HOW A FEW YEARS IN WASHINGTON MADE THE OLD HOME TOWN SEEM DULL TO THE RETURNED CONGRESSMAN [Illustration: WHEN THE NEW CONGRESSMAN AND HIS WIFE FIRST LEFT FOR WASHINGTON, THE HOME TOWN SEEMED QUITE A BUSTLING METROPOLIS ] [Illustration: BUT AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AMONG THE HIGH HATS AND STATELY BUILDINGS OF THE NATION’S CAPITAL— ] [Illustration: THE CONGRESSMAN AND HIS WIFE RETURNED AND FOUND THAT THE TOWN HAD SHRUNKEN, AND EVEN SATURDAY AFTERNOON SEEMED DULL AND LISTLESS ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ SOCIAL LIFE IN WASHINGTON, D.C. [Illustration: A STUDY OF OFFICIAL SOCIETY, WHERE EACH MEMBER FIGHTS FOR THE PRIVILEGES OF HIS RANK ] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ BIRD CENTER ABROAD FIRST INSTALMENT IT is with pleasure that ye Editor chronicles the announcement that a goodly quota of Bird Center society leaders purpose taking a European tour ere long. Among those who will constitute the pilgrimage are Mrs. Riley Withersby, our beloved leader of local society, Reverend Walpole and wife and children under nine years of age, Captain Roscoe Fry and wife, Mr. J. Milton Brown and wife (née Lucile Ramona Fry, formerly daughter of Captain Fry), and little J. Milton Brown, Jr. Also Mr. Smiley Greene, the popular undertaker, and wife and children, Mr. Riley Peters and Miss Myrtle Prute, of Muncie, Indiana, the Misses Flossye and Mae Niebling, Mr. Ernest Pratt, Mr. Elmer Pratt, Mr. Wilbur Fry, and Mr. Orville Peters. Quite a goodly party, say you not? It is safe to say without exaggeration that the local social circles are agog with pleasant anticipation. At first it was understood that only Mrs. Withersby contemplated going abroad, and for that reason she gave a small function last evening to announce the fact, but others volunteered to accompany her and the party grew apace quite rapidly. Late in the evening, just before refreshments were served, Mr. Gus Figgey of Chicago arrived and joined the group. “I just came in on the hundred-hour limited from Decatur,” he announced buoyantly, “and thought I’d drift up and join the merrymakers. What’s going on?” Mrs. Withersby explained that some of the party were talking over a trip to Europe. “Count me in,” said Mr. Figgey. “I haven’t had a vacation for three years and I’m going to have one this year if the country goes plumb to smash. What’s the route?” “We have planned to go to Scotland and the English Lakes,” said Mrs. Withersby pleasantly. “I can figure out a better trip than that,” said Mr. Figgey. “First we’ll go to London and show those Britishers a touch of high life, then skip over to Paris, thence to Venice, and circle around to Rome. Them’s the four great show places of Europe, and no tour is complete without ’em.”