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uwntDlwk ride during the at
ternoon. While the Chief Executive
usually goes to his office Chrietmas
morning to give attention to the more
important affaire of state that may be
pressing for attention the remainder
of the day is given over to a holidaj
Vacation and thus he is enabled to de
vote more time than usual to his daily
horseback ride. The President's
Christmas excursion also differs from
his ordinary daily outing In that in
stead of being attended, as is usually
the case, by the army sergeant, who
acts as the President’s orderly, he is
accompanied by Mrs. Roosevelt or by
a party of personal friends*
The dinner to which the President
and his family and guests sit down
about 7 o’clock In the evening
served in the private dining room
which is located in the northeast cor«
ner of the White House. The state din
ing room where are served all the great
banquets given at the Presidential Man
sion. Is spacious and imposing twit
/ lacking in that cozlness and cheer
which is essential to a Christmas
feast and so the Xmas dinner party,
which numbers perhaps fourteen to
sixteen persons is served with the
traditional yule-tide delicacies In the
family or private dining room.
Colored Walters at the White House*
The scene of the President's Christ-
mas dinner is the smallest room on
the main floor of the White House
although it is fully twice as large as
the dining room in the average private
residence in the land. The room is
THE DESERT GROUSE.
KSOWS AS THE SAGE BEN AND
COCK OF THE FLAISS, A TYP
ICAL AMERICAS UIKJ).
east. It has the dnst-green color of
sage, smells like sage, tastes like sage,
and animals that feed on its leaves
and yellow flowers flavor their flesh
with r.-iitp. Well, wherever this plant
grows the desert grouse may be found
The grouse Ueaa and fattens on sage.
There is nothing he likes better. lie
ls th« Largest of the Grouses and j musC have it Let the sage be de
stroyed and the bird moves on. The
Feeds Mostly on Sage—Has a Hand
some Coat of Plumes and Makes a
Savory Roast*
The desert grouse Is a representa
tive American bird. It is, of course,
not as exalted and heroic as the eagle,
and is not spreud over so wide an
area as the common chicken, but for
all that the desert grouse is typically
American. The bird is more famil
iarly known to travelers, dwellers in
the arid and semi arid regions of the
United States, and sportsmen, ns the
‘sage hen,” and, as a maticr of course,
where there arc sage hens there are
sage cocks. Often the bird is referred
to ns the prairie Chicken, but the ref
erence is inaccurate. It is a game
bird of great beauty. It was named
"Cock of the Plains” by I«ew1s and
Clark who, though perhaps not the
first whites to make the acquaintance
of this bird, at least were the first
white men to Identify it as a distinct
ornithological species and to pause
long enough in the ardous business
of exploration to give it a name.
Found Throughout the Arid Region.
It Is seen in all the arid and semi-
arid parts of the land where it has
in tho Colonial style with white walls
• and woodwork and la furnished with
rare old pieces of mahogany furniture
most of which were discovered by
* Mrs. Roosevelt ip out-of-the-way local
ities in Virginia and Maryland. The
dinner is served by colored waiters
and the table is laid with Mrs. Roose-
vclt's new china—delicate waro taste
fully ornamented with a Colonial pat
tern In gold, each piece bearing a tiny
representation of the seal of the
United States in colors.
The dinner ia. prepared In the re
fitted White Houso kitchens, which aro
located in the basement directly below
the private dining room. There are
two kitchens, one about 25 by 40 feet
In size and, opening from it, a smaller
kitchen of about onc-lmlf the size. Or-
* dlnarily the equipment of the smaller
or family kitchen Is sufficient for the
preparation of the dinner for a select
party at tha Executive -Mansion, but
at Christmas tho great hooded range
in the larger tiled kltchon Is brought
Into use for tho roasting of the thirty-
pound Christmas turkey, sent by Hor
ace Voso, the Rhode Island farmer who
fqr thirty-flye years past has sent each
year a magnificent specimen of the
king of fowls for the President’s
Christmas dinner.
✓ Gobblers from Far and Wide.
