The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-07-31

err gallery which was packed full OF
spectators in the days when the Hayes
Tilden electoral commission occupied
the same chamber, but this space has
long been denied to visitors. Within
the past few years it has been filled
with steel cases and cedar chests for
the storage OF valuable records and
Justices gowns against HEe and moths.
Always a Secret Rite.
The installation will take place at
noon on the day to be chosen for the
ceremony. Shortly after that hour AS
sociate Justice Harlan, the senior mem
Der of the bench, must administer the
/! oath of allegiance to the future Chief
Justice. This part of the ceremony
will take place in the robfng room, and
according to strict precedent no one
may witness 1t except the person CIV
| ing and the person receiving the oath.
The doors and windows of the robing
| room will be shut and guarded, and
when Justice Harlan has finished with
his future chief, the latter will be ready
| for the procession into the courtroom.
| Whether he will be robed publicly
in that chamber after marching In IN
| ordinary day dress. or whether he Will
be privately vested in the robing room
by the regular attendant before the
procession is formed, is a question for
the new Chief Justice to decide for
himself, as there are precedents for
either method. Chief Justice Fuller
came into the courtroom already robed.
The robing room of the court is a
long and narrow chamber across the
public corridor from the courtroom
proper. 1t is finished in an imitation
of marble. with frescoed ceilings, and
windows opening upon a view of tho
| Washington Monument and the Mall
| Opposite there is a door leading into
a small inner room, With mahogany
cases lining the walls on either side.
In these cases hang the robes, and the
justices step into the inner room. one
at time. to be vested by a colored
man who acts as master of the robes,
although he is down on the official pay
roll as a messenger. He holds the big
black gowns as the justices slip their
arms into the great sleeves. Then he
adjusts each yoke until it is straight
across the shoulders of the wearer. and
finally he pulls down the tail of the
undercoat Then the justices form IN
line in the long robing room, While
an attendant is making lane from
that apartment 70 the anteroom oppo-
site by hooking across the corridor
two parallel pieces of silk rope, which
bar the public from passing through
the Capitol When the court Is fully
organized the Chief Justice always
leads this procession. the associate
justices following in the order OF the4r
length Of service.
But in the inaugural procession OF
the new Chief Justice, Associate JUS
tice Harlan, the senior member OF the
court. will lead the procession. and the
new Chief Justice will walk In the rear.
Just before the line enters the deputy
marshal will announce: The honor
able, the associate justices OF the Su
preme Court" This will be-a slsnal
for every one in the chamber to rlse'
Like II Procession of Priests.
They will enter the long space IN
the rear Of the bench that IS pehiho
the long row of columns supporting
the gallery. Between these pillars tne
spectators will see them gllde a1onS'
like procession of vested priests, a.
is the custom every day when the court
sits. Each will stop at the space pc
tween the pillars that leads to his seat
and then. simultaneously. all Will en-
tar the bench and be seated. The new
/ C,hief Justice will then take seat In
| side the bar, facing the bench. ano
while they are fling in the crier viii
rap three times with his gavel, and IN
| singsong voice utter his:
| "Oyez, oyeZ, oye2! All persons ma
ing business before the honorable the
supreme Court OF the United States
are admonished to draw near and give
4 attention, as the court is about to as
semble. God bless the United States
4 and the honorable court"
1 Justice Harlan will then announce
Il Chief Justice Fuller's death, as vel
4 as the nomination and confirmation Of
II his successor. whose commission vii
next be read aloud by James III, Nc
Kenney, who has been clerk OF, thu
court for over thirty years and an en-
ploye of that tribunal for hfty-twt
years. Mr.. MckennsX.- VIII then hans