The Cabinet was blessed with a goodly share of young daughters and nieces to add life and gaiety and keep up the social traditions. Among them was Miss Kate Bayard. The reception was the last formal White House function that she attended, as her untimely death occurred two weeks later and was followed by that of her mother. This was so unexpected and such a shock as to throw a shadow over the whole official group; she was to have assisted Miss Cleveland at a White House function on the day she died. [Illustration: MRS. GROVER CLEVELAND In her wedding gown] In the social life of Washington in Cleveland’s days, the activities of William C. Whitney, Secretary of the Navy, and his charming wife, eclipsed those of any other public man. A local paper gives some account of their home: “In a temporary residence, they at once began to entertain, and by the fall, when they had the house now the William A. Slater home, on I Street, selected, their hospitalities were well under way. The house was done over, the ballroom addition put on, and a modernizing touch put everywhere. Each winter, the Secretary and his wife gave weekly receptions and balls, at which the smart folk in official and resident society were present, and a supper of all the substantials and delicacies, with champagne in plenty, was a regular feature. Dinners for home and visiting grandees were just as numerous as cotillions as large as the ballroom would permit, musicals, and every other fashionable diversion. “Mrs. Whitney’s Wednesdays at home were attended by hundreds. There was always a well-spread refreshment table, a floral decoration, and the presence of the beaux and belles of every year, and the visiting public by the hundreds. The last hour of these afternoon gatherings was regarded as the smartest rendezvous of the capital. Other daylight parties at the Whitney home were just as frequent. Readings, musicals by professional and amateur talent continued throughout each season. “The Whitneys, besides, carried on a fashionable country life at Grasslands, in the Tenleytown direction. The Country Club bought the property later. Their weekend parties there during the Christmas season and throughout the spring were most entertaining episodes. The Secretary gave the use of the place during the summer at stated times to the clerks of his department and their families for picnicking. He distributed presents of turkeys at Christmas time to all of the homekeeping employees of the Navy Department. “A spring entertainment of note was the tea which followed the Easter Monday christening at St. John’s Church of the baby daughter born to the couple that year. Baby Dorothy Whitney of that day is now Mrs. Willard Straight of New York. “There were souvenirs for all the guests at the house--egg-shaped, white moire boxes, prettily ornamented and bearing the date and the baby’s name. The boxes were filled with tiny egg-shaped candies.