Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1901-03-05
VICE PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT.
The Formal Induction of the New
Presiding Officer of the Senate.

The Formal Induction of the New
Presiding Officer of the Senate.
WASHINGTUN, March 4.-Standing
upon a spot hallowed by history and
in the presence of a brilliant and dis
tinguished assemblage Theodore
Roosevelt, of New York, to-day was in
Quoted into the Office of Vice President
of the United States.
The solemn oath, the taking of which
places Mr.. Roosevelt in the a of q
long line of eminent patriots and
statesmen, was administered by Sena-
tor William P. Frye, of Maine, presi-
dent pro tempore of the United States
Senate. The ceremony vas thorough
fy democratic, yet, in its very simple
ity, profoundly impressive.
The setting of the scene would lend
inspiration to the artists brush. The
historic Senate chamber, superb in its
white and gold beauty, was without
decorations of any kind. Not even the
stars and stripes were displayed offic-
tally, although as the last words of
the oath of Office fell from the lips OF
the stern visaged, silver-haired Sena-
tor from Maine and Vice President
Roosevelt firmly clasped his hand, the
galleries were splashed with the ma
tional colers, many silken hand flags
fluttsring breezily among hundreds OF
handkerchiefs.
Upon the floor OF the chamber intent
upon the ceremony were men whose
ne mes are household words in every
city.
The President of the United States
was there. Senators and Representa-
tives. members of the Supreme Court Of
the United States, Governors Of many
States. members of the diplomatic
corps. army and navy officers, and men
DISTINGUISHED in all the walks of life,
were passive participants in the cere-
mony. The galleries presented a
Spectacle of Marvellous Beauty
the hundreds of brilliantly attired wo-
men. gay in handsome toilets, lending
A color scene to the almost too sombre
surroundings.
AS the new Vice-President dropped
the hand of Senator Frye, he glanced
upward at his wife. seated in the ex-
ecutive gallery. She was the first of
whom he thought in this momentous
hour; and to her he looked for inspir-
alton.
An instaot later this vigorous Amer
lean and man OF letters and of affairs,
faced the United States Senate for the
first time as its presiding officer.
Not a flaw in the induction of the
Vice-President into office was notice
able. The whole was perfectly planned
and beautifully executed.
The Senate was in session, o n
structively, having been so since II
o'clock Saturday morning, although re-
cesses taken at intervals, had rendered
the mental and physical strain more
endurable.
Early in the morning the galleries
had been cleared by an executive ses-
sion, and they were not opened again
until 10 o'clock, and then only to those
who held cards of admission to the
capitol, and to the places reserved for
them in the galleries.
Rapidly the galleries began to fill,
and long before the hour for the cere-
mony proper to begin, they were
tkronged to the doors. Among the
first persons of note to enter the gall
leries were ladies and attaches of the
diplomatic corps, not entitled to the
floor of the Senate. Lady Pauncefote,
NlIS VI IV DllJlo OdooddOl was
among the early arrivals, as also was
Madame WI, wife of the Chinese minis
ter. Seated in a front row and attired
in a gown Of gorgeous oriental silks
made in the fashion of her native land,
and wearing a blue silk band
Studded with Dia monds
about her jet black hair, she was the
cynosure of hundreds of eyes. Another
attractive figure in the diplomatic gall
lery was Madame Takahira, wife of the
japanese minister. Her gown was a
revelation of the diapers art.
AT 10:30 a. m, the Vice President
elect arrived at the capitol, ccom-
panied by Senator Spooner, and Repre-
sentative Dalzell. He went directly
to the Vice Presidents room. Short
ly before half past IL O'Clock, Mrs.
Mckinley, escorted by Major General
Corbin, entered the executive gallery.
She was accompanied by the members
of her house party. She was assisted
down the aisle of the gallery to a front
seat, which had been reserved for her.
She chatted spiritediy with her friends
and at times smiled recognition to
some friend on the floor of the Senate
or in the galleries.
Four years ago, the venerable moth
er of the President, then over so years
old, was one of the presidential party
in the executive gallery, but to-day she
was no more.
Almost simultaneously with the pres
idential parry, Mrs. Roosevelt and her
friends, principally relatives, entered.
Accompanied by her children she was
escorted to front seats in the gallery
reserved for them just opposite those
occupied by Mrs. Mckinley.
The Exchange of Pretty Greetings
between Mrs. Mckinley and Mrs.
Roosevelt. who, with eager eyes, drank
in every detail of the historic occa-
sion. gazed with wide eyed wonder up
on the scene. not missing a single in
cident or detail.
Upon the floor OF the Senate the
proceedings were in accordance with a
definite programme from which there
was no deviation.
Governor Roosevelt, fr~ock-coated
and handsome, a splendid specimen of
American manhood, a picture of perfect
health. approached his seat in a digni-
fed manner.
Meantime the members of the Pres
ident's Cabinet had entered and had
been seated upon the left OF the am
b~assadors. The sombre garb and silk