wild in case of an accident to the engineer, a “dead man’s button” in the cab automatically shuts off the power, applies the brakes and sands the track. Huge Magnet. . Tx-m world's largest magnet, & 120- ton monster that weighs more than many & locomotive, has recently been completed and will act as an ald in important researches in light, electricity m’ld. rmlzct{lvlw orrents of water cool its huge copper coll, which carries a terrific electric current of 3.000 amperes—enough to light, say, 6,000 ordinary lamps. Ac- cording to its designer it keeps a pow- erful magnetic fleld unabated for hours, during prolonged experiments, | ©°+ 7" A GENUINE ANTIQUE STATUE OF KING AMEMNOY, FROM THE RUINS OF TRO!