San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1897-03-04


inaugural ceremonies attendant upon
The induction of new president and
vice president into Office have for
years been matter of considerable
moment, both to the people of Wash
ingtOn and to those of the United
States ut large Each recurrence has
been marked by an increase in the
number of visitors to the beautiful
capital, and with the added influx OF
strangers has come the necessity for
more care and attention on the part
of the Inhabitants.
Simple as are in themselves the GER
emOnies which attend the Inaugural
ton. their environments have been
made more and more imposing until
the administering of the oath and the
delivering of the address. which were
originally performed before Il cOmpar-
ative handful of the peoples repre-
Sentativcs. are now executed in the
presence of fully Il hundred thousand
of citizens mailing from nearly every
section of the United States. Cover
nOrs of many states by their presence
give added endorsement to the pOpu-
lar will of the people they represent,
while detachmentS of the army and
navy and state militia, together with
organized political clubs. aid by their
uniform and bearing in giving pictur-
eSQueneSs and stability 10 the process
sion.
At the breaking of the dawn crowds
were found to have secured vantage
places on Pennsylvania avenue and
near the Capitol and White House as
were available, and it was not long be-
fore the numerous stands which line
this noted thOrOughfare became first
dotted and soon black with Il throng
of pXpectant Sight-SeerS, who anxious
ly but patiently awaited the process
sion. No less early did the many mil
itary and civic bodies which were TO
take part in the ceremonies begin their
preparations. and the din of martial
music was heard far and near.
The center of interest in decora-
tons in the city is the avenue-Penn-
Sylvania avenue-a stretch of unbrO-
ken asphalt $50 feet broad and a mile
long, from the foot of the Capitol to
the foot of the treasury and thence
after the short break at Fifteenth
street for another mile and n half
past the north front of the treasury,
past the White House and the State,
War and Navy departments, to Wash
ington circle. There the inaugural
procession turns on its backward
march past the reviewing stand of the
grand marshal on II street. 1t is one
of the most remarkable thOrOughfares
among the capitals of the nations and
it's decoration for the American Olym-
plans is matter of long thought and
great expenditure of money. The
great trough of buildings from the
capitol to the treasury, One of the most
manificent viStas in the world of
cities, cannot brook anything cheap
and this year the decorations are
abundant. The avenue is a wealth
of bunting. There are flags of all ma
tiOns edging the windows or floating
from every available flag pole. Prob
ably every flag in the International
code is represented, from the stars and
stripes and the blue cross of St.George
to the white elephant of Siam and the
black and yellow dragon flag of Chi
ma.
The presence of the crowd on
this street lends a good deal of bril-
lance and movement TO the scene and
detracts from the need of excessive
decorations. From house front TO
house front. except in the center,
where the police have cleared away,
there is a solid mass of humanity
many colored and shifting-a verita
BILE human carpet for the great avenue
through which the flood of the inaugu-
raj procession is to roll. Above the
heads of the crowd on either side rise
the walls of the houses. enriched with
every variety of flag and streamer
that the mind of resident property
holders can devise. There are sun
bursts of red. white and blue under
every window sill and where the Ma
tiOnal colors are waving they are the
yellow and black of Russia. the dou-
BILE headed eagle of Austria, the red,
white and green of the Barbaric
states and every other national en-
blem that naturally suggests itself to