Eight Grandchildren

Mrs. H. A. Alexander of 167 East 74th Street, Manhattan, gave a party. The oldest of her guests was 13 and the youngest two were five. Mrs. Alexander is the mother-in-law of Theodore Roosevelt Jr. Her guests were: Grace, 13; Theodore, III, 10; Cornelius, 9; Quentin, 5 (children of Theodore Roosevelt, Jr.); Edith, 9 (daughter of Ethel Roosevelt Derby); Kermit, Jr., 9; Willard, 7; Clochet, 5 (children of Kermit Roosevelt).

So--said to be for the first time-- were eight of the grandchildren of the late President by his second marriage brought together. (His granddaughter, by his first marriage, Paulina Longworth, two weeks old, was perforce absent. So was Dirck*, two months old son of Kermit.) The chaperons of the party included the President's widow and Mrs. Kermit Roosevelt. The entertainer was Houdini, the great ectoclast.

First, he exhibited thaumaturgy, legerdemain and prestidigitation. Then he gave a mock-seance--only the eight grandchildren would not sit; they insisted on standing up and crowding around the medium. He produced two white pieces of silk, folded them up and gave them to the children to hold. He called upon the spirits. He begged them to make manifest their existence by painting portraits of the late President.

Again the medium set to work. He produced a great slate, 18 inches high and over two feet long. The children examined it; it was quite unwritten on. Carefully the medium wrapped it in a cloth. Teddy and Cornelius were made to hold it. Again the medium implored the spirits. The slate was unwrapped. It bore two portraits-- one of the President, the other of Uncle Quentin, killed in France. Under the President's picture was an inscription saying that if he should ever come back, it would be through the medium of Houdini. Below was signed in unmistakable hand: "Your devoted Theodore" and "In haste, your devoted Theodore and Quentin."

Teddy III shouted: "It's a film and you developed it under the cloth."

"No," answered Mr. Houdini, "but believe anything except that spirits did it."

Ice cream and cake! Ice cream!

*Dirck is Dutch for Theodoric,