WHITE HOUSE WIDOWS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 65, 18 March 1937, Page 5

WHITE HOUSE WIDOWS

THEIR LIVES TO-DAY USEFUL AND ENTERTAINING NEW YORK. Feb. 17. The accepted theory that women live longer than men is amply illustrated by the fact that six women in the United States are widows of former Presidents—Coolidge, Taft, Wilson, Cleveland, Harrison, and Theodore Roosevelt. Three have been awarded a pension of £lOOO a year by Congress; the remainder refused it, as they are suitably provided for. Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt had the misfortune to fracture her hip last year. Her skill at fine sewing was revealed in a recent exhibition for the benefit of the blind; one of her entries was a panel, depicting incidents in the life of her illustrious husband. One month, each summer, she spends at the home of her ancestors in Connecticut. Mrs. Benjamin Harrison, who lives in Fifth Avenue, is distinguished among a wide circle of friends for her enthusiasm for music, art, and literature. “I practically live at Carnegie Hall,” she says. Mrs. Grover Cleveland, the most beautiful bride ever to enter the

White House, is now the wife of Professor Preston, of Princeton. She tours, each summer, with a theatrical company, of which her son is director. She is always accompanied by her favourite dog, a cocker spaniel. Mrs. William Howard Taft travels extensively, and is now touring in the Mediterranean. She visits Canada every year from her home in Washington. She plays bridge a good deal. Mrs. Woodrow Wilson, who also resides in the capital, shares a home with her unmarried brother, who acts as her secretary. She dresses richly, and in excellent taste, and is rarely seen without* her favourite orchid at her shoulder.

Mrs. Calvin Coolidge, who has just returned from an extended European tour, lives with a woman friend at Northampton, Massachusetts, and gives much of her time to the School for the Deaf, where she was a teacher before her marriage. She is a devoted adherent of the Congregationa’ Church.