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About The Oregon daily journal. (Portland, Or.) 1902-1972 | View Entire Issue (July 26, 1908)
THE OREGON SUNDAY JOURNAL. .PORTLAND SUNDAY MORNING. JULY 26, 103 Presidents Baught; RESSMAN'5 i V 0 kram NJ vi' III I , V. iHIMimillW.iil.UWW.Wi n MUM!' HWWMIMMWIHWMIII IIW I UUIII P I .HMWIH imWWJIH WW J WW, Willi H JHWWimf WiWIM ,n rt , w wt M.MIm WH ! HWI f 1 1. --'' ""r- --- t nrf riiwin ml km liinUfi m wmwiiiiiiimnHtm Hir-intiiiirnimir - rr'Him Trr'TiTiUMi in ifciirn wit M(imwni mm ! nni pil - . v ft' if . WA : os&' r V(WI-f ri ... The Change That Has Taken Mrs. Longworth Out of the Limelight HAT has become of Mrs. Alice Longivorth, she who, as Alice Roosevelt. the President's eldest daughter, only a few years ago held such a prominent place in the lime light?" Now and then this question sweeps over the land. The fact is, few persons of one-time prominence haz e ever dropped out of the pub lic eye so quickly and so completely as has Mrs. Longworth. Is this through her own volition or because of a change of circum stances? Every one who knows" Mrs. Longworth acknowledges that she possesses a strength of character almost as individual and pronounced in its way as'that of her distinguished father. Her effacement from the public view, there fore, must be of her own volition. Is this so? Those who know her best assert that her "passing" is an entirely voluntary eclipse; that she enters joyously into a self-effacement. Peo ple generally comment upon her noticeable loss of prominence in the last tzco years; she is said to regard it as an objectionable calcium light that she has dodged. that she has not posed lor a photograph since her uiumage. Changed? Yes, she has changed a good deal. She has grown stouter, tor one thins; and that is rather a pity, for her style was of the type that depended considerably on girlish slimness. She was not well last winter, She became suddenly 111 at the White House early in the season. Surgeons were sent for, and the announcement that Mrs. jxnigworth was being operated on for appendicitis caused quite a little flurry of excitement. Before her marriage Mrs. Longworlh rode a great deal, and Air. Iongworth was frequently one of the "White House riding parties. One does not remember having seen her on horseback lately. Once again, the presidential contempt for auto mobiles is frequently expressed, but the Iongworths are devoted to their little electric runabout. They Longworth does hej- shopping in It, and makes her use It for business and they use it for pleasure. Mrs. calls In it. Probably three day out of five, while Congress is in session, sho takes Mr. Longworth to the Capitol to his daily toil as a national legislator, In It or calls for him or both. When there is baseball in Washington they both frequently go out to the grounds, and the runabout may be seen scudding up the Mall to the Capitol along about 4 o'clock almost any bright day. Then aKnin. there are bright days when it is evidently expected, and fails to materialize; when Mr. Longworth may be found In the tunnel at the House end of the Capitol, chewing his mouBtache and looking at his watch as he consults the doorkeeper, the picture of conjugal impatience, realizing that the game Is about to be called, and uncertain whether -Mrs. Longworth has changed her mind and is not coming, or is slniply late. In fact, they seem to bo very much the usual young married couple, with the usual little squabbles, result ing from the cla-si of two strong wills. eaMi of which has heretofore been supreme squabbles which are made unduly noticeable by the fact of their being so well known. For the rest, they have many tastes In common. They like the same people-they arc both fond of music. The White House under the Hoosevelt regime has been markedly musical, and the t.iste is one that Mrs. Longwbrtn shades- with Mis. linust rlt. Mf Long-worth, though it is not generally known, is a decidedly clever violinist, and likes nothing better than to get off In a corner by himself with his fiddle. Last winter they took up French together, quite seriously. Mrs. Longworih while in school was regarded aa a particularly good French scholar. NOT IN POLITICS There was at one time soma idea that Mrs. Long worth might