Indoed, the President’s Christmas
dinner does not cost him very much, for
Uncle Sara pays the wages of many of
the White Houso employees who have
& hand in preparing it and almost' all
of the “goodies” which graco the fes
tive board aro donated by admiring
friends of the President. Not only does
Horace Voso send a prize-winning
turkey, but gobblers that rival It In size
come from poultry raisers in other sec
tions of the country, and there are
donations of cranberries from Cape
Cod. a parcel of the famous “Roosevelt
potatoes” sent by the farm hands on the
President’s estate at Oyster Bay and
other delicacies sent by "neighbors"
far and near.
Such marketing as is necessary to
fill out the menu for the President’s
Christmas dinner Is done by Henry
Pinckney, a colored man who holds the
position of White House Steward and
draws a salary of $1,800 a year from the
government for managing the domestic
affairs at the White House. A day or
two before Christmas Steward Pinck
ney sets out in the unpretentious
vehicle which serves as the President’s
private market wagon and makes the
round of the markets—for tho White
House patronage Is not confined to any
one merchant In preparation for the
Christmas dinner It la presumably not
necessary to purchase any coffee, sugar,
salt or other staples, for all such sup
plies for the Presidential mansion are
purchased ia quantity and kept in a
storeroom adjoining the kitchen, which
looks like a full-fledged grocery store.
All In all, the White House Christ
mas festival comes pretty near being
a counterpart of the old-time, old*
fashioned i»\stltution of our forifa*
there. - j ■ . . „
It is well on toward 8.30 o clock *ere
the last piece of mince pie has disap
peared, and then tho entire party, from
the President to Quentin, the youngest
occupant of the White House, makes
a bee line for the big East Room,
where a roaring frolic winds up the
holiday.
not been exterminated, and is very
common in those great'dry stretches
of the continent whero man has not
crowded It to death and where the
sage brush grows. To say .that this
bird has Its home in tho droughty re
gions of the United States In to say
ho^y extensively it ^distributed, for
everybody who knows anything about
tbe country, knows how vast Is that
empire laid down on the early maps
as “desert”’. The word desert ns ap
plied to the unwatered reaches of the
west is misleading. On those des
erts there Is plenty of vegetation and
animal life. Though in many places
water Is scarce, life mny bo easily sus
tained in these American deserts. Ir
rigation shows liuw fertile these lands
are when the wnter is poured on.
All over dry lands grows that wild
shrub, called by kotnnistf artemisin,
but which everybody else calls bage
brush.
' Feeds Mostly on Sage.
No doubt It belongs to tho same
family as does the.garden sage of the
desert grouse is the largest grouse of
the western world and it is exceeded
In size only by the great grouse of
Enropf^he capercailzie. It is very
superior In size and strength to the
common prairie hen or the pinnated
grouse, usually weighing twice or
thrice as much as that bird. It will
measure two or three feet from tip of
wing to tii). Living In a gray land,
nature has provided for the protec
tion of the bird by making it also
gtay. It Is curious now nature looks
after its creatures by making their
color, as a rule, harmonize with the
landscape. In ' grouse-land tuere is
great deal of alkali In the soil am
over that grows the gray-green shrub
bery. Tl)e sage grouse seeks Its safe
ty in concealment rather than
flight.
Handsome Though not Brilliant*
Though the general color effect l
the grouse is gray yet It has markings
of white and black. A large black patch
underneath the bird’s body Is a feat
ure of the desert grouse. On his
shoulders he wears ejyauletts of white
The reason for these white slionl
ders is that in browsing through
tbe sage brush all his days
the heavy gray feathers are worn off,
exposing the line white nether
feathers.
The grouse, though not a high
flyer and not so ugbe on the wing as
his eastern cousin, possesses great leg
power. He is active and speedy as a
runner, rather quick to take fright and
Is an expert in losing himself among
tbe brusu. It should not be under
stood that these blnls do not rise from
cover. They often do. Hunters sees:
so to frighten the birds that they will
rise. It Is not difficult shooting then.
The grouse- of the desert has that
general grouse trait .the “whirr”.
When ho rises it Is said that he whirrs
louder than the eastern grouse. When
thoroughly roused to his task he is a
pretty strong flyer and can go a mile
at a stretch, alternately sailing and
flapping.
The flesh of the desert grouse
good when not too sagey. The young
birds, when feeding on grass-hoppers,
aro unsurpassed for tenderness and
flavor. The older birds, as with all
tho other feathered tribes, are not so
tender ns the young. When feeding
exclusively on sage their flesh ia
Strongly impregnated with the flavor
of shrub, somewhat unpleasantly so.
