Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-02-08
THE INAUGURATION.
By Frederic ]. Haskin.

Once every four years Washington
loses its atmosphere of southern leisure
and becomes a feverishly alert, bust
ness-like city. Local merchants drop
their afternoon golf and superintend
the arrangement of new stock; board
Ing house keepers, of which there are
legion. begin to refurnish their estab-
Observation-Disclosures with beds and
cots-and the hotels are scenes of hur-
ried confusion. with raw lumber. china
and other equipment stacked high in
the corridors. Society, politics and
genealogy are all forgotten in the
preparations for the thousands of
visitors who come to-witness the inaug
uration.
This year the preparations are more
elaborate than ever. Woodrow Wilson
is the first democratic President to sue
coed himself since Andrew Jackson.
and the democrats naturally feel that
1T is an occasion for exceptional cell
ebration. Grandstands are already
springing up like mushrooms, iron tab
lets are being placed on all the places
of historic interest and the inaugural
committee is racking it's brains to dis
cover sufficient accommodations for all
the visiting troops and sta bleS for their
mounts. The government. too. is very
busy preparing an exhibition of NOV
ing pictures for the benefit of the
inaugural visitors, showing all the
activities of the departments. from the
money-ma king apparatus of the bureau
of engraving and printing TO the mill
tary costumes of the War Department.
Last Inauguration, the various cele-
brations planned by the victorious demo-
Gratis S h W e d
Plans Disrupted at a peculiar tend
Last Inaugural. wrono IN tbs
first place. almost all the city police
men went to meet the new President
upon his arrival al the depot on the
Sd of March, and the suffra gette parade,
left unprotected. was the scene of
violent riots. This created so much. ex-
element and outraged comment that
the long, orderly masculine procession
of the next day proved tame in COM
parison- The inauguration of the Presi-
dent became largely a discussion of
woman suffrage.
In order to prevent the recurrence of
such disaster the inaugural commit
tee has expended 4 great deal of
thought and energy on the matter of
the parade. To keep the women under
observation, they have been invited to
participate IN the parade, so that. con-
trary to precedent. one entire section
of the procession will be made up of
women. Moreover. for the first time
in the history of the country. the Presi-
dents wife is to ride with him to the
Capitol and stand by while he takes
his oath of Office, the wife OF the Vice
President also accompanying her hus-
band.
According to the latest plans of the
inaugural committee, which, however,
is capable of changing its mind on
short notice, the plan OF the Inaugural
ton is as follows: Sunday, March T. at
noon. Mr.. Wilson will take the presi-
Dental oath in private at the White
House, the oath being administered by
Chief Justice White of the United
States Supreme Court. This is so that
the country may not be without an
executive head from Saturday until
Monday. when the official ceremonies
take place. Fortunately the calendar
is rarely 50 inconSiderate. The 18th of
March has fallen on Sunday only three
times before-once in 1871. at the be-
ginning of Monroe's second term; in
1Si5. when Zachary Taylor became
President. and in 1877. al the Hayes
inauguration
At IL o'clock on Monday mornir-