Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 38, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 January 1906 — THE WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS. [ARTICLE]

THE WHITE HOUSE CHRISTMAS.

How the President and Hie Family Spent the Holiday. The custom of distributing turkeys among the clerical force of the White House, which was inaugurated by the McKinleys, has been followed by ths Roosevelts. Eighty-seven fine, fat birds were this year required to go around, each one bearing a card aa which Is Inscribed the words, "A Merry Christmas from the President” Though, as a rule, they do not have a tree, the Roosevelts Inherit from their Dutch ancestors a veneration for the spirit and sentiment of Christmas and the day is given up entirely to festivities. The four younger children hang up their stockings, as a matter of course. On the morning of Christmas day, after breakfast, Mr. Roosevelt leads the way to the library, which he calls the “study,” where the gtfts are laid out on tables. He and bis wife distribute them and a general romp usually follows. In the afternoon the children go to two or three tree parties, one of which Is at the house of Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, the President's lifelong clium, while another Is at the residence of Mr. Roosevelt’s elder sister, Mrs. Cowles. Every Christmas thousands of gifts from total strangers reach the Whits Honse. They are not wanted and peopls would do much better not to send them. When of considerable value they are returned to the donors, otherwise they are accepted politely, with a note of acknowledgment Not one out of a hundred of them Is seen by the President nnd In former administrations they wera commonly consigned to the atlip4>where *aY*the time of the recent reconstruction of the mansion, an immense quantity of old junk thus accumulated was found.