Evening Star Newspaper, March 4, 1929, Page 37

FUNCTION FOR MADISON WAS REPORTED BY ADAMS “Crowd Excessive, Heat Oppressive and Entertainment Bad” Picture of Distinguished Event. NE wonders if in the light of more than a hundred years of inaugural balls, with but few breaks in the record, this brilliant and bizarre close to a day of wild excitement is to hear its funeral knell sounded. Not since the Taft ball, March 4, 1909, which closed a day of wild revelry and wilder rivalry between man and the elements, has there been such a ball, and certainly if that event must be the end to that phase of social history nothing could be more brilliant or fitting. Mrs. Taft herself has written it into the annals of social life and it was_certainly not any disappointment in that event that caused the cessation of the festivity. The plea that the hundreds of thousands of citizens and visitors to the Capital wish such a finishing touch to the installation of a President is undoubted, but it is quite certain with S0 many large and brilliant ballrooms in hostelries at the command of the committee, this desire can in a measure be gratified. Of course, there is a general feeling that Vanity Fair needs must flaunt jtself in evening attire in the very face of the new President and must also be allowed to gaze upon him and his family at close range after going to the expense of coming from the four corners of the United States to witness the great panorama of the day. Only a few Presidents have been started on their social way in the ‘White House without an official inaugu- ral ball, President Pierce being about the first to attempt it. He and Mrs. Pierce were in deep mourning when he assumed his office March 4, 1853, a son having been killed in a railway accident before their very eyes. le the ball was lacking, nothing else was omitted in the inaugural program, even the regulation downpour of sleet and snow. However, 50 imbued with the idea of a great festival in the form of a ball have been inaugural committees of the past that not until President Wilson vetoed such & form of entertainment was one omitted. In neither of the Wilson administrations was there a ball, and President and Mrs. Harding, President and Mrs. Coolidge and Presi- dent and Mrs. Hoover declined to be_thus offic‘ally honored. 1If indeed the passing of the inaugural ball is permanent, it takes from the inaugural committee one of the most popular and interesting phases of the day’s program and also one which adds to its exchequer. While some parts of inaugural ball history read like flashes from Aladdin’s Lamp, others are more grotesque and amusing than anything ever produced in Puck, and if one can forget the cruel disappointment of the committee when things did not go right—and be it said they seldom did—then indeed it is well to close the history of the institu- tion and call it even. Adequate History Missing. The sentimental must look back as upon a fine old picture when vision that first reception held by Presiden ‘Washington in New York and a scarcely less nt event in Philadelphia. Really not enough of a written history exists to give an adequate idea of what these finishing touches to the first President’s inauguration were like. Un- fortunately for Gen. Washington and the public at large, the army of snap- shot photographers was not even in embryo and only a few sketch artists ‘were rampant. However, of the first inaugural ball in Washington, there is more that can besaid. It is well that forceful, decided women like Abigail Adams and Dolly Madison first occupied the White House and that the restrictions of today were not: thrown about them, else rare in- deed would be a glimpse in written story of that early period. No less a famous reporter than John Quincy Adams, without whose prolific quill but little of the first social life in the White House would be known, gives 2’1 record of the Madison inaugural ] “Went with the ladies to a ball at Long's in honor of the new President,” writes Mr. Adams. “The crowd was ex- cessive, the heat oppressive and the en- tertainment bad. Mr. Jefferson was there, About midnight the ball broke up.” Other reporters were extant in those days, too, and there is a report that says President and Mrs. Madison arrived at Long's Hotel on Capitol Hill in their handsome coach drawn by four horses and with a coachman and footman. Certainly no reporter of today could wish a greater flourish than that. ‘While still reiterating that the ball was a mighty success, it is also acceded that it was a great discomfort and disap- pointment. The ballroom, a mere pigeon- hole when compared with the ballrooms at either the Willard Hotel or the May- flower of today, was so crowded that the guests could scarcely move about, much less dance, and so hot and so illy venti- lated that windowpanes were broken to let in the air. The band played the “Jefferson March” with Thomas Jefferson’s well timed