Washington Society Page

"Sir John Dill has the handsomest head in town," commented a matron the other day as she looked across a garden party at the tall, handsome British field marshal.

Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, Washington socialite, has provided garden benches, paper cups, a water cooler--and even a butler--for weary bus riders who wait transportation in front of her home at R St. and Wisconsin Av. NW.

Liz Altemus Whitney, hunt-country rumors indicate, is the reason for the bustup in the Jim Wileys' household.

The other night we were present at the delight/til dinner that Mrs. Lionel Atwill gave for Major General Robert Richardson. . . . What impressed this writer was the amazing display of lovely "service wives": Mrs. Delos Emmons, wife of Lieutenant General Emmons, commander of the Hawaiian area; brunette Mrs. Richard Sutherland, whose husband is the chief of staff of General Douglas Mac Arthur. . . . French-born Mrs. John Towers, wife of the head of the Navy air force.

Sights of Washington: Captain Vivian Cornelius, the handsome Britisher who was wounded during the evacuation of Dunkirk and who has caused "heart attacks" to several Washington society ladies. . . .

MRS. MC LEAN HOSTESS AT PARTY IN COOL FRIENDSHIP GARDENS-- EVENT DEDICATED TO GOOD FELLOWSHIP -- Macy-Hopkins Wedding Main Topic.

Such is social Washington, as reported by its society columnists. The flurry raised by blonde Society Reporter Hope Ridings Miller's requiem on "society as such" in the Washington Post (TIME, July 27) barely ruffled Washington's social waters. Washington newspapers continued to print two pages of society news each weekday and eight on Sunday; Columnist Miller herself, though she turned to plugging socialites' war activities, gave top-of-the-page billing to Evalyn McLean's party.

Washington society, despite the heat, had never had a gayer summer season. In swank Georgetown there were more garden parties than ever, and drawing rooms blazed every night until midnight--and after. Washington society was taking generous helpings of canapes and cocktails with its part of winning the war.

Washington's present social lions are officers, Latin American diplomats, wartime bigwigs like Donald Nelson, Leon Henderson and Sumner Welles, who are showered with invitations but accept very few. Because busy men have to be caught on the run, socialites now hold late-afternoon cocktail parties and buffet suppers, where busy guests can pop in for a quick one, instead of formal parties. One of the most popular functions is an open-house buffet luncheon served every day by Mrs. Robert Low Bacon, widow of the late New York Congressman, in her mansion near the War and State Departments.

Matriarch of social Washington is Mrs. J. Borden ("Daisy") Harriman, former Envoy to Norway, whose small parties are still so choice that even Donald Nelson accepts invitations to them. Highly prized also, particularly by socially minded newcomers to Washington, are the cozy little dinners given by "Princess Alice" Longworth.

Of Washington's old, encrusted society, the "Cliff Dwellers," hardly a trace is left. Active society today is divided roughly into three groups: 1) Army & Navy, which has always entertained its own exclusive clique, 2) the diplomatic corps, which remains the bulwark of what little formal society still exists, 3) the political set. Reigning queen of political society and No. i beat for Washington society reporters is Mrs. Evalyn Walsh McLean, owner of the Hope diamond. Though she now entertains less lavishly than she used to, her "small" weekly dinner parties for about 100 guests are still the best show in Washington. To "Friendship," her Georgetown mansion, go Senators by the dozen, New Dealers, Old Dealers, Supreme Court Justices, newsmen, lobbyists, lords, ladies, Cissie Patterson, Elsa Maxwell and such diverse characters as Joseph Hergesheimer and John L. Lewis.

In the course of change, the Satevepost, already nearly unrecognizable in cover, type, layout of pages and editorial policy, next week will start publishing a complete novel in each issue.

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