The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-03-05
SENATE CONFIRMS NOMINATIONS OF
 CABINET MEMBERS
President Harding Takes Oath at 1.18 D. m., and Hangs Up Hat and Goes to Work
 Within Two Hours
By Associated Press


 Woodrow Wilson to Warren G. Hard ing today in an inagural ceremony at once the simplest and most dra- matic of generation.
 The drama centercd about the
 retirement of Woodrow Wilson to
 private life. Insistept to the last
 moment that he would carry ont
 retiring Presidents customary Q
 part in the cerem onies, Mir. Wilson
 finally yielded to tho pleading of
 relatives and to the warning of
 his physicians that he might en- danger his life and only nccomps-
 Bied his successor to the capitol l As he descended from the White 1 House portico to enter the waiting automobile, secret service men placed hls feet on each descending step; when he left the car to enter the capi- tol, he was practically lifted up ! short flight of steps by an attendant and, although he walked along with the aid of cane to the Presidents room where he signed bills, he told Senator Knox, chairman of the con- gressional inaugural committee, that he was not equal to participating in the ceremony of inaugurating Vice President Collidge in the Senate chamber nor in the ceremony of in- augurating President Harding on the portico.
 l After a few moments at the capitol, MT. Wilson went to his private homo to become plain Woodrow Wilson now, as he expressed it, and he never even glanced at the White l House as he passed by on his way.
 PRECEDENT REVIVED
 Before My. Hnrdjng had been
 President hour. he had revived
 precedent set by George Wash
 ington by conferrfng with the I Senate in executive session, sub
 naitting in person the. nominations
 Of his 10 cabinet officers. alI of
 which immediately were con-
 firmed
 Within another hour he had
 gone to the White House to "hang
 up his hut md go 10 work,- as he himself often hnd said, and un- Il locked the White House gates
 which for four years had been
 closed to the public. The public
 celebrated the event by actually Ovcr-ruunlnE the grounds anu ',.
 peeping through the windows to see
 the new President In conference with cabinet officers.
 MT. Harding took the oath of of flee at 1:18 o'clock. exactly eight years to the minute from the time the same words of obligation were spoken by MT. Wilson at his first naugura- tion. The inaugural ceremonies, con- forming to Mir. Harding's wishes, were kept free from almost every show of the pomp and circumstances that usually surround the incoming of a chief executive. Thousands witnessed the oath and cneered the old and new Presidents along Pennsylvania ave- nue. but the crowd was only a frac- tion of the customary inauguration throngs.
 STILL AFTER NORMALCY On the Bible used by George Wash ton at his first induction into office, and on verse of scripture extolling the virtue of an humbls faith in God. MT. Harding pli.shted his best ability
 to the presidency. In his inaugural , address he reaffirmed his reverence 7 for the traditions of the fathers and : reiterated his belief that the su-
 rreme task ahead was to bring the country once more to normalcy.
 The inaugural ceremony took place as usual on stand erected above the I east SlcpS oI tic tdPitOl, put III F marked contrast to previous inaueura-
 tions when thousands of seats had , been provided, all the distinguished i, company had to remain standing
 Even the inaugural stand was much 3 smaller than usual and was erected : to accommodate a telephonic appara- tus which carried Mir. Harding's voice ' far out over the capitol plaza and for l the first time enabled thousands to hear an inaugural address 5 About the only features familiar to in- augurals were the patriotic decorations that fluttered under bright sun along j Pennsylvania avenue and the usual es- } cort of cavalry acting as a presidential : guard of honor in the ride to and from I the capitol The only sembance Of a parade was presented by the little group of official motor cars and the hollow squad of troopers, kept at a trot all the way
 COOLIDGE INAEGURATED
 Before his own inauguration ' gan, Mir. Harding attended that of his VI ce PreSi- dent, Calvin M. Coolidge. in the Senate s chambers. It was an hour past noon when the first of the inaugurating com pany began to file out on the platform facing the east plaza. members of ths l. Senate and House coming first, followed by the foreign diplomats in dress uni form. and last of all by the justices of the supreme court and the President elect. Chief Justice White and Mir. liar ding walked out to the front of the plat i form together as the marine band and : the Presidents own played the national : anthem Then the oath was adninis- 5 tered and the new President began his inaugural address, reading from manu- | script but making his points with viz t orous gestures that awakened repeated ? periods of applause.
 : The Presidents visit to the Senate 9 chamber followed immediately the con- I clusion of the address. He had made : known his intentions to a few of the y leaders and the Senate was waiting 'n
 srecial executive session to receive him. He went first to the Presidents room
 and was escorted by committee of senators to the rostrum of the chamber :, to make his first communication to z Congress. }. Submission of the cabinet selecttons $ ss tContInued on Page Twol