The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1909-03-12
JACK HARRIS LETTER.
Warrington, March st.

Dear People:
Well, the long agony is over at
last! Theodore and his fuzzy bear
have abdicated and retired to
Oyster Bay, and William and his
possum reign supreme. The
shouts of revelry have died away
and all that remains to remind US
of the great day is the gradual
process of dismantling and tear
ing down the hundreds of Off
cial and non-official reviewing
stands along the streets, the
ripping off of the decorations
from the thousands of buildings,
and the banana skins, peanut
shucks and waste paper on the
grass. 1t certainly was a large day
for Washington and the country
at large, in length, breadth and
thickness. The number of visitors
far exceeded even the enthusiastic
expectations of the local promot-
ors, and every detail was well car
ried out. For days before and up
to the hour of the beginning of
the exercises extra trains running
in almost unbroken lines for hun
dreds of miles brought in SEEM
ingly endless swarms of people,
and it seemed as if every school
district in the country must have
been represented. The indica-
lions were that more Vermonters
were present than ever got out of
the state before at one time, and
they all appeared to thoroughly
enjoy the occasion without acct
dent or mishap of any serious
character.
And all this immense display,
the miles of lsoldiery and civic
bodies, the music of a thousand
bands, the welcoming of hundreds
of thousands of visitors, the fes-
tivities by day and night every
where and the grandest display of
fireworks that the world ever
saw, all as a stage setting for the
simple ceremony of one man drop
ping the reins of government and
another assuming them! And all
over but the shouting in five
brief minutes! Certainly we take
tour pleasures strenuously, and
make the most of what we have to
do. Certainly there was very lit
tie Jeffersonian simplicity about
this monster fanfare and display.
The inauguration exercises
proper were to have taken place
on a monster stand especially
erected for the purpose on the
east front of the capitol, where all
ceremonies of the kind are always
held, weather permitting. 1t was
designed to seat six thousand
people, besides several anneXes.
But the weather rendered them all
useless, and the exercises all took
place in the senate chamber.
What should be said of the
weather? To say that it was the
vilest that ever struck Washing
ton in the memory of man is put
ting it quite too mild. 1t began
to rain in gusts and sheets We'd
nesday noon, increasing with the
hours, until it turned to wet snow
at dark. Then it grew colder fast,
and a raging blizzard set in. This
continued all night, and through
out agood part of Thursday. The
wind was so severe that trees
were uprooted, and the streets
were full of debris. Add to this
the flying snow, the raw wind
and several inches of slush on the
streets made life out of doors al
most unbearable. Because of this
the civic part of the parade was
mostly cut out, and very few de-
tachments paraded on foot. The
raging storm rendered the many
4 SN 10 III oNdhob
worthless to the thousands who
had purchased tickets to them,
though some seats were occupied.
The president stood through the
long reviewing program, closely
buttoned in heavy overcoat, and
all the outside exercises were
shortened up and made as brief
as possible. Nevertheless, there
were tens of thousands of people
lined up on the streets all along
the line of parade, and countless
deaths from pneumonia would APP
pear to be inevitable. Five dol
lars each was charged for en-
trance to the grand inaugural
ball at the Pension office build
ing, and there were sold to the
limit of the capacity of the house.
In point of quantity and quality of
attendance, in music and in fine
costumes it is said to have been
the most magnificent affair of the
kind in the history of this coun-
try. Every official leader was
present, as was also all of the
social world, of course, from the
president down, and the cost of
the new dresses worn would have
made up the deficit in the nation
al treasury.
Each senator and representa-
tive was given two tickets to the
senate gallery for their families,
and ten for the grand stand in
'front.'. Owing to the weather. of
course the latter were worthless.