The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-07
M'KINLEY'S INAUGURATION.
4 PEN-PICFU OF SCENES AND IN
CIDENTS THAT WILL OCCUR.
pear-Where the Ceremonies VIII
Occur--WhO viii Be i'm the Inau-
Gural ProcessiOn-Other Matters of

| imam of destiny" which Ohio has fur
niShed to the iilvstrious line of Americas
rulers comes to mis- browning just twenty
six days from this many of my readers
will not be here TO participate in the i'm
posing ceremonies. Perhaps the few who
are coming may not be averse to hearing
in advance just what to expect. Having
witnessed five successive inaugurals
which differed hardly a hairs breadth
one from another, except in the personnel
of the most conspicuous figures-I may
show up the coming one for the Morning
News with tolerable accuracy, though
few days before hand.
Truly, "Tis distance lends enchant-
ment," to others than natures views
and the stay-at-homes will have rather
the best of it. Though they miss some in
spring sights which stir the blood of
massed humanity-the throbbng drums
and soaring music, waving pennons and
moving forest of bayonets-they will also
miss the very worst weather of the year
| in this malaria haunted section, and the
| danger and discomfort of the crush; ana
| sitting at case by their ain firesdes, they
may see it all, a few hours later faithfully
reflected in printers ink. Let us suppose
this to be the day OF days in the life of
! Mai. Mckinley, and that we have secured
a perch in some window overlooking Penn
sylvania avenue. at a point whence the
vista is terminated at one end by the great
| white capitol, and at the other by the
| marble walls of the executive mansion.
| glittering between the leafless trees. Be
fore us, broad and straight, opens the
most splendid street in the United States
| If not in the world-now in wonderful gala
| dress OF banners and bunting, hung from
end to end with flags of every nation and
so.idly packed with people. The day is
| pitilessly cold. The very tree-boughs
creak as they swing, like crystals freez-
ing in the sun. The air seems full of Bit
ing, battling tiends, rushing at everything
animate and MISUNDERSTANDING ears
and noses and chilling people to the mar
row. SWooplng off with hats and awnings,
tearing down decora tons, banging a
plate-glass windows till they prance in
their sockets, and anon concentrating
their forces into swirling cyclones in the
middle of the streets that nearly lift
pedestrians off their feet. Washington
early days of March, varied only in degrees
OF nerceness of the storms of wind. snow
or icy rain, in the face of which our in
augueral patriotism demands "A fearful
price IN nerve, muscle and endurance. We
remember how Garfield stood bare-head-
ed in q binding snowstorm to take the
oath OF office, and how the elements rag
ed around poor Hayes as If they had TAX
en- sides with half the country against the
commission that counted him in; and
how, in the last inaugural of President
Grant, several West Point cadets-those
youthful sons of Mars, unused to martha,
NiaAtfAtiS-dCNudiiy sank IN the ranks to the
pavement overcome with the bitter cold
which froze even the warm currents Of
their strong young hearts.
| suddenly the welkin rings with a burst
of martial music which makes the blood
dance in our veins and here comes the
great procession. First battalion of
mounted police; then West Point, headed
by its band and drum-major. The latter
dressed up manikin is inimtabie, as he
llfts fantastic arm and swings aloft the
symbol of his foolishness. In such crowd,
something utterly ridiculous to look at is
refreshing, like the clown in the circus;
and anything more faultlessly ridiculous
than the drum-major of West Point would
be hard to lind. 1t is fashionable to make
fun OF West Pointers, their exalted ideas
army exclusiveness; yet nobody can look
at these boys without thrill of admira-
ton. Their marching is the very poetry
Of motion-200 legs stepping as one. But
their dressing is absolute cruelty, while
everybody else in line and out, is muffied
and overcoated and warmly clad, the ca
diets must wear their spruce new uniforms
single jackets-and look to the bright
brass buttons for comfort. The seeds of
death Will be SoWn in more than one
proud breast this morning. Close upon
West Points aristocratic heels comes
Acknowledgements "Middies, youthful and
slender, in becoming suits of dark blue AS
a body, they are younger and smaller than
| their predecessors: nor can any compari-
| son be drawn between their marching for
the West Pointers are unencumbered,
| while the mid-shipmen drag their howit-
zers along. But they look like true scions
|
| of the American navy is unsurpassed in
| intelligence, chivalric manners and gentle
manhood. Then come the Marine corps,
| with their famous band; the Washington
| Light Infantry the Corcoran Zouaves. the
school-boy cadets, the Washington Gran
| adiers the Old Guard of New York the
| Philadelphia City Troops, the st. Louis
Guards, the Boston Lancers. the Cleveland
| Grays and goodness knows what nextI
| Wave on wave. far as the eye can see,
comes a glittering sea of helmets bayo-
nets fash, plumes wave, bands play, till
the senses are fairly intoxicated at the
sight. 1t all tells one story-the love of
pomp and military parade, deep-seated i'm
the American breast. 1t also
sgd Patriotism. and brings tears TO ih The
| ey es as we remember the greatest military
review under the sun, when the boys in
blue, fresh from battle-fieds marched
dnwn this broad avenue in the scorching
| il ne sun of 1865 What a sight was that
70 women's tears! The bronzed and bag
! gard and ased-in-youth faces, the
crutches and armless sleeves and shot
riddled flags made hearts weep afresn
| at the thought of thousands left behind
some in the wilderness. some in half-dug
graves on solitary hillsides, some In CORY
| TRENCHES, some yet unburied None who
| saw that sight Of thirty-two years ago
will ever forget Ii. Since that day, count
less military professions have pranced
up aud down Pennsylvania avenue-but
| never a demonstration TO equal this of 81.
| 1t has been customary at previous inau-
| gurals for all the states having organized
| militia to be represented by troops in the
house: but with the exception of Penn
! sylyania, New York Ohio and Illinois.
| the contingents from the various states
have hitherto been small. This year. how
ever, the conditions are different. The
recent campaign has stirred the national
heart more deeply than ever before since
Grants first term. and the little furry Of
war talk" has also furnished patriotic
! Americans with an incentive to make
military display which shall show the
| world that Uncle Sam is not to be lightly
challenged. Gov Hastings Of Peunsyl-
vania, who was in Washington. a few
/ days ago said that 5000 soldiers from his
state alone would assist in escorting Mai
Mckinley TO the white house, and Il Is
| safe to say that New York and other
states are not going to see themselves out
done. Leaving the regular army out Of
| the count the total organized strength
| OF the militia in the United States is no.
600, while the troops stationed around
| Washington together with the marines,
| number several thousand MORGAN army
! OF perfectly disciplined soldiers.
/ But II we are going to sec anything Of
| the ceremonies at the capital we must
| tear ourselves away from the splendid
! ..,.aoogalar 10 imDOggible force "A