The Cairo bulletin. [volume] (Cairo, Ill.) 1872-1878, 1876-01-08

| iiurmS were alike. bNt all were ftSVi'""'
cnt with gold and silver embroidery, AMI
| diamond stars and crosses. the en>ign'a
of yarions orders. glittcrcd upon every
breast. Baron Blanc. the Italian misi'-
ter. was literally covered with orders,
wearing the broad blue ribbon al the
| gol,i,n fierce over his shoulder. aud the
scarlet band OF the Prussian bfaeH fa9it
| round the neck. while his breast WIS
fairly studded with diamond stars. cres-
cents. and crosses. heard a lite boot
black who. somehow og other had gained
admission, say TO his companion as Ba-
ron Blanc passed "Say. Jack, that teller
ought to exhibit himself rs window
sign in iewclry shop"
After this gliiicring avalanche had
passed. the Judges OF the supreme Court,
| iud.rrs of the court of claims. senator's
representatives. the commissioners OF the
| District OF Columbia. and other Officials
connected with our local government,
were u,hercd in in The Order named. aud
were received by Mr.. and Mrs. Grant.
Pending the departure of the diplomats.
the officer. OF the army AMI navy had
arrived. all in regulation "illl-drcs' Uni-
form for special occasions" with cpau.
lets. swords. and cooked hats. complete.
| The day was very warm one. and the
| closely buttouel and padded uniforms
must have been uncomfortable. rs They
were assembled there. To the number al
several hundred. in the ycstibulc. the
effect wa, very fine one. and one that
can. in lhi. country. only De- witne, -cd IN
| Washington. and then only once year.
The uniforms, especially those ol the
naval officers, though les drcssy than
those of the diplomats that hal preceded
them. looked well, and could. in the mat
ter OF taste at least. if not IN costumes,
compare favorbly with these Of any for
eign service.
Aftcr these uniformed gentlemen had
been duly presented. and offered the
| compliments OF the season 10 Mr.. aud
Mrs. Grant. came the assistant sccreia-
ries of the departments. the solicitor gen
| eral, assistant pos!mastcrs general. assist
ant attorneys general. and tue heads %
the bureaus. ~ about u quarter oil j.
the president. whose hand and arm had
been going like a pump handle without
intermission since II O'Clock, began to
look n little tired. and he had a few min
utcs rest. during which he put on a fresh
pair of gloves. Then the "veterans Of
the war of lSl2," about twenty-five in
number. were ushcred in, and these were
followed by the Mexican veterans Of
lsiC after them came a delegation from
the Grand Army OF the Republic and
then the crowd.
In the good old tines" refreshments
were furnished al the White House re-
ceptions. but this custom was discon-
tinued long ago. Now the public simply
files past the President. shakes him by
the hand and then leaves the mansion by
the way OF the East Room. Everybody
Is admitted, without regard 10 sex. age.
or "prcviou- condition OF scryiude,"
and the African elemcnt Is always very
largely presented. "lull dress l. not
AT all requisite. and velvet trains aud
rags are beautifully blended together in
this promiscuou, crowd. among which !
noticed nurses with babies in their arms,
concly matrons, decrepit old men ana
women, and not few stylish rcprcscn-
tatives of the demu monte. Each one
claimed the privilege OF hand,hakc
with the president, and some were evil
IDENTIFY disposed to prolong the interview,
but were forced onward by the crowd
behind One little fellow of some ten
swimmers, his shoulders barely reaching
TO the knee of the president. marched
boldly up, shook him by the hand and
said loudly, GLOW do you do, Mr. Prcsi-
dent | wish you Il Happy Centennial"
For more than an hour this stream OF htl-
manity poured in at one door and out
Of the other, and the presidents right
glove very soon began to show symptoms
ofhayin. come in contact with perSpir-
ing, gloycles' hands. The large crowd
made the rooms excessively hot, and
can fancy what relief it must have been
for Mr. Grant to go up stairs. pun of his
gloves, wash hi, hands, aud put hi, arm
in II sling, after it was all over
The receptions at the residences Of the
cabinet officers were very brilliant, but
uncOmi0rtobly crowded. Many. alter
doing the White House. made the
round Of The cabinet officers. aud pre-
scnted themselves. although total stran-
| gers, for another haud.slake. This is a
! ridiculous custom, hut one thai Is very
| generally INDUCED in here, as the cabinet,
rs well rs the president, is considered to
BE- "a sort of public property, TO be stared
at aud hand shook, on this particular oc-
casion, by everybody who plcases. II is
not every day one can shake hands with
"A real live president, aud people do il ON
| New Years, | fear, not 50 much rs q
mark Of respect, rs because II afford.
them the qualification OF being able ia
say that they have done it,
Receptions were very general through,
out the city, and Centennial headache.
We're, venture To- say, also very general
the following morning. onc ofour young
bloods told me. late IN the evening. thai
hc had started with The president an,
made siXiy-ninc calls, and would hay,
made the SEVENTEEN, but for the fact tina
he saw distinctly hoo dour-hnobs on ia,