entrance, and when the President and Mrs. Madison stepped into view played the “Madison March.” Mrs. Madison walked with one of the managers. Her gown was of pale buff velvet, perfectly plain, but with a very long train. It was Lady Dolly's head- dress that caught the public eye. It came from Paris, and was made of the same velvet as the gown, but with bands of white satin, and on it was the plumage of two birds of paradise. Even in those days, March 4, 1809, reporters looked to the small accessories of toilet, and they further record that she wore earrings, necklace and bracelets of pearls. She likewise carried a fan and | 478 a lace handkerchief. President Madison, who walked into Long’s ballroom with Mrs. Cutts, who was not nearly so grand as her sister, Mrs. Madison, was not overlooked by the reporter, who says he wore black with ruffies at the hand and threat. His knee breeches were met by hand- some black silk stockings and silver buckles adorned his shoes. Diplomats Present. ‘The only diplomats present were Gen. Turreau, the French Minister; David M. Erskine, the British Minister, and his American wife, who was Miss Cad- wallader of Philadelphia, and Peter Petersen, the Danish Minister. The French Minister took Mrs Madison out to supper and the British Minister took out Mrs. Cutts. The table was in crescent shape, with Mrs. Madison sitting at the center with the French and English Ministers on either side; Mrs. Cutts on the right and Mrs. Robert Smith, wife of the Secre- tary of the Navy on the left. President Madison sat npposite his wife. Mr. Jemerson, who only tarrfed for two hours at the ball, beamed all through that time, but Mr. Madison seemed “spiritless and exhausted.” He and Mrs. Madison left just after the supper, and, unlike the ham-and-eggs- breakfasts that follow the balls of to- day, the guests were all out by the stroke of 12 midnight. The family of President James Monroe apparently were not better sat- isfied with the inaugural ball, carefully planned as a brilliant finale to his in- auguration, than they were with any- thing else in the White Fouse and Capital, and while they attended the ball at Brown's Hotel, they remained but a short time. It is too bad that either fatigue or modesty prevented John Quincy Adams from writing his own inaugural ball story, but we simply learn that he and Mrs. Adams attended the ball at Ca- rusi’s, a fashionable dance place of that period, remained but a short time after supper and then took leave. Even though the pall of mourning hung over the household of President Andrew _Jackson, his beloved wife, Rachel Donelson Robards Jackson, for whom he fought pistol and social duels and even killed a man, having died three months before his inauguration, a ball was planned as part of the in- augural ceremonies and he attended. His niece and adopted daughter, who was to serve as mistress. of the White House for him, accompanied him to the ball. She wore a handsome costume of amber-color aatin, brocaded in clusters of rosebuds and violets and trimmed with lace and pearls. The gown was a gift from the President and ioday it is in the collection of gowns worn by First Ladies of the Land cn exhibition in the National Museum. Van Buren Ball Brilliant. Martin Van Buren was honored with one of the most brilliant inaugural balls yet held, and, taking place at Carusi’s— Carusi evidently was learning something about inaugural balls and how to con- duct them—was a sumptuous affair. No less a reporter than N. P. Willis, one of the cleverest gossip writers of that time, says: “At 9:30 President Van Buren entered the room, atfended by the heads of the departments. He took his stand on an elevated platform and there received the devoirs of the company.” Gen. Jackson, who was short on for- malities in many ways, did not attend, but to show his fellowship he re- mained in the White House as th> guest of his successor for two weeks before returning to Tennessee. But the ball-— the supper was truly sumptuous and champagne flowed like Potomac water. The rugged old warrior, Gen. Wil liam Henry Harrison, did not scorn balls, so he and his cabinet attended the Tippecanoe ball, went early and tarried until late. There were two balls on this occasion, the ball in the new assembly room being far smarter and much more crowded than was the Tip- pecanoe ball. Committee Forgot Diplomats. One of the drollest stories in the his- tory of inaugural balls is the manner in which the inaugural committee over- shot in their efforts to make the Presi- dent James K. Polk ball, on the night of March 4, 1845, one of the grandest social trdlumkxl;h: ’o{o the d‘lyxingi v;l.s so grand that $10 was cl or tickets, an unheard-of thing at that time, and invitations were sent to the elite. and smart set. select, and in the effort more so, the committee forgot to invite the diplomats. ‘The committee arranging a less splen- did ball with tickets at $2 got wind of this fact