The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1897-03-11

tlagpole, probably every flag In the In
ternational code was 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 China.
The presence of the crowd on the
streets lent q good deal of brilliancy
and movement to the scene and de-
tracted from the need of excessive
decoration. From house front to house
front, except in the center, where the
police had cleared way, there was q
solid mass of humanity, many colored
and constantly shifting q vertible
human carpet for the great avenue
through which the flood for the inaug-
ural procession rolled.
Above the heads Of the crowd on
either side rose the walls of the
houses, enriched with every variety of
flag and streamer that the mind of the
resident propertyholder could devise.
There were sunbursts of red, white and
blue under almost every window SILL
and where the national colors were
wanting there were the yellow and
black of Russia, the double-headed
eagle of Austria, the red, white and
! green of the Barbary states and every
other national combination that would
naturally suggest itself to the natural
ized population Of a most cosmopolitan
capital.
The decorations of the avenue in fact
may be divided into sections from the
capitol to the Washington circle. At
the foot of the capitol, the peace monu-
ment, that dry rock of statuary that
has waited a decade for an appropria-
tlon committee to turn it into q foun-
tain, had been surrounded by q neat
white picket fence by the careful execu.
tive committee to prevent the economi.
cal public from making a grand stand
out Of the granite shoulders of faith.
hope and charity as they stand on a
tempting eminence from which to gain
a view of the parade. From the sum-
init of the white picket fence, however,
there were waving innumerable BAN
ners, decorative tribute to the inso-
lated graces.
From this point to Seventh street the
decorations were much the same. This
is the older avenue, the section which
in the days Of Webster, Clay and Ben
ton was the fashionable clearinghouse
section, enriched with substantial brick
buildings, in strong distinction to the
remainder of the shanty capital. These
insignificant two.story houses, with
hip roofs and dormer windows, a relic
of bygone era. Their residents had
decorated them each after his own in
clination, with flags from the ridge
poles, banners from the second story
windows and printed banners of well
come to the incoming administration,
naming Mckinley and Hobart person
ally as the peoples choice" and the
advance agents of prosperity"
AT Seventh street one of the great
business arteries of the city, the stands
commenced. The reservation on each
side of the avenue had been occupied
by grandstands, hammered and embat-
tied with canvas fronts, painted in imi-
tation of brown stone, which tended to
make an imposing display.
From thence on to the foot Of the
treasury, at Fifteenth street, the
decorations were of a slightly different
character. This is the region Of newer
and more imposing buildings, though
the avenue is not the place in WASH
ington to find the best specimens of
business architecture But the larger
stores and Office buildings are better
than those to the eastward of Seventh
street and they were decorated with
more of real bunting and less of print
muslin and cambria. Beside the ban
ners floating from the roofs, there were
streamers from the cornices to the avn
ing rods on the sidewalk, red, white
and blue most frequently, but almost
as often some other gay and striking
combination, throwing the mere arcnl-
tectural features of the building into
| allegiance and lending carnival air to
the ordinarily prosaic structures. Gar
lands of red, white and blue incan-
descent lights were mingled with the
bunting to be flashed at night into q
brilliant display of color and few
shields and painted emblems helped to
| fill in the blank wall space.
But more substantial and extensive
than the decorations of the private
buildings were those of the public de-
partments. Every department from the
interior to the state, war and navy
| buildings had thrown abroad all its
store of bunting in honor of the day.
The base of the treasury building is
one of the fayorite vantage grounds
from which to view the inaugural par
ade, and there had been erected stands
on the south, east and north fronts.
These with their uniform salmon-ike
! tint and frieze of brilliant crimson,
| together with their living freight of
spectators, added to the decoration to
| the building.
Further on in the stretch of the ave-
nue. before the presidents house the
stands were of the most classic form
and substantial style. From over the