National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1881-04-26
ALONG THE ROUTE.
How the Procession Appeared - The
Crowds that Witnessed 1t.

The spectators began to gather along
the route the procession at an early hour. The
windows and other eligible localities along the
Avenue were occupied by parties, who amused
themselves by watching the crowd. Those who
were not SO fortunate as to have friends along the
Avenue secured standing seats on the curb, but the
hot sun soon made the south side the popular
point of observation. There was no general at
tempt to decorate the buildings here and there
flags and streamers were flung to the breeze giving
quite gala appearance to the Avenue, which the
presence of the large number of spectators in
creased. When the procession began to approach.
the spectators on the south side moved in body
across to the car-track, and stood three and
four deep from one end of the Ave
nue. to the other. The pavement on the
other side was closely jammed, so that all travel
was about stopped. The cars kept moving, but
very slowly. The crowd manifested strong de-
sire to encroach upon the space allotted for the
procession and in spite of the strenuous efforts of
the police they only succeeded partially in keep
ing the spectators within proper bounds. The
procession, as itwound down from the Capitol pre-
sented q stirring spectacle.
THE SCENIC EFFECT
was not so observable, as the uniform of the
marching companies did not present many CAV
colOrs. There were but few flags, and the process
sion was interesting from the precision of the
movement and the soldierly bearing The sailors
from the men of war, in their sailor costumes and
carrying muskets, attracted the attention of the
spectators. The bronzed weather-b beaten faces of
Jacktars, and their rolling gait, while it inter-
tSred somewhat with the precision of movement,
was unique feature. The evident struggle which
the old tars had TO keep up the military step was
laughable, and the helpless expression of their
faces, which indicated plainly as could be that
they were out of their element. caused many a
hearty laugh along the route But in spite of their
rolling gait which constantly pitched them against
each other, throwing the entire labor of keeping
the line up on the end men, they marched very
well.
THE CADETS,
by their soldierly bearing and fine marching
evoked applause all along the line of march, The
local military companies of course came in for a
large share of the public approval; while Major
Hannernan and his gallant corps were enthusiast
cally received. The Major, however preserved
the dignity of this occasion, but acknowledged the
compliment by graceful military salute with his
sword. At Fifteenth street there was
AN IMMENSE CROWD.
The Treasury steps were black with spectators,
while the numerous windows of the Corcoran
building presented full complement of faces
The passage Of the street-carS at the crossing on
Fifteenth street caused the procession to STOP and
several times the line was broken. Here, again.
the police had great difficulty in keeping the crowd
back. Upon the arrival of the procession at the
square the divisions filed around in the street. on
the three sides, and stood there until the cere-
monies were concluded