St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1909-03-17
Our Washington Letter.
EchOes frOm the InauguratiOn.

iull amount OF damage done by 4
IT, great snowstorm to telegraph and tel
phone wires and poles, which we
as thrown down, sometimes across railroa
tracks, delaying local trains a few hou
and some 80 special trains from warrior
20 sections of the country seven or eigi
b hours. Trainloads of men were sent OF
70 to make repairs, but it took several day
to do it. 1t was estimated that at leas
IS 1900 and possibly 1000 persons, spen
st the night at the great Union Station
y and manv thousands did not arriv
!. until after the inaugural parade or unit
;. the next day. The famous New Yorl
Seventh Regiment had made great prep
arations for the occasion, expecting t
i honor President Taft and themselves
They sent on in advance Ga walters with
a carload of provisions and crockery
= and two cars with horses, and had 81
cars for the headquarters of the 75O men
under the charge of Col. Daniel Appleton,
but they were delayed, so unable to
participate in the procession, but Gov
Hughes of New York made a special
arrangement with President Taft to
review them from his stand in the
Court of Honor" the next morning
at II O'Clock, and they presented a fine
appearance. This blizzard reminded one
some of the one which occurred March
u, 1888. 1t was expected that there
would be about 10000 troops in the
parade, but many Washington men and
old soldiers did not think it prudent to
venture out in the storm. Great credit
was given the superintendent of streets,
for getting Pennsylvania avenue cleaned
and cleared for the procession, in about
seven or eight hours. The 5000 men
with 500 carts cleared a path 80 feet
wide, followed by so men with 20 |
wagons carrying $4,000 pounds of sand |
to sprinkle over the road for the troops.
Many persons did not realize that the
side streets were filled with melting
snow and the cutters were clogged, so
some of the troops, who were obliged |
to stand for two or three hours ankle |
deep in the slush, in a chilly wind, had |
great exposure, especially as many
of them camped in barracks and places |
where they lacked the warmth and pro-
lection of their homes. Great regret |
was felt when report was current that
100 of the 800 Coast Artillery troops
of Massachusetts had been stricken with
pneumonia after their return home.
Commissioner Mcfarland has been
agitating the question of a change of
date and all of the newspapers have
taken it in hand and interviewed the
senator's, congressman and governors,
about 20 it was thought were here, and
reported the majority decidedly favor a
later date and the 100000 visitors in
the city in all probability would endorse
such movement. Senator Hoar, before
his death, and Others, have tried to
bring about such change and the Sen
ate has passed a bill twice, but it is
said that some rider has been tackled
onto the bill in the House which has
killed it. The records show that March
4th has not been very favorable weather
in years past. Senator Depew of New
York has brought in bill now to make
the change to the last Thursday in April,
not name an exact date, for it might
some time occur on Saturday or Sunday,
but it would occur during the week of
April 30, which is the date when George
was indicted into office
Ex.-President Roosevelt it is said sent
721 messages to Congress and made 40
vetoes. He made strong friends and
warm enemies, but no one can doubt he
will hold high place in the future in our
nations history, but he may not be
obliged to wait 100 years as Commits
sioner MacFarland said of poor patient
Lincoln before he was duly recognized.
Judge Wendell p Stafford made
beautiful address on Lincoln Memorial
day; quite poetical, if not dramatic
in his usual oratorical manner.
dorado Taft of Chicago, the sculptor,
has received the award for the Columb-
an Memorial statue to be placed on the
plaza before Union station twentv.one
models were submitted by the best
artists; his wife Ada Bartlett, was the
great granddaughter of Rev. Mr.. Scales
OF Lyndon, VT, and her parents were
both Nermonters. Bernard X. Green. a
New Highlander, chairman of the ilum.
nation of Pennsylvania Avenue planned
the festoons of electric lights, about 80
OF them, in quadruple, having three
peaks with the middle 80 feet above the
ground. The effect made the Avenue
almost as light as day, The new white
marble District building was so lighted
as to attract much attention, but the
varied colors OF the three search lights
on the Peace Monument, from light
green to dark crimson on the statues on
the top were beautiful in the extreme.
while the white dome of the CAPITOL
doomed up in the background. The
dampness of the air prevented having the
large set pieces for the fireworks. but
they were much admired by the crowd
Vice-president Fairbanks insisted upon
paying for the handsome silverink-stand
ordered from Tiffany, New York, that
ne used; It is customary to present it to
4 81