Ono is X( minded of the taste of par-
tridgo meat when that bird has been
feeding on resinous buds in the au
tumn.
Be Trusted Rockefeller.
Dr. Gustay C, E. Weber, of Cleve
land, Ohio, recently consul at Nurem-
burg h one of the pioneer doctors-of
his city. Years ago he was visited by
a ypnng man who required a surgical
operation, but explained that he was
only getting fifty dollars a month and
would have to pay by Installment
Wobcr said he wou,d risk It and it took
the youth about a year to pay up
Tho lad was John D. Rockefeller, and
only a short time ago he sent for
Weber, asking for medical advice, there
having been a recurrent of tho trouble
for which Weber had operated forty
years ago. Weber made an examina
tion and told Mr. Rockefeller that any
medical student could do it and that
he hiiiHolf was out of practice. Rocke
feller opened a drawer, counted out
$500, and handing tho roll to Weber
remarked, “It does not tako so long
to pay the bill this time.” Weber de
clined the money, saying ho wished no
fco for a friendly visit. “Tako it,” said
Rockefeller, “and. give to some poor
medical student, who Is struggling for
his education.”. Weber remarked in
telling tho story that he couldn’t think
of any struggling medical student Ju3t
then and , but what was the ail
ment that required a surgical opera
tion?
VATICAN ANNULS MARRIAGES
IN CERTAIN CASES.—ATTOR
NEYS OF ST. PETER.
Ambassador Whitelaw Reid appoints
son of English Earl as Chief Lackey
—The lipping Question.—Oi her for
eign Gossip. '..^p
It Is stated on authority that the
Vatican will always x annul a marriage
If It can be proved to Its entire satis
faction that one or the other of the
parties to the alliance was not a free
agent in the matter. One of the most
notable eased of annulment of a prince
ly marriage, on grounds such as these,
was the dissolution some years ago of
the marriage bonds of the reigning
Prince of Monaco and his first wife,
Lady Mary Hamilton. At the same
time the Vatican pronounced the mar
riage null and void it also pronounced
that her 6on was, in every sense of the
word, legitimate. Princess Mary, whoso
mother was a princess of the reigning
honse of Baden and whose father was
the English Duke of Hamilton,
forced by her kinsman, and guardian,
THE FIRST COMPLETED GOVERNMENT IRRIGATION CANAL.
The extent of the government Irri
gation problem Is Indicted by a rec
ent schedule Issued by the Becls-ia-
tlon Service of the Interior Depart
ment, showing that the work of
da Inline the desert is well under way.
At this time the government plan In
various stnees of pmevess requiring
tbe expenditure of $32:870,000. which
will supply water for tbe Irrigation of
1.830.000 seres of lend, the expense
being $17.50 per acre. Other govern
ment reports eBtlmnte that there are
nbont 000,000.030 seres of so-called
nrld land, whose chlet products «re
sage brash snd esetus. This amounts
to more than one-third of the Dotted
State*, snd out of S 'eh might be
carved four countries the Bine of
France, four more its large as Ger
many and two states as largo as New
York. Private enterprise has reclaim
ed nhoet 10.000.000 of this domain,
which la to-ctey the backbone of the
West. Tbe enormons possibilities of
tbe government irrigation work Is
shown by the varlon* expert estimates
which place the additional nren which
con be Irrigated at from 75,000,000 to
100,000,000 acres. Tho government
plan as provided for In the Irrigation
tew Is to store tho flood waters of the
western rivers, reclaiming this land
as fast ns posslbte; bnt tho settlers
who take the-tend arc required to
pay back to the government the cost
of the construction of each project so
that the actual expense to the gov
ernment will all be paid. The final
estimates of the possibilities of In
creased population are one person to
each Irrigated sere, so that there
seems a future population for the
West as great or greater than the to
tal popnlntlon of the country to-dny.
Ten or twenty neres, In the more high
ly developed Irrigation sections ot tbe
West is stated to be sufDdent for tbe
support of , family, owing to the
fact that under irrigation numerous
and sure crops can he raised. In the
Southwest, three or Poor crops are
grown on tbe same land each year.
