Evening star., 1917-03-05
BAD WEATHER CUTS
INAUGURAL TRAFFIC
Incoming Visitors Numerous,
But Fewer Than in
Recent Years.
NEARBY TRAINS ARE HEAVY

uuHlNO MIL uIHtu
By 10 o'clock this morning. Union
station. which had been a human bee
hive for the preceding twenty-four
hours. began to assume it's normal
aspect.
Up until noon. though. incoming
trains brought in crowds. principally
from Baltimore, who made their way
quickly through the station and hur-
ried to Pennsylvania avenue.
The excursion trains bearing the WIS.,
itors from nearby points. southern as
well as from Baltimore and Philadel
phfa, began arriving by o'clock. From
that time until 10 o'clock a train arrived
more on an average of every fifteen
minutes. and these trains averaged ten
coaches each. The Pennsylvania road
brought in nearly as many trains.
carrying passengers both from Balti-
more and points north to Philadelphia.
Boys Band From Baltimore.
The Boys Band from the st. Mary's In
dustrial School, aBltimore. was an early
arrival this morning. There are about
sixty boys in the band. which is under
the command of John Noken. The boys
are to return to Baltimore soon after
the parade.
Mich, headed by Democratic National
Committeeman Judge W. 8. Connolly
got in about 9 o'clock.
Under the leadership Of Scout Execu-
tive W. P. Bradley Of Baltimore $50
Boy Scouts from that place reached
contingent are a drum corps, q bugle
corps and a hospital corps. The boys
will not be in the city long. returning g
to Baltimore shortly after the parade
A company of cadets from the Balti-
more City College, under the command
of Capt. p. L. Reinhard. came in on
the same train. They, too, will return
home soon after the parade. Novaks
Band. from Chicago, composed of thirty
pieces. got in shortly before the parade
Early Morning Crowd Restive.
The early morning crowd was restive.
They moved up and down both sides of
Pennsylvania avenue. and the majority
of them did not seek positions of want
age close to the ropes until the con-
gestion became SO great that strolling
about became too difficult.
The souvenir and balloon men made
their last earnest apeals in an effort
to dispose of the stock that had gone
slowly because Of the rainy weather
Boys appeared crying hot sand
wiches' and others shouted Cant see
the parade without program"
Many of the stands We're comparative
ly empty when the President and Vice
President went to the Capitol. The
crowd on the streets was simmer than
usual at this stage of the day. This was
attributed to the uncertain weather
Though thousands were gathered
about the Willard Hotel when the Vice
President emerged to go to the White
House and thence to the Capitol, few
recognized him.
Crowds Cheer Sunshine.
Women armed with camp chairs, and
others carrying cushions under their
arms to make life easier on the stands
were plentiful in the early crowds
There was much speculation on all
sides about the weather As the sun
broke through the clouds for the first
time at about 9:o5 o'clock, a cheer wen,
up from various points along the line
From 10 o'clock on every street seem
ed to be pouring crowds into Pennsyl-
vania avenue, which swallowed them
up and apparently left room for more
Along Delaware avenue and down other
streets from Union station both side
walks exhibited moving stream of
folk bound for the line Of the parade.
covert Act" to Get Drunk.
Policemen took every precaution
against intoxication even to giving
warnings that efforts to be imbibe
would be considered overt acts" Blue
coats approached number of men
with bulging pockets and gave them
of this warning: That's all
right SO long as you keep it there, we
can't stop you. but you had better go
easy on that stun today"
Plain clothes men mingled in the
crowd looking for suspicious charac-
ters. These agents supplemented
those from the Department of Justice
and the secret service men of the
Treasury Department. who visited most
of the big hotels last evening. mingling
with crowds in the lobbies. and keep
ing general lookout for any signs Of
persons who might cause trouble.
'C7e of the most effective additions to
the decorations made today consisted
of two American flags stretched across
Pennsylvania avenue at Sth street,
part of the decorations of the minor
court of honor at that point.
Traffic Is Light.
Inaugural traffic through the Union
station yesterday afternoon and last
night was comparatively light. Station
employees who have been connected
with local terminals for years said they
did not remember a time when the
number of arrivals has been as small
on the eve of an Inauguration as it
was last night
The number of persons waiting for
the arrival of friends and relatives and
curiosity seekers was small. the rain
probably keeping down the total
So small was the crowd last night