go in seriously for politics, as the Kngllsh women do, in the interest f her husband's career. It was even rumored that .she would take t lie stump in opposition, to the Countess of Warwick, who was announced to take the stump in t'hio in behalf of the Populists. But that was emphatically denied, and while Mrs. Longworth did make a little tour of Ohio with her husband, the tour was political only on his part, and she was a mere looker-on. .She was an interested spectator at both the Chicago and the Denver conventions. Mrs. Longwmth took no part in the formation of ihe Congressional ( lub, made up of congressmen's and senators' wives anil daughters -in fact, hardly seemed to know what was going on until it was well under way. Then she woke up, and asked her friend, Mrs. MeCorinick, Senator Hanna's daughter, about It, with her usual, "Tell me about that; I'm Interested." Mrs. McCormick told her, with the Comment, "You should have been a charter member." tin the other hand, she started out to be a member of the Civil Service League, which was organized In Washington with considerable eclat last spring, went to one or two meetings and found she was not Inter ested, but was none- the less thrust upon various committees. Her unwillingness to be hampered by On- necessity of being civil when she does not fe 1 cll is well known in Washington. In her own set they are telling with glee of an encounter between Mrs. Ixngworth. and Miss Katherine Elkins-tlie two art: imt generally regarded aa entertaining the warmest f.-i-litigs for one another. It was shortly after the agitation as to whether Miss Klklns would or would not marry the duke of the Abruzzi had simmered down a bit. Mrs. Longworth. meeting Mits Klklns. said, it Is reported: "1 suppose whin you are niorg a na, t lea 1 1 y married to an Italian prince person yo wul lain your DacK on ail us plain toiKs. .Miss l.lKms cainiiy re- Fosslbli ; indeed. ,1 think 111 begin now." marked: And she did Alice Longworth is. of course, not so prominent as Alice Koosevelt was. This does not for a moment mean that relations between the Longw- rtiis an.l I lie Roose velts are anything but affectionately i oniiai Thev are exactly the usual relations between anv American family and a married daughter and hf-r !,;;shand Mrs. Longworth comes and goes m for father's house Just about as any daughter would, who. being married, yet lives in the same town with in r parents. When in Washington she is there at iun lu'un two or three times a week. u: an average certainly of once a week her hueban! is there with her. Thq young people dine at the White House en famille, and Mr. Longworth is, whenevir he- can Bel around to It, one of those who join in the presidential tennis party. The Longw oi ths, of course, always figure In the formal functions at the White House. Mrs. Long wuitii is always in the receiving party when she is In town, and nut necessarily engaged elsewhere. Her relations w'th her aunt; Mrs. Cow lea. lut e always been pe- ulmry tender. Mis Cowles had the care of her for .-on.e lime after ln-r mother's death, and the loving kindness of tito years has never been forgotten. Naturally -it Is the little stories of human weak nesses and indiscretions that get into liei'-su-'li, for instam i . as the story of the 1 'resident's daughter in the executive gallery of the House, badly bored, -pying a tack, and leaning over and placing it on a seat In the adjoining public gallery, and then watching glee fully until a fat and unsuspecting citizen sat down oil it. That wp-nt the rounds. But who ever heard how the President's daughter made a point of going nearly every day to spend an hour or so with the wife of her father's pastor "not her own, for the Tresldent goes to a Lutrh Roforrned Church, while the presidential farn ilv Is K pi s-opa I la n. pne the less, when Mrs. Schick, wife of t'v 1'repicienPs pastor, was laid up with a sprained ank'e a while ago, the Longworth run-about ClMD THE pn!1nr" of Alice Roosevelt meant, to those who know, merely her passing from the fierce beating light of publicity that pursued her as the President's daughter to the grateful shadow of comparative obacurlty as a mera congressman's wife. She has given her friends to understand that she Is now Ayce Longworth. not