POPE PIUS X.
tho late Emperor Napoleon, to give her
hand In marriage to Albert of Monaco.
Tho latter showed himself a singularly
neglectful and unkind husband, snd her
life at Monte Carlo became so Intoler
able that she took to flight, carrying
her Infant child with her. She sought
refuge at Florence, where the Italian
police, acting on behalf ot the Prince,
mads a sensational attempt to take the
boy away from her. The plot was frus
trated by tho Grand Duchess Marie of
Russia, who took mother and infant
under her protection and defied the
Italian authorities to cross the thres
hold of her residence. Princess Mary,
after that, married Count Tassllo Fcs-
tetlcs of Tolna, ono ot the magnates
of tho Aiutrd-Hungarlan Empire, who
occupied an excellent position at the
Court of Vienna. Prince Albert of
Monaco married again, the next Prin
cess of Monaco being on American girl,
B daughter of a New'Orleans banker,
Michael Heine. His second matri
monial venture, however, turned out
r.a unfortunate la the first, a divorce
breaking tho lies between them.
One most Important factor In defend
ing the rights of the Roman Catholic
Church, and adding to the-perfection
of Us wonderful and thorough-working
machine. Is the order or society ot
-The Attorneys ot St. Peter.” It Is
safe to say that nine out of ten people
In this country have never heard ot
this order ot legal counsellors of the
Vatican, which, la this country, is rep
resented by some of the brightest legal
minds. It Is composed of eminent
Homan Catholic lawyers in different
parts of the world, with branches In
tho various great capitals. The order
was founded by Plus IX, and the first
of the statutes of tho order Indicates
Its object, restricting, aa It does, tho
membership to those members ot tho
legal profession who have given ade
quate proofs of their unselfish devotion
to the Interests of the Church, espe
cially In legal matters. Tho only In
signia of the order Is a medallion show
ing a violet croas ou a white enameled
ground. I believe I am correot In say
ing that Cardinal Itampolla has charge
of tho order.
Our Ambassador at the Court ot St
James, Mr. Whitelaw Reid, has at
last appointed his chief lackey. He Is
the Hon. William Walsh. The post
bestowed upon the Hon. Walsh Is
that of controller of Mr. Reid's house
hold. an office quite unknown In this
democratic country of ours, bnt which
exists lit many aristocratic families
In England and in all royal establish-
ments, from the. King's down. In
reality, tho comptroller Is a species of
upper servant, ranking several de
grees higher than a chief butler,
whoso business It Is to sco that all
domestic matters run smoothly. Mr.
Reid Is tbe first American, ambassa
dor to employ snch a functionary, bnt
no other American ambassador to tbe
Court of St. James has UvM In so
much style as Mr Reid maintains. As
that Is what Americana seem to ex
pect of their representatives abroad
nowadays, when they pay for it out
of their own pockets, Mr. Reid Is
really to be congratulated on his suc
cess In obtaining the services ot the
son of a belted earl as his chief
lackey. Tbe Hon. Walsh Is the third
son of Lord Ormathwalte. Third
sons ot peers aro usually no t well
oft. The Hon. Walsh Is to be com-
If the Duke of Devonshire's rule
agalnBt-any of his servants accepting
■'tips” could be successfully Introduced
In this country all would be well. There
aro a few of the old nobility of Eng
land who set a laudable example of
prohibiting their servants accepting
gratuities from visitors or guests. The
Duke of Devonshire, for instance,
makes It an Inflexible rule that no
servant of his shall take a tip. When,
however, a party ot Americans recent
ly visited Chatsworth, the Duke's Der
byshire seat, anil .were entertained to
luncheon and shown over the beautiful
grounds by the Duke’s steward, the
leaders of the party thought the usual
"shell out" must be the climax of the
day’s enjoyment; The party consisted
of four men and three women, and
among them $33 was subscribed. With
commendable discretion the money
not offered to the steward, who, of
course, la above accepting recognition
of the kind, but to an underfootman,
who saw the party to and from the
railway station. But the footman
pointed out that It was against the
rules of tho Duko's establishment to
accept gratuities "In money.” That
seemed do suggest a way or getting
around the rule. The next day various
articles of Jewelry reached tho stew
ard from London with the request that
they be distributed among the staff at
his discretion. Tho leaders of the party
were Edmund H. Abbott, of New York,
and Alexander Cattanach, of Salem,
Mass,, and both had Introductions
from Sir Thomas Llpton. The Duke
and Duchess were not In residence at
Chatsworth at the time of the visit,
hut the latter sent one -of her maids
specially up from London to look after
the ladles. The beauties of Matlock,
Buxton and Bakewell were folly ex
plored before they returned'to town.
