Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1901-03-09
M'KINLEY %INAUGURATED.
lconiinued from first page.l

office known to man, and yesterdays
experience was a commentary on the
uncertainty of March weather.
Had a man been on top Of the dome
of the Capitol Washington must have
looked as it did in the spring Of 1855,
when the victorious armies and the
multitude behind and with them gath
cred here for the grand review. Penn
Sylvania avenue. decorated with miles
of bunting and with thousands Of flags
trembling and fluttering In the gentle
breeze, was lined with an impenetrable
mass Of people so early that no one
pretended to have arisen in time to say
when they began swarming into their
places. They surged up and down both
sides of the beautiful avenue, overflow
ed the terraced stands and balconies.
walled in the windows and fringed the
roofs, while hlaring bands. clear drawn
bugse calls and galloping aids told Of
the military legions marching deep into
the tangle of streets to take their
places in the grand procession. The in
fuence of the greatest multitude that
ever invaded the city overshadowed al,
the pageantry and most impressed the
mind.
Hut Few Saw the inauguration.
OHly q NOiuDdl dAiNFly lJSiElliiduh
portion of the vast multitude saw any
thing Of the actual inaugural On cere-
monies at the Capitol. The great I'M
numbered thousands were content to
wait In the avenne below to see the
two men on whom the mental attention
of the world was fixed and the great
procession which followed them. The
brilliant and impressive scene in the
senate when the vice p~resident-elect was
indicted into Office was reserved for a
few hundreds. The public had no part
in 1t. The judges of the supreme court,
in their satin gowns, the speaker and
members Of the house, the governors
pf the states. were all there, when the
brilliant assemhlage felt an electric
thrill as the vice president-elect was
announced. He halted a moment be-
meath the clock at the entrance, drew
himself up until hs seemed a foot taller
n marched down the aisle erect and
with he bearing of a soldier. He ac-
knowledged the round of applause that
greeted him, and smiled up at the gal
lery, where his wife and children sat.
The president, who was the last to en-
ter, got an even more enthusiastic re-
ception. He never looked better and
never seemed more gr, ,eful and at
ease.
When the ceremony IL the senate, a
little tedious despite its iirillianey, was
over, the floor and gei3lries eInptied
into the corridors, tnrcugh which the
people jostled and squeezed into the ro-
tunda and out onto the great platform
erected from the east portico of the
Capitol building. Upon it were to be
seated the senators, representatives
diplomatic corps, supreme court and
some of the invited guests. Thanking it
on either side were other stands black
with people, while the steps to the
house and senate wings were precipi-
tous hillocks of humanity. Overhead
on the lodges of the facade, and even
on the gallery surrounding the dome,
were others still, as if a great tidal
wave of humanity had been dashed
against the front of the Capitol and re-
seeding had left many people clinging
TO the dizzy projections. Below the
multitude filled the plaza and beyond,
down the diverging avenues, patches of
color and myriads of points of steel
indicated the assembled soldiery far as
the eye could reach.
sworn In In "a Rain storm.
As the first of those from the senate
HpptdiGu a nut QliAAltuS hlASb -bN6dh
falling, which changed quickly into a
pelting rain. Soon it was a veritable
downpour. The forbidding aspect drove
some back into the rotunda. but many
handsomely gowned women, most of
the senators and representatives, ev-
cry member of the supreme court and
the entire bespangled diplomatic corps
braved the elements. They stood on
the platform in huddled groups, most
of them without umbrellas, with the
rain trickling down their backs The
diplomatic corps suffered most with
their bedraggled chapeauX, ostrich
plumes and court finery. h presi-
dent and vice president, Mrs. Mckinley,
the chief justices and several others
in the rallied and covered enclosure jut-
ting out into the crowd were protected
from the storm. There, in the presence
of 20. 900 and in the sight of twice that
number of people standing in a spank
ing rain, the president took the oath
of Office and delivered his second in
augural. The hushed multitude waited
breathlessly TO see him kiss the Bible,
and then, despite the rain, they awak-
ened the echoes Of Arlington across the
Potomac with their applause. Hardly
had the inaugural been finished when
the rain aDated, turning INTO q urlZ-
zling mist again and later ceasing al
together.
When the president and vice presi-
dent had quilted the scene to take their
places at the head OF the procession the
soldiers stretched across the plaza
where the multitude had been. The
procession~wOund down the Hill and up
the broad rain drenched avenue
through q living lane OF people. The
crowds had waited patiently through
the rain rather than lose their places
and when the parade appeared their
ardor seemed undampened. The cheer
ing rose and fell and rose again, swept
up the aver re around the treasury
building ard On through the court OF
honor to the WLite House.
The regular, infantry, cavalry and
artillery. the Jack tars and marines,