Marietta daily leader. (Marietta, Ohio) 1895-1906, 1901-02-12
Inaugural Balls Since
Days of Washington.
Special to the Leader.

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teen thousand dollars has been appro
priated for the decoration of the hall
CT the big pension bureau for the in
augural ball on the evening of March
4th This money will be spent on bunt-
ing, plants and flowers and electric
lights. The hall of the pension build
ing lends iteslf very well to decoration.
1t has lofty ceiling supported by huge
pillars. It's galleries break the sweep
of the high walls. Fountains diversity
the great exDanse of floor. In some
respects it is an ideal place for an in
augural ball. The chief drawback is
the cost to the government When the
inaugural ball approaches, the pension
clerks take a holiday. For three days
before the event the bali committee
takes charge of the building and no
clerical work can be done. Four years
ago it was estimated that the ball cost
the government indirectly about $780,
900.
The inaugural ball is supposed to pay
for itself. 1t certainly should. The
tickets (Which entitle the holder to
"souvenir') are SIS each. for men or
women. In addition, 81 in charged for
supper Some inaugural ball suppers
have been memorable. When Harri-
son came in George Boldt served the
supper He wasn't "Boldt of the The
Waldorf-Astoria" then, because neither
The Waldorf nor The Astoria had been
planned. He had only his Philadel-
phia hotels. He brought his entire
corps of walters from Philadelphia by
special train. Most of the food was
cooked Philadelphia and came over
by train.
The inaugural ball is natural out
growth of the presidents inaugural re
ception. Each of the early presidents
gave a reception on the evening of in
auguration day. Gen. Washington
first Inauguration closed with illumina-
tions and fireworks. The second. held
in Philadelphia was celebrated in the
aLme way. When Mr.. Adams came in,
his Inauguration was of course of far
less public Importance than President
Washington's retirement from public
life and the evening was given over to
banquet rendered to the retiring
president. This banquet was given by
the merchants of the city and occurred
at Ricketts, circus. The guests, who
numbered 240, assembled at hall and
marched to the circus. entering the
amphitheater to the music of Washing
tons march. The curtain rose show
ing on the stage a TRANSPARENT, full
length painting of Gen. Washington, !
being crowned by Fame with a wreath |
of laurel. In his hand he held the fare |
we'll address. At one side was the |
genius of America and emblematic de.
vices representing the honors Wash !
ington had obtained. A paper of that !
date says that "a most sumDtuous en- /
tertainment was provided by M.
Richardet, which consisted of 400 dish
es of the most choice viands that mon
ey could produce or art prepare, dress
ed and served up in maner which did
him the highest credit Mr.. Willing
and Mr. Fitzsimons presided and the
Whole was conducted with the greatest
order" This last assurance is the
most interesting in view of the fact
that fourteen regular toasts were
drunk.
The custom of holding a reception at
the presidents mansion began after
the seat of government was moved to
Washington and it made some stirring
events. Andrew Jackson's reception
was marred by drunken boisterousness.
1t was open to the public.
The receptions given by his prede-
cessors had been by invitation. Jack
sons Inauguration had drawn hun
dreds of his rough supporters to the
capital and they made a disgraceful
spectacle at the reception. Van Buren
was not deferred by this experience
from giving a public reception when
he came into office and the public
again took liberties with the White
House furniture. In these days pub
lie reception at the executive mansion
is a very orderly affair." The police
marshal the public and admit them
two at a time; they go through the re-
ception rooms guided by attendants
and within short time they find them
selves outside the building again.
The first of the big inaugural balls
was given at the time of Gen. w. H.
Harrison's Inauguration in 1S41. This
was not a reception by the president,
but reception to the president by the
people. There were in fact two such
in 1S41, one in the Washing
ton assembly rooms and one in Car
veI's hall. The tickets to these were
respectively $40 and IS each and both