The Daily Alaska empire. [volume] (Juneau, Alaska) 1926-1964, 1937-01-20
HARDING TAKES OFFICE


woodrow w lsoN his health bro'>en
and his vision shattered OF leading
the United States into a concert OF
the nations to preserve peace and
democracy.
Murmurs of sympathy mingled
with the cheers as the crowds caught
sight Of the dlsease-wasted and
strife-weary figure of the wartime
President. sitting beside the vigor
Gus and ruddy President-elect in
their ride to the capitol
Descending the, White House steps
for the last time Wilson was as
sisted by secret service men who
placed his feet on each step and
hen or the running board of the
automobile At the capitol the Presi-
dent signed some bills and chatted
with attempted gaiety. I'd
Avoided Ceremonies
| Finally he yielded to entreaties
Of his family that he spare himself
he ordeal Of the inaugural cere-
monies He and the President-elect
clasped hands. and Harding said:
| Goodbye, Mr. President. l know
you are glad to be relieved of your
burden and Worries
Yet the Ohioan was the first of
the two to die
AS Wilson walked falteringly to
his car he remarked to Senator
Knox of Pennsylvania: THE SEN
ate has thrown me down, but l am
| not going to fall down" He was
referring to the senate's defeat Of
his proposal that the United States
enter the League of Nations.
AS the automobile sped by the
| White House on the way TO his pri-
vate home in street, Wilson never
glanced at the mansion which had
been his home during eight highly
dramatic years
Dramatic because of its extremely
humble, homespun setting was the
first Inauguration of Calvin Cool
/ idge who took the oath Of office
at PAT in the morning in the lamp
lighted sitting room of the Vermont
farm house where he was born.
Oath Given By Father
Called from his sleep by mes
sage telling of the death of Presi-
dent Harding in San Francisco,
Coolidge had dressed quickly A
trifle pale but composed, he walked
down the old stairway of his boy
hood days into the sitting room.
Mrs. Coolidge. weeping, followed
t! him.
Coolidge's father administered the
cath. The new President stood with
right hand appraised at one side OF
little table with Mrs Coolidge
beside him. Across the table his
father, face beaming and voice
trembling, read the few words of
the oath ito preserve, protect and
defend the constitution of the Unit F.,
ed States
And Calvin Coolidge, parsimoni-
Gus of speech, added: 80 help me,
God"
Weather Elements
Rough weather has ruined many
Inauguration pageants, imperiled the
health of several Presidents and pro-
bably contributed to the fatal i'll
ness OF one chief executive.
William Henry Harrison, the old
est man to be elevated to the Presi-
dency, died of pneumonia said to
have been superinduced in some
measure by the rigors of his inaugu-
ration.
Hatless and without an cvercoat, !
he 68-year-old warrior Of Tip
pacanoe fame, rode his white char I
ger from the White House to the
capitol on wintry day, and then
stood bareheaded for more than an
hour in raw wind while he deliv !
cred his inaugural
Died After Month
Returning to the White House, |
President Harrison stood in re- !
ception line all afternoon and pol
ished off the day by attending three
Inauguration balls. For the next
few weeks he was deluged by office
seekers. Finally. he contracted pneu- !
monia and died exactly one month !
after his induction.
To the cheers of thousands who |
stood in pools of water under drip
| ping red, white and blue umbrellas, |
Benjamin Henry Harrison, became
President on one of the worst in