Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1909-02-23
INAUGURAL THIS YEAR
TO Be NOTABLE ONE
Great Pageant and Brilliant Ball
Planned for Taft and
Sherman.
FIREWORKS CHIEF FEATURE.
a Correspondent Describes Wonders
In Illumination to Be Shown
for the First Time.

Despite the operation of the anti.
pass law and a diminution of that on
thusiasm which characterized the in
duction into Office of President Roose-
Yelt four years ago. the Inauguration
OF William II. Taft aud James s. Sher-
man March promises TO be one of the
most memorable of these quadrennial
events, writes a Washington CORE
spondent. While the great pageant ON
the AFTERNOON of Inauguration day will
not be as strong numerically as that
which passed in review before Presi-
dent Cleveland-which is the biggest In
history-it win, in addition TO being
second in size, have many distinctive
and unique features there will be
5000 men in the civic division. and at
least as many in the military section
of the parade. There will be regular
troops aud militia. cadets from West
Point and Annapolis. and. perhaps most
interesting of ALL several regiments of
Confederate veterans. attired in their
war-worn suits of gray and carrying
the shot-riddled flags of their various
regiments
The inaugural ball, the second big
feature of the days ceremonies. is be-
ing planned on a scale greater than
heretofore, and the fireworks display.
il Is claimed, will be the most remark
able ever witnessed in the United States
More attention has been given this year
to the decorative scheme both by day
and by night, and visitors who have
attended previous inaugurals will wit
ness something entirely new in this
line. Careful work on the part of the
various committees viii provide, to all
intents and purposes, against over
charging, and more attention will be
paid this year to the comfort of the
thousands than on like occasions in the
past. While the inaugural ceremonies
will be marked by the greatest sim
plicity they will be made impressive
The display of fireworks on the
White House grounds Inauguration
night is feature of popular interest.
The program will embrace 1000 rocket
bombs, 500 batteries. 600 colOred lights.
two tons of colored fire. 80 balloons.
10000 candles and $50 bombs, ranging
from twelve to sixty inches Among
the novelties win be patent rocket
bombs, which have all the beauties of
rockets without the danger of the fall
ing sticks. and the marvellous "sun
cluster" effects, the unique fireworks
invention of 1909.
One of the big things of the evening
will be a wonderful pillar of light, 100
feet nigh, which has baffled experts in
chemistry and electricity, and which
viii give daylight effect to the heav-
ems for a distance of several miles.
Then there will be batteries of light
ningcandles, with 5000 flashes and won
derful crescendo repeating bombs. mar
wells in themselves. As the number of
shells advances, so does the number of
discharges The first shell will explode
but once; the twenty first will explode
twenty-one times.
One of the humorous features will be
the whistling coons-some people will
call them possums-and another 1909
fireworks novelty will be the aerial
device" released from an immense shell
1,500 feet in the air.
The spectacular event of the program
will be a battle in the skieS'-an Inn
mense set piece. This will be the only
set piece outside of the fire portraits
of President Taft and Vice President
Sherman. The scene shows typical.
up-to-date city, with its towers and
lofty buildings. An airship is seen to
pass near the city. followed by small
aerial craft. They turn and tack and
are met by the opposing aerial fleet. A
terrific encounter ensues, the ships burn
and explode and crumble up. In the
meantime other airships not directly
engaged in the aerial battle have been
dropping high explosives upon the
doomed city. The towers and tall
buildings tumble and burn and fall
until all are utterly destroyed. There
will be many other innovations.