Evening star., 1925-03-01

Oh the INAUGURATION OF
80 will cover several pages in the
Washington papers. The local jour
mails of 1926 devoted but one column
TO accounts of the exercises incident
to the change of admin istrations. The
news" of Mr.. Coolidge succeeding
himself in the Executive Mansion will
be flashed over telegraph and cable to
all parts of the earth a few minutes
after it happens. The first word OF
Adams having succeeded Monroe did
not arrive in New York until March
:, 1925.
A HUNDRED years ago the inaugu-
ration of the Vice President took
place several hours previous TO that
of the President. The incoming Vice
President a that time was John c.
Calhoun, and he took the oath Of of
| fee in the Senate chamber admins
| tered by Gen. Andrew Jackson short
| ly after 10 o'clock in the morning
| Gen. Jackson, by the way, was at
that time serving as Senator from
Tennessee. and was accorded the hon
\ or of swearing in the Vice President
| because he was the oldest member of
the upper branch of Congress.
About noon a military escort, con-
! sisting of general and staff officers
| and several volunteer companies,
marched to 1888 F street northwest.
| the residence of the President-elect
| and there received the incoming
chief Magistrate, together with Pres
| ident Monroe and several officers of
| the Government
| Mr.. Adams was attired 'Tn a plain
suit of black clothes made entirely
of home manufactures" - apparently
! something unusual judging by the
! care which the various accounts of
the inauguration take to mention this
| fact
Led by troop of Cavalry, the
Executive party moved to the Capt.
tol, where 1t was received by a de-
| tachment from the Marine Corps
In those days the spectators did
not stand behind wire ropes and view
! the President from a respectful dis
| tance. Adams and his escorts were
Joined by IAN immense concourse of
citizens, on foot, in carriages and on
| horseback" who accompanied him to
| the Capitol.
At 1920 O'Clock the presidential
| party entered the House of Repre-
sentatives. Those in the room at the
| time included the Vice President, the
! members of the Senate, a number of
members of the House OF Represent
atives, the justices of the Supreme
/ Court in their robes of office and the
| foreign diplomats in the costumes of
! their respective courts.
Spectators crowded the galleries,
| the Hobbies, the promenade behind
the Speakers chair and, nota bene,
| the bar There We're soldiers in uni
/ form and well dressed women in the
| audience, which, according to the in
| spired pen of one Of the reporters
exhibited that most appropriate and
interesting of associations, valor
| guarding beauty"
No mention is made of members of
the cabinet being present, but this
| may be an omission made by the
| newspaper men, because their de-
| scriptions, by their own confession,
are incomplete.
An editorial in one of the Wash
| ington papers, commenting on its
correspondents account OF the Adams
| inauguration, affords an interesting
| insight into early American journal
| ism: I'VE have not the time, neither
have we the necessary materials, to
make our rapidly sketched outline of
| the scenes of yesterday more perfect
Among the other things which it has
been found impossible to enumerate
are the official or personal designa-
tions of the members of the foreign
legations, or of our own civil, mill
| tary and naval officers. who were
| present on the occasion"
| X X
TN 1926, when President Adams read
his inaugural address prior to TAX
| ing the oath of office, he spoke from
the Speakers chair of the House of
Representatives. The audience ap-
plauded several passages during it's
delivery, and at its conclusion "a gem
eral plaudit burst forth from the vast
| assemblage, which continued some
minutes"
Mr.. Adams then walked down from
the Speakers platform to a table
which had been placed on the floor
of the House. and around which the
justices of the Supreme Court were
seated Chief Justice John Marshall
presented the President-elect with a
volume of the laws of the United
| States from which he read, with a
loud voice, the oath of office. This
event was cheered to the echo by the
audience and heralded from without
by salutes of artillery:
| Congratulations were then in order,
and the new President was kept busy
shaking hands for some minutes. A
local paper described the scene rather
POLITICALLY:
"The congratulations which then
poured in from every side occupied
the hands and could not but reach the
heart of President Adams. The meet
ing between him and his venerated
predecessor, Mr.. Monroe, had in 1t
something peculiarly affecting"
Gen. Andrew Jackson, who had been
one of the four presidential candi-
dates in the closely contested election
of the previous November, which had
been thrown into the House for de-
cision, was one of the first to take
the hand of the President, and their
department toward each other was
described as being "a rebuke to that
littleneSs of party spirit which can
see no merit in a rival, and feel no
joy in the honor of a competitor"
Doubtless the most interested wit
ness of these ceremonies was John
Adams, father OF the incoming Presi-
dent who, % years before had en-,
tered the executive chair of the Ma
ton. This was an event which will
probably never be repeated in Ameri-
can history. 1t is also worthy of note
that of the first five Presidents only
one had son, and he became the
sixth President.
The entire ceremonies took little
more than an hour. and shortly after
l o'clock the President returned TO
| his private residence, being escorted
| back as he came. Mrs. Monroe was.
: at the time. Ill at the White House
: and it was President Adams wish
| that she be not removed until fully
recovered.
l AN idea of the provinciality of
"A Washington at that time can be
derived from the fact that several
gentlemen professed to have seen
! four eagles circling. about the dome
of the Capitol during the inaugural
/ ceremonies This event led a New
= York journal to Inquirer Was their