and on the sly invited the diplomatic corps who, ing to see the great democr: of the coun- try, accepted forthwith. The Ilatter affair was called the Tippecanoe ball, and President Harrison and his ¢ab- inet joined the foreigners there and utaiy.hez late. $10 ball in the new assembly h_“‘momt ‘was magnificent, crowded, but y. For Président Zachary Taylor's in- auguration there seemed to be, accord- ing to research, three balls, one at Carusi’s, one in the old National Hotel, and a third, the largest and the one attended by the President, in a tem- porary structure in Judiciary Square where the Pension Office now stands. Gungel's Orchestra played, hundreds of candles spluttered and dripped from their chandeliers, the dance floor was bad and arrangsments were chaotic. No accommodations were made for the disposal of wraps and coats, the sup- per might have been bountiful, but when it was announced no one could reach it to dine, and when the angry crowd got ready to go home they could retrieve neither their wraps nor their carriages. Women had to brave the weather as best they could and the whole event was pronounced a crying shame. Mrs. Taylor Absent. President Taylor arrived in the ball- room at 11 o’'clock, accompanied by the mayor, Mr. Seaton, and Speaker Winthrop. With them were the Presi- dent’s daughter, Mistress Betty Bliss, 20, and destined to be the mistress of the White House during her father's administration. Mrs. Taylor, who had followed the general on the battlefield and through all his military triumphs, declined to assume the duties of mistress of the mansion, and delegated her lovely daughter to represent her. One of the bits of gossip anent this absent First Lady of the Land was that she smoked a pipe, a matter that would not or need not at least create much of a furor in this day and time. But Betty Bliss, who becam: a great pet in Washington, wore to this ball a white silk gown very simply made, and quite in contrast -to the dazzling cos- tumes and jewels of the ladies of the d‘lptlomanc corps and the rich of so- clety. President Franklin Plerce escaped the throes of an inaugural ball because of family mourning, and society was, or was supposed to be, athirst for a bril- liant dancing event with which to close the elaborate program of the inaugural ceremonies for President James Bu- chanan. Even had plans been less bril- liantly carried out they must have seemed colorful compared with the b social reign of the previous ad- ministration. Nothing daunted by previous experi- ences, the inaugural committee again decided to venture on a ball in a tempo- rary structure in Judiciary Square. There they erected a building 235 feet long and 156 feet wide and 20 feet high —not much height when compared with some buildings in the Capital now- adays. We read that the interior was rich in effect, the ceiling covered with white muslin, studded wtih gold stars, and the wall hung with red, white and blue. President Buchanan arrived at 11 o'clock, and wore his much-adver- tized Lancaster suit made by Mr. Metz- ger, a talor of that city, the lining stitched to represent the 31 States with the keystene in the middle. Harriet Lane Attends. With him came the beloved Harriet Lane, his niece, who was to leave a bril- liant trail of history behind her as mis- tress of the White House. She wore a white silk gown trimmed with artificial flowers, blossoms of the same kind forming a trailing headdress. Her neck- lace was of many strands of seed pearls. ‘The supper was served in an adjoining room to that in which the reception was held, and so plenteous was the food and so magnificent the decorations that they were the talk of a whole genera- tion. There was a pyramid cake 4 feet high topped off with a flag bearing the coat of arms of every State and Terri- tory in the Union. Three thousand dol- lars was spent for wines, 400 gallons of oysters were eaten and 500 quarts of chicken salad consumed. Added to this were 1200 quarts of ice cream, 500 quarts of jelly, 60 saddles.of mutton, 14 THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, Grant's inaugural ball. the ball after Harrison’s inaugural. “An gyrrene T Scenes from inaugural balls of the past: 1. Martha Washington's reception. 7. McKinley's inaugural ball. (8 SR 2. One of the Lincoln inaugural balls. MONDAY, MARCH 4, 1929. 3. Arrival of the President’s party at 4..The Pension Office, interlor and exterior, on the evening qf Harrison’s inaugural. 5. A leal from some artist’s sketch book who attended 6. Mrs. Lincoln, dressed for the ball. 8. The Taft inaugural ball pounds of venison—which must have been for the presidential party alone— 18 rounds of beef, 75 hams, 125 tongues and pates of every known kind. The clamor for food was prodigious, and the inaugural committee was for once not accused of too much frugality. Southerners Stay Away. So successful was this ball that the one for President Lincoln was also given in a