As the Taft régime drew to a close, the society women of the city who were close to the official family--sixty of them--subscribed ten thousand dollars for the purchase of a testimonial of appreciation of Mrs. Taft’s ceaseless efforts to make Washington the social centre of the nation. Miss Mabel Boardman was deputized to make the purchase in New York. A necklace was decided upon. In order to avoid duplicating the one Mrs. Taft had long worn, Miss Boardman took along a photograph of it. On February 21, 1913, a few days before inauguration, Mrs. Taft was presented with the gift, the beautiful, perfectly matched chain of diamonds set in platinum with a pear-shaped stone as pendant. At the same time, the genial President was the recipient of a lovely pearl scarf pin from the same group. In the quiet of retirement, Mrs. Taft has compiled an ambitious book--a story of her own unparalleled experiences in public life. CHAPTER XV FIRST ADMINISTRATION OF WOODROW WILSON _March 4, 1913, to March 4, 1917_ After sixteen years of Republican domination, the Federal government passed into the hands of Democratic rule on March 4, 1913, with the inauguration of Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey and Thomas Riley Marshall of Indiana, after one of the most stormy and eventful of the nation’s thirty-two presidential elections, which left in its wake a trail of bitterness, disappointment, and broken friendships, never entirely forgotten or forgiven by those vitally concerned. The Wilson family party arrived at Washington in the mid afternoon of March 3d, going to the Shoreham, where an entire floor had been reserved for them. Later, they called upon President and Mrs. Taft at the White House. That evening, they all assembled at the Shoreham for a family dinner which Mr. Joseph Wilson of Chicago gave in honour of his brother, President-elect Wilson, and Mrs. Wilson. On the same day, the first great Suffrage pageant took place. In parade, it told the story of the long struggle of that party. Led by Mrs. Richard Coke Burleson, the modern crusaders for “Votes for Women” marched up Pennsylvania Avenue five thousand strong, with wonderful floats and bands of stirring music to emphasize their demand for suffrage through constitutional amendment. The signal for the procession to start was given by Miss Inez Milholland, the beautiful young herald, who, astride her handsome horse, wore the yellow of the heralds of mediæval days. Her associates like to remember her as she appeared that day, for her untimely death followed soon after. To join the gigantic demonstration came “General” Rosalie Jones with her two hundred weary, footsore pilgrims, who had hiked through mud, rain, snow, and ridicule from New York. In their drab cloaks and hoods, carrying their staves, they created much comment. The cavalry was, perhaps, one of the smartest, most attractive sections in the procession, mostly young society women who were superbly mounted.