Van Catevn.
mended for doing something to earn
an honest penny. If his pay is not
much, his duties are not particularly
onerous, and if ambitious he will have
plenty of spare time in which to look
around for a better Job. Meanwhile
he Is comfortably domiciled at Dor
chester House, the marble palace in
I’ark Lane, which Ambassador Reid
has taken as his London residence.
The Hon. Walsh Is engaged to be
married to Lady Norah-Spencer-
Churchill, the youngest sister of the
Duke of Marlborough. Though she
can hardly be called youthful, she Is
several years younger than her fiance.
As far as pedigree counts for any
thing, however, the Hon. Walsh is no
bad match for her, for he can boast
dneal blood, too.
770KL
A Tension
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IS JUST
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THE
WORD
TIMPLIES.
Ot
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;lfbe state
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Its use means time saving
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We have other striking
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Cleveland, Ohio.
Humor of King Edward,
Returned tourists who have been In
touch with tho nobility In Europe,
bring back a few good storie.l of King
Edward. One tale tuna like tMi: The
King was driving alone In a dog cart
near one of bla country palaces one
day and caught np with on old fish
woman, who waa trudging to the Til-
lags to sell her ware*. She did not
recogntea the king and asked him for
• Utt. He responded grsslowly and
helped her Into the cart. As they
drove along she begged him to boy
her fish pleading poverty and a big
family at home. The king said ho had
>lenty of fish at home and would not
buy any. However, ho would give her
his portrait which he thought would
be Just as good as buying her fish
"Ye are a fine looking man, but yout
portrait would not buy shoes for the
children,” said the old woman. “Oh
I think it wRl help yon," he ro3ponded,
and handed her a sovereign which has
on one side his profile. When sho saw
that she was riding with the king and
spilled her fish. The king handed her
another coin and dropped her out at
her destination. At another time
when ho wne Prince and attending a
theatre, a fire broke out near by and
every one helped to quench the blue
The Prince In evening dress, worked
with the others In passing backets ot
water. A big pompous nun was stand
ing by doing nothing: "Why don’t
you helpt” asked the Prince. The
pompous man swelled up and remarked,
“I am a gentleman, air, and do no snch
menial reeks." "Don't let that hurt
yon," responded tho Prince. “I am
only the Prince of Wales."
Coat of Discovering America,
The great extent and valne of Qneen
Isabel’s Jewel bag. tbe proceeds of
which fitted ont Columbus, Is more or
Icss-of a myth. Bnt In these days, when
millionaire yachtsmen spend a hundred
thousand dollars for a little racing
yacht and think nothing of It, the ex
pense of Columbus’s whole fleet seems
entirely Insignificant Tbe sum ot
$3,000 covered the whole outlay neces
sary to secure and equip the three ves
sels, while tbe Great Admiral’s salary
was $300 per anmun. Tbe two other
commanders were paid $200 each, and
the wages of tho crew were $2.80 a
month. Ot oonne, money In those
days waa worth a great deal more
than now, and there were not very
many places In America at that time
where the sailor* cared to ask for
"shore leave," so that their wages were
a clear oaring.
Foster’s Ideal
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BOOKS—BOOKS
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WEBB PUBLISHING CO*
- ,8t. Paul Hlim.
PENSIONS.
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Over one Thousand
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allowed pension. A successful
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are at your service. Highest ref
erences furnished. T/vut Magis
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benefited by sending «$•
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TABER & WHITMAN C0. f
Warder Bld'g, Washington,D.C.
SILOS
Has, Hr, Cypres and Yellow Has.
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S T RAP*** LOC K S The NEWEST THINGS for CHRISTMAS
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YALE PRINCIPLE
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They are the only Lock Buckle* with the Talc Principle
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