The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1893-03-08

the fortunes OF his predecessor, and differ
from them in political faith, all proudly
conscious Of having witnessed : gieat event
which records the peaceful transfer Of pow
er such Is few rulers have welded in the
past and nov exercise to-day. he who bat
yesterday the Chief Magistrate OF nation Of
Gj,OO0,0 go people is to-day private citizen.
tie who takes his place will lay down his
authority four years hence with the ready
submission to the viii Of bis countrymen,
that his predecessors have shown in laying
down theirs. Happy If, like General Harri-
son, he can leave the White House at the
end Of MS term without other claim Of re-
ward than that which the consciousness Of
duty well performed and trust faithfully dis
charged may give.
ISAUGURATIsS AND THE WEATHER.
The SUCCESS or failure Of an Inauguration
depends almost entirely upon the weather.
There had been heard good deal within the
last few weeks about what his friends call
Cleveland luck" They predicted with
great esrnestness that the Eeather Of to-day
would equal if not surpass ihaIof eight years
ago, when, amid surroundings suggestive Of
May rather than March, Mr.. Cleveland took
the oath of Office. They had apparently
come 70 look upon Cleveland in this regard
as second Van Buren. Il was to this dis
tinguished predecessor Of President Cleve-
land, il Will be remembered, that Henry
Clay ventured 10 make the rather original
remark while the electoral vote was being
counted in the House of Representatives
It's cold, sir
The sun viii shine on the Fourth Of
March, sir" sententiously replied Van
Buren, and it did. .
Whether President Cleveland looked for
ward to his second Inauguration with equal
confidence is not known. II he cid he must
have felt grieyousiy disappointed, fora worse
morning never dawned. Big, wet snow
flakes obscnred the atmosphere and made it
difficult 70 Distinguish objects at a distance
greater than city square. Under foot it
was worse yet. Slush and sleet struggled
AlE win AAN Aa.A AAAAAAlE 0ABN 3
and to add to the discomfort strong and
cold wind was blowing. As the morning
wore on it became positively dangerous to
walk on account Of the slippery condition Of
the streets.
But those who suffered most must have
been the venerable justices Of the Supreme
Court, the many ancient members Ofthe Di-
plomaiic Corps and the numbers Of dis
tinguished guests, men and Women adyane-
cd in years and feeblein health, who were
forced, in the biting blast ola March wind
that swept without mercy around the cor
ners Of the Capitol and across the broad
plszi in front, to listen 70 The Presidents in
augural address and witness the ceremony
Of taking the oath. In the early afternoon,
il is true the snow larries ceased bat the
wind grew steadily in energy ald ftfulEess.
The sun tried hard toward O'Clock to pierce
the misi and gloom, but with little success.
OUTDOOR EXERcIsEs DISMAL FAILURE.
For all purposes OF enjoyment except 10
those who had been fortunate enough to
secure seats in windows fronting upon Penn
sylvania avenue the outdoor exercises of the
day proved dismal failure.
The duty Of Congress TO act seems plain,
or elsei viii become necessary to change
the character Of the exercises By restricting
them TO the Senate Chamber. But who will
bethe first President TO decree that change ?
Itoannot be said that theoeremonies to-day
differed, barring the weather, in any material
point from those which have preceded The
exercises in the Senate are conducted on rules
sanction by tradition and followed with naive
disregard Of the limitations of time and
space. The ceremony OF administering the
oath TO the Presiden; is varied, it seems, &C
cording to the predictions Of the chief act
or in the event It's sometimes administer
ed before the delivery Of the inaugural ad
dress; metimes after the reading.
President Cleveland took the oath to-day
as be did eight years ago, afer delivering bis
inaugural address. President Harrison took
the oath Of Office first and then read his sd
dress, 8 proceeding which would seem TO be
a1-AA4lA aaln &l sAl- AlAlh tue
raj is not generally regarded as the expres-
sion Of opinion on the par; Of a private citi-
zen. but of the President and the trausfor-
nation from private citizsn into President
is not effected until after the oath has been
administered. William Henry Harrison de
vised the compromise under which be took
the oath in the midst of delivering his in
augural address, flashing the ceremony
with reading the celebrated perora tion
which. according to Webster, hal been the
cause Of his sitting up the night previous en-
gagged in the slaughter of Roman procon-
suls.
The parade was what all parades are
seemingly endless-;o be measused only BY
the patience OF those who look on. Il is
true that there was e suspicion lurking in
the minds Of some ths; Cleveland would
drag TammAny along in the line Of march,
bound to his carriage, as Achilles dra gged
the body OF Hector around the walls Of
Troy. The rumo- proved to be unfouaded.
however. Tammany was not dragged At
last accounts. when not resting with lis
claws on the dome Of the Capitol and its tail
twisted around the base Of the Washington
Monument it was cheering Justify and
marching The best it knew how. II any OF
its hip, hip, hurrahs" stuck in its throat
like Nacbeth's amen, il was due, no doubt,
to the wet atmosphere, and not 70 any lack
OF enthusiasm, bottled or otherwise.
President Cleveland, As be did eight years
ago, delivered his inaugural address today
without the aid Of no,es-a feA. that has
been attempted only by one OF his p1eieces-
sors, Pierce. he followed. word for word.
the copy furnished beforehand to the press
associations, Omisting nothing, adding moth |
ing The delivery was marked by the Ut
most selfposssssion. The Presidents voice /
co1id be dist.nctly heard at distance OF 700 |
yards. notwithstanding the high wind thst 4
Tss blowing Al the inns. BE stood uncos-
ned the most Of the time. oae Of his IN
ElOved hands hoiding his bat, the other res
ng easily in the pocket ef his orercost.