Washington telegraph., 1849-03-28
From tile Washington Union, 6M >,
INAUGURATION DAY

BY sunrise the streets began 70 I
thronged and in an hour there 70
thousands upon the avenue, MANY roS
ing as though they had hunted the n;us t
through for a lodging place in vain. II
various societies and other bodies for
according to the previously publisI.
programme and marched to the po;n,
rendezvous. These including the mill,
ry corps, were numerous. Pennsylv,re
avenue, through its whole length ".
packed with dense mass of specta,O.
leaving barely room for the procession !,
pass. In the crowd, people might ~
seen of many different nations, in tb.:
national costume, from the North Amn:
can Indian to the Turk and Persian
There were trains Of four.horse No..
coaches filled with our neighbors fro~
Loudon and Fairfax, Va. Every window
and portico on the avenue was filled v;l
eager ladies and children; while tbon
sands such perambulated the street u.,h
the throng. AT 10 A. M. the thousanJ.
began to move in solid body for the Can.
itol; and at noon precisely, The head .,
the procession came opposite Colemaps
Hotel, First came the chief marshal and
his aids, a cavalry officer, an artiller
company, five companies of infantrr
three companies of rifles then a BODY n
citizens and strangers; next the Pres.
dent elect. James X, Polk, the Marorand
the Speaker Of the House of Rel presents,
tives, in coach and four grays, followed
by fine corps of cavalry next, clubs ana
others from distance, temperance assoc.
ations, and a juvenile company of ARTILLERY,
with two miniature field-pieces. These
composed the procession, in which, in all
there were not more than Thousand
persons. The throng on and about the
avenue numbered perhaps fifty times as
many persons. There could hardly have
been less than thirty thousand persons in
the Capitol and on the grounds surround.
ing the building. Congress and the rep.
resentatives of foreign governments, with
the justices of the Supreme Court, Assem-.
bled in the Senate chamber at an early
hour, and remained ready TO perfom
the ceremony preliminary to the admins.
President. Then the oath was admins.
tered to the Vice President elect, who de-
livered the usual address. In few min.
utes after the arrival of the procession at
the east front of the Capitol, the vast
concourse in the Senate chamber, the 70.
tuuda, and othe, parts of the building
came out upon The east portico, which
had been prepared with a platform and
railing for the occasion; and there with
the space i'll front. and every standing or
c!inglng place in the rear, closely packed
with human beings, General Taylor read
his short inaugural address and took the
oath of Office. administered by the Chief
Justice Of the Supreme Court. This, the
most imposing part of the ceremonies of
the day, took place in sight of near thirty
thousand persons-men, women, and chill
dren-among whom, as far as we can
learn, not the slightest accident occurred,
nor did anything transpire to mar the
pleasure of any portion of the tremendous
throng. Having been thus inaugurated,
the new President, Vice President, aud
the escort, returned III procession TO the
Executive Mansion. leaving the eX-Pres;
ident at his lodgings, the Irving House
where he was waited on by his personal
and political friends in great numbers
The crowd at the Executive Mansion was,
perhaps, greater than on any former siml,
lar occasion.
In this assemblage the foreign diplo.
lSt
thousands pressed into the building to
pay their respects to. the new Chief. Mag
istrate, whose bearing. appeared to gral
fy all present, As we are going to press
cltizens and strangers are crowding by
thousands To finish the festivities OF the
day at the three inaugural balls, where
we trust. everything will pass off as hap
py as at the Capitol and elsewhere in the
city since sunrise of this eventfnl day.