Debut to Remember

U.S. society, wrapped in mothballs since Pearl Harbor, glittered at the first big postwar debut last week. In fashionable but fading Newport, the George Tysons of Boston and Newport presented their 18-year-old daughter, blond, blue-eyed Harriet Elizabeth, at a coming-out party costing an estimated $40,000.

Wearing a bouffant off-shoulder gown of pink net, pink gloves trimmed with silver, and a silver-and-rhinestone butterfly, Betty Tyson received more than 600 guests, including Navy Secretary and Mrs. James Forrestal, Lieut. Commander and Mrs. Douglas Fairbanks Jr.. Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt, Jim Farley and daughter, Ann.

After the reception, the guests adjourned to a $20,000 ballroom--a tent with wood floor--built on the lawn for the occasion. Pink-and-silver silk, matching Betty's gown, hid the ceiling; great chandeliers held masses of pink gladioli. Two 20-piece or chestras (Meyer Davis and Ruby Newman) played chaste, danceable music through the night.

Dinner-jacketed waiters scurried through the mapled grounds carrying fancy fowl, champagne, sizzling rare cuts from an outdoor .barbecue pit. A Newport fire company stood by. Also on hand if needed was a battery of floodlights, in case the overtaxed Tyson electrical system gave way. Outside the grilled enclosure of the Tyson home uninvited guests danced in the street to the Tyson music. The party ended soon after 6 a.m., with a dawn swim at Bailey's Beach and a gourmet's breakfast.

Betty Tyson's debut might be remembered not only as ushering in the new day of peace, but as a scientific milestone as well--just before the guests arrived, the grounds had been liberally sprayed with DDT.

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