El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1901-03-11
A Graphic Account of the
Inauguration Cerem0-
MES by ID. OFF,"
Special to The Herald.

WASHINGTON, d. c., March g.
The escort which took Mr.. Mckinley
to the capitol to receive the oath OF
office was an ornate affair enough, but
il was dwarfed in size and significance
by rhe enormous return parade when
the endless miles of soldiers and sail
ors plodded through the rain as a sym
boil Of the power of the most noted ma
ton Of the planet: the most powerful
in everything that constitutes power.
men. money. and character. l dom
KNOW what the men who arranged the
procession had in mind-very likely
nothing at all, from my knowledge OF
them-but they builded better than
they knew, devising an exhibition OF
force, sheer. overpowering, irresistible
force the force of the greatest body OF
intelligent men on the globe AS
looked at it, l contraSted it with the
inaugural of four years ago. Then, the
Spanish war was still in the future and
the young men had not yet learned by
experience that war is more than brass
buttons and nickel helmets and wh1te
gloves and bizarre tactics. Then, the
streets were filled with men who were
only gaudy. nothing more. NOW, the
marchers were men who had learned
their reasons for being in the reeking
jungles of Santiago; the muddy
stupid camps of Chickamauga, and
Tampa. where untaught, inexperienced
officers We'd with timorous. unassertive
doctors and a chuckleheaded, red-tape
bound staff in incompetence
Militia and Military.
The first body of troops that came
along was a squad of the famous troop
of Cleveland, the crack cavalry of
Ohio The men were magnificent speci-
mems of manhood-all Ohioans are
fThat's nv state and I know But
they wore a gaudy red and yellow uni
form which looked as appropriate on
soldiers. as book beer pictures on To-
connective They were mounted on
black horses. accurately matched In
size and color: the finest collection ev-
er seen in Washington, or anywhere
else for that matter. l do not belleve
that it could be duplicated anywhere in
the world.
After that came an irregular gang OF
mounted staff officers. highly chro-
matte and not very interesting. Fol
lowing came the regular forces OF the
limited States headed by the West
Pointers.
West Pointers and Annapolis Boys
The cadets were good looking boys.
but they looked as if they had been
swallowing mucilage instead of the ira
ditional tabaSco sauce and it had fixed
them rigid in the position of soldier.
Like the man in the Greek history. they
stood up SO straight that they leaned
over backwards. A modern DlogeDes
hunting for an upright man need hunt
no further than West Point They were
b. oh nd uniform nf the mill
tary academy. gray suits with caps sur
mounted by black ''pompons winch
may be translated into English as
shaving brushes. The whole thing is
pretty accurate copy OF the Napoleon
uniforms. and as a matter of fact was
stolen from the French Seventy-hve
years ago.
After them marched the Annapolis
boys-a much finer looking crowd to
my mind. though the girls near me did
not think So The Washington girls
like the "boomaladdy boys" best and
there wasn't one of them that had
dry eye in her head when the West
Pointers went by. The middies were
dressed in dark blue, a serviceable.
neat plain. uniform. They carried RI
fes and drilled well.
Those cadets of both the schools were
the most interesting feature of the
whole thing if you want to sit down
and speculate. Some of them will be
our admirals and our generals thirty
years from now. after having carried
the "fiowery flag" into every corner OF
the earth. No man can now guess what
tho future had in store for them, any
more than thirty years ago it could
have been guessed that modest George
Dewey would some day demolish the
Spanish fleet in Manila bay.
Our Regulars.
After them came the Eleventh United
States infantry, in full marching kit;
good. sturdy looking boys, well filled
out and solid looking. Few of them
were beyond their thirties. although
there was a sprinkling of sergeants and
corporals with three or four reenlist-
rnert stripes on their arms.
The Artillerymen.
Next was battery of artillery,
wicked looking steel breech leaders
They were good sized guns. 12-pounders
I should fancy. The whole outfit look
ed business like, world without end
with the grim gray guns. tie joltine
caissons and the men on them, sitting
with folded arms as is the fashion OF
canoneers. The men had their capes
thrown back over their shoulders
showing the red lining and giving g
welcome tint of color. Red means ar
tiIlery. white infantry; yellow, caval'
nv: orange, dragons; and green med
ical service. also black means sigma
service. | may mention by way of pa
renthesis.