Alice Roosevelt Identified with her I street home, not with the White House; with her husband's career, not with her father'a. Natural!, she is net to prominent as she was. Phe lives her on life, cultivates her own friends, with luxuiy of abandon tht. with the test will in the world, she could r.ot possibly give herself up to as the President s daughter she entertains and accepts invi tations according her -n sweet will It is a case of Mrs Lrftfgwort h's avoiding the lime light, not of the limelight nfgk-eting her the has entertained more or ls in a quiet way during the last ( years not elaborately, but very enjoyab'y; but out!d of her own Immediate circle no one has known anything about It. The !xitg worths have no telephone at least, they d not figure In the telephone rtlreetorr, though their personal fr'ends know how t call tiem up when they weM to. Mrs. Longworth. who, before her marriage, was tre most photographed girl In America, rannot now the persuaded to sit for a photograph. The Wash-ligt-r n photographer hare valnlr asked her for sit tings. f. Lon gwort a is authority for the statement bracelets they're wearing over in Paris double circle of gold, you know (hey t.ear it on the up per part of the left arm." Then the salesman understood, and pitied. He had heard of them. "They haven't reached us yet,'' he answered, gently. T A YOETNO man, wearing a flannel outing suit, a broncho-busting panama, and signs of money all over him, dabbed into a widely known jewelry r-Mahlinmcr.t a few morn ings ago. and demanded eagerly: '"(lire me a double engageim ii . ring, quick fize thirteen inches around, inside tin aure."' Next to the drug rlerk, the jr. )xj Rlrmsn in the suavest thing in attached ci:?-. Imt that request upset him. "Gee! What hare ;oa lar.dr i :he Rus-sian giante"?"' "What- that?" in rjuicMy Hazing wrath. "Oh, y--a, I I meant a brae let ?ie thirteen inchej ituide measure. No, not f-T the wrist; I am looking for one of ihoe new cngagcmcQt IHE young man wa- as right about it having he- come the latest fad of Cup. 1 In Tans as the Jeweler was In denying that it ha.1 reached this eountry. The happm-w of g !rt datly encir cling the arm will have to wait a while before It encroaches . upon the prerogative of the coveted soli taire :n Ames lean er.gas e mn. t s. Hut it has about it a!, the Ui'.n jrks of a spread ing whim of fashion, and it his. in ' -rigm. ail the royal cachet of distinction which, makes a fashion grow. It had originallv th extensive advertisement rf appearing on the beautlfjliv mouidod arm of Princess Marie Bonaparte. one if the wealthiest heiresses among the royal matches of Euro.p-. Powered not only with riches, but with a beautv which the passing of her glrlhon.i utterlv failed to fsle. the desirable Marie made up her maidnly mind tr.at she would accept only the nan who appealed to her as a lover as well as a rrtnee. So nothing very thrll.tng hapj er.ed. -r riuld hap pen, t-i so discriminating a damse' un!:l th tail, brave an I ompletely eligible Prince tie"tg of !rrece came a -wooing After George- arrived, h mover, matters moved with lightning evpresf speed Ho suited her down ti the reun1-an1 that was a long way, for be stand", with nr.ghtv ti j uilwrl t y. something like six feet four inches And the Princess llarie is not so very much smaller hen they were wed. they made one of th most Imping -looking couples that ever r.nr.ored the anr er.t institution of inariiage with a superabundance of Invin humanity. The only article of jewelrv that ee-efl enough aid stre-ng enough t ici-l fat p 1 ' fiancee was. in tte eyes of the ir-ntti-l !r Prsr.ce George, an armlet of gold fn a dcutle ban'' Mane was go ! .f-e . to be he.d that f e was sat isfied to wur it. George bad one made that w aa an- Iff & ,v:A slowed up at her door nearly every day, and Mra Longworth ran up for a chat, which wquld makl th day brighter for a good lady who was suffering. As to Just who Is In the Longworth set well. It H what the s, icty editors call "the younger married set." It Includes Mrs. J. Medlll McCormick, who WM Ruth Hanna; Mrs. Joseph Leiter, formerly Miss Will- lams, and Mr. Leiter, of course; the Bourke Cochrana whose wedding, like that of the Longworths, was th outcome of the famous Taft Philippine trip; Itepra-;. tentative F. H. Uillett and Justice Moody, who keep bachelor hall at the Connecticut, and give pleasant little, dinners at which the Longworths are frequent -guests; Mrs. Ralph Kills, C. It. Simpkins and the Nat slmpkinses, Miss Isabel May. Mrs. tteorga Howard And Ned McLean, not to mention a dozen or two more who are less conspicuously intimateg of the, Long worths. It is a set that has a good deal of fun In Its owa way and within Its own limits, but which does not. as a rule, give the big functions that everybody goes to and that everybody talks about. It frequents tha;' Country Club, goes everywhere, but In the main-' keeps out of the papers. Its affairs are alwavis of the aort technically known as "Informal." j In fact, Alice Longworth has slipped juite out Of the glare of publicity which for years attended all the doings of Alice Roosevelt. From the time of her debut until the time of her marriage she was sub- , jected to a searchlight such as no girl of her aga , ever has endured. When she walked across the street It was chronicled; when she failed to walk across tha street, some of the liveliest Imaginations in tha CO un til busied themselves with explaining why. She was pursued by an army of camera fiends, her mots were repeated from one end of the country to t.'.e other, ami epigrams which it had never occurred to her to make were thrust upon her by folk who knew full well tlmt they would be ever so much mora appreciated from the President's daughter than from. . j any one else. 4 As Alice Roosevelt she had to nccepf the chron? Icllng of her doings with good grace. Aside from the fa- t that she was the President s daughter, she was a charming girl democratic, approachable, until in self dtfer.se she was s onetimes driven to assume a hauteur that was pot native As a private Individual of un- Questioned so, .a! standing, with the desirable COn- iiections have ret w a s a - H ntl-.u :astb ir.eat. TIRED OF THE WHIRL of the faaii'.v she was born into. She would, Iwd a gcoJ deal of attention, because ana '.st.tf-Ji girl to pay attention to appreciative. and with a large capacity for enjoy. Frankiy sue e auite enouitii 1- graved !- a- art -;e ds'g-i t '. 1 with diamond! and Mfrl as. I i.:asp-d w th d. fiords )a'(e enough i - -'-- t, --. -n the Pr.nress de-ri-el ths: piedfcg of fni affect tsii. fashlonaMe Euripe beh!d n It the lat est, tts.t a 1 - a b , g jarsnt'-e nf betrothal J. flr lurred in and de;sd vana-ts. s-.i!te1 to vnsll' arn and -tal"er fort .ns ! of them have ( - g of lewe's ethers have pendent chains ef I-earis. -va-v a-e p;a;n bands of gold, set wit a Blngle diamond, or having the diamond in the clarp. joyed it to -he utmost. But sha had reer and fiercer burned tha light .Iter t;.e i.-t:n tn.- un party, ana tna rumar tnat . would not down of .Miss uoosev ei; s engagement; tm rler- er w n !, engagement was finally announced, nl with ever increasing brilliancy up to tha Wad-' dirg itself, and tnrough the honeymoon. Then "Princess Aliie" had had enough. Pha trial t Mi.k Into th grateful gloom of the comparative. -rs-ui:tv of a congressman's wife, but aha was B06 Allowed. When Mr Longworth Congress having gd j uined had time for a real wedding trip, they !e tided to go abroad. Just as ninety an nine out Of hundred of the bridal couples of their station do. Were they allowed to do it ia anything like 1h deeent privacy that tradition accords tha bridal trip? Not ihev. Indeed! They were feted and entertain. 1 in every capital In Europe; ambassadors vied wit kings In doing them honor. Papers tn blh hemi spheres devoted columns to accounts of tha ticmcra paid to the President's daughter not. ba It Hotel, t young Mrs Longworth. Presumably, while .Mr. Longworth enjere.l Mt a!!. If was a little bit sor. For Nicholas Longworth a rctiitometl to being the whole tBtnr In Cistrna! , end a reasonably good-siied figure In WasHingte'v. He was regarded aa a promising yotoatr" tf t mlleagues in Congress, and eoclsHy h was qu.te popular as a bachelor aa Allf Itoa t a unmarrted girl. Several of tha capita lells arera aid to have their eya on hlww He prebsbbr did net relish JRg wterely Al -Roosevelt's husband -aha realised that it was ' ntlrely digntflM for either af loe-n Ar j h w. i- cut their tear a hart, svad tsai ho.-aa.
