The Washington herald., 1920-12-26
selves VIII BE Submerged

Selves VIII BE Submerged.
Warren G. Harding will have his
thoughts to himself that day and so
will Woodrow Wilson. They will be
submerged in the quadriennial pa
geant built as a pledge of fealty to
the new First Citizen. Little figures
whirled down Pennsylvania avenue;
little figures set up above a sea of
faces at the east front of the Capt.
tol; little figures whirled back again;
the cheers of a dense-ranked myriad
whirling behind with the exhaust
yapor of the automobile; one little
figure saluting uniformed hosts from
a reviewing stand; the other little
figure moving of. temporarily merg-
ed in the colorless mass of the non
official.
Yet, to the one in the reviewing
stand will this, the great American
celebration. be dedicate. More than
lOO, 900 men, women and children
will converge upon Washington in
his honor; hundreds of committee
men will labor several months be-
forehand on details of the great
smooth-working plan; miles of bunt-
ing will be spread to winds inevita-
bly, chill, and the National Capital,
City of Magnificent Distances or
the New Workers, respectively, have
IL, will perform the feat of the Ana
conda, expanding itself to unheard-
of proportions to enguIf it's visitors.
When Thomas jefferson was inau-
Surated he walked from y stately
mansion on Capitol Hill according to
the best tradition to the Capitol and
his grand military tribute consisted
of a sslute and a present arms by
the was6In gton Artillery and a COM
pany of Alexandra rifiemen.
When President Wilson, as it were.
clutching the thunderbolts which a
month later he hurled at Germany,
rode to the great building in 1917 he
was the cynosure of more than twice
the number of eyes possessed by our
then standing army, and from in
front of the White House he Witness
ed the marching of $500 men. The
crowds were FIVE days assembling
and about as many departing.
A survey of past inaugurals is a
source of interest in the light of the
many novelties and unusual epi-
sodes to be found in the older days
before the increasing years of the
republic had ordained the casting
of the ceremonies in a mold Of eti-
quette the breaking of which would
come as near shocking Americans
with a sense of bad form as could
any fracture of custom in lard
of cheerful iconoclasm.
Chants for Washington.
George Washington became Presi-
dent in New York on April 80, 1882
His journey to the city from Mount
Vernon was a 200 y mile triumph.
R1oUsrz wera rained at his feat ano
songs chanted in his honor at Alex
andria, Georgetown. Baltimore.
wilmington, Chester. Philadelphia,
Trenton and Elizabethport, where
he took barge for New York But
the official procedure was not SO
sweetly spontaneous.
On the steps of the old Federal
Building, now replaced by the Sub
treasury and made memorable by
many events. latest of them a tragic
bomb explosion. he was sworn in
as the first President. Chancellor
Livingston administered the oath of
office, and sent forth the shout:
Long Live George Washington.
President OF the United States"
which was enthusiastically echoed
by the crowd. but later contemned
as being cry too reminiscent of
God Save the King"
washington's second inaugural
took place at Philadelphia, and the
Father OF His Country was array
ed on that occasion like its ri.h
uncle. contemporary description
showing him to have been logged
out as follows: Black velvet suit,
black silk stockings. japanned shoes
with silver. buckles. diamond knee