The age-herald., 1901-03-04
cleveIand's First Inauquration.

q was within few feet of Grover Cleveland when he first took the oath of office as President, precisely sixteen years ago." said Birmingham man who was then youthful committee clerk and newspaper correspondent with Congress.
 Jim Pugh, the second son of the fa- nous Senator for Alabama, now a judge In Washington. was my companion In doing that never-to-be-forgotten day, and he and I having the entre to every place and both of us being strong, enthu- siastic Democrats we took in everything from the start of the Presidential party from the White House to the close of the inaugural ball, which was held that year on the ground floor of the then uncom- pleted pension building. We were in the press gallery of the Senate when Presi- dent Arthur, MT. Cleveland and Mir Hen dricks, and their distinguished party, en- and precedent. I recall in perfect detail the scene, even to the stolid expression so strikingly observable upon Cleveland 8 most powerful face, and the way in which he had his thin hair brushed to the right side of his great head.
 Having seen the incoming President enter on the arm of his outgoing prede- form at the east front of the Capitol and having a pull of affectionate good will with the doorkeepers of both Houses, we were given seats within six or eight feet of the spot on which MT Cleveland was to stand and take the oath. He and President Arthur and the others appeared on the platform imme- diately, and MT. Cleveland began at once to deliver his first inaugural address. He faced the largest crowd that I had ever seen up to that time, and he spoke so clearly that 1t was said his words were distinct to fully ten thousand people which, In the open air and in the heavy weather that prevailed that day, seems almost incredible. In his left hand MT Cleveland held a white card in size about 2N by inches, and that card bore the only notes of memoranda of his speech that he used, and he glanced at the notes but three times whilst he spoke His voice was wonderfully calm, clear and penetrating. and his meditation was as good as the best I ever heard except in the two instances of Gladstone and Jo- seph Chamberlain.
 These little details remember as dis tinctly as If they belonged to this fore noon instead of to sixteen years ago. Tho reason Is, all the force of my mind was devoted absolutely to the occurrences of that historic occasion, for to me it was the greatest event of my whole life and a privilege greater than I had hoped for at any time
 "I realized that Cleveland was the hoped to see, except Grant, who two months before had done me the great honor, and, in the circumstances, the sur passing kindness of speaking to me and asking me who I was. My conviction in the exuberance of youth was that Cleve- land was pre-eminently great. These six teen years have deepened that convic- ton. He is the greatest man still ever saw: and I saw Bismarck and Gladstone,
 "Chief Justice Waite administered the oath to MT. Cleveland, and there fol- lowed the widest and most tumultuous enthusiasm that ever I observed. After the oath, Pugh and I went to the Sena- tors room of the Senate restaurant and celebrated in the best wine the Senators could drink there: and then we did about till time to dress for the great ball, and throughout that day and until the night was far spent Jim Pugh and I, more or less promising sons of Ala bama rebels. were the happiest, proudest and most self-important youths in Wash ington or out of 1t. Mon! we had a braw time tn gither.
 Phil Sheridan, then commander-in- chief of the army, was the grand mar shal of that inauguration procession, and I recall that on his big black horse his short and stout legs stuck out like unto the legs of washpot of the olden time. Shortly after the inauguration-is de- ctdedly another storyr'