St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1889-05-09
Gbe Californian.
{. John-bury, Thursday, May ., 1859
NEW YORK LETTER.
The Washington Centennial as Seen by
the CaIedonian Correspondent.

MAY :, 1889.
For almost a month past the i'm
pending centennial celebration of
George Washington's inauguration
has monopolized the conversation
and thoughts of all patriotic New
Workers. We have had the father
of his country" served up for break
fast, dinner and supper, and if the
fare has grown trifle insipid from
its very monotony there is nothing
in the present condition of the city
to indicate it. True, the last and, in
some respects the grandest. of Amer
ica's great centennials has finally
come to an end but crowds of strang-
erS still haunt the streets and give
the town an appearance unusual
even for busy, busting New York.
Flags and bunting float from innum-
cradle public buildings and private
dwellings and the Individual with
baggy, high-water trousers, loosely
fitting coat and broad brimmed felt
hat is yet in our midst.
While Washington celebrations of
more or less Importance have been
taking place all over the country, the
chief interest naturally centred in
New York. Here it was that George
Washington himself, just 100 years
ago, was inaugurated first president
of the United States. 1t was the
plan to have Harrison go over the
same route taken by Washington a
century ago and duplicate as nearly
as possible the original observances.
The program was carried out to
nicely and everything went off as if
bv clock-wOrk President Harrison
arrived in ElizabethpOrt, n. J., early
on the morning of Monday, the Goth,
where he boarded the flagship De
spatch and started for the New York
shore. The other vessels i'll the har-
Dor fell into line behind the Despatch
and sweeping on in the form of
y
landing, formed one of the most won
derful parades on record. The bay
was fairly covered with all the sail
ing crafts that could by any means
be brought into service from the lit
tie active tug to the most pOnderous
style of sailing vessel. The shrill pip
4 L. L.
heavy booming of guns to make
salute that might have pleased a
nautical ear but to any other was
simply deafening The President
was taken from the flagship in
row-boat manned by veteran skip
perS and safely landed. Then began
the triumphal procession up Wall
street to the Equitable building
which is in itself one of the sights of
the city.
4 visit to the City hall followed
Here the President was greeted by a
committee representing the public
schools of the city and his path was
paved with flowers by girls dressed |
in white To those who could get
near enough to see it this was one of
the prettiest features of the entire
celebration. Crowds cheered the
President and the VicePresident as
they rode up Broadway and they
were both kept busy bowling their
Acknowledgements. To one who sees
Benjamin Harrison for the first time
a most natural exclamation is How
much he looks like his picturesl"
Possibly a trifle grayer than he is
usually represented but otherwise
one would have no difficulty in rec
ognizing him in a crowd
In the evening came the ball-the
great centennial ball The lavish
magnihcence of decorations, dresses
and wines represented thousands up
on thousands of dollars. But there
was one sad phase which married the
gayety of the gorgeously brilliant
scene. The very lavishness of the
supply of wine caused many of New
YOrk's blue-blOOded ariStOcracy to
become hopelessly intoxicated and
more than one fashionably attired
beautiful woman was to be observed
under the influence of liquor. This
is a page of our celebration which we
have reason to try to conceal.
Tuesday was a long day for New
York. Beginning with an early ser
vice at St Paul's-at which the Pres
ident occupied Washington's old
pew-it continued through the long
military parade in which some So
900 men were in line and wound up
i'll the evening with banquet in the
Metropolitan Opera house. The
sight of SO many uniformed soldiers
in line keeping step to the music of
such national airs as America"
The Star Spangled Banner" etc,
was most inspiring. Imagine a pa
rade which required over seven hours
of continuous marching to pass a
given point. One of the most inter
esting features was the oppoi tunity
of seeing SO many public men whose
names have become familiar from
constant repetition in the newspa-
pers. The governors of nearly all
the states in the Union appeared at
the head of their respective divisions |
on horseback.
George Washington was inaugu-
rated President on what is now the |
site of the Sub-Treasury building in
Wall street. Literary exercises were |
held here after the service at St. |
Paul's- A poem by the venerable |
Whittier, mastery Grafton by "our
own Chauncy" and a few words !
from President Harrison were eager |
~ listened to by a densely packed |
but necessarily small audience.
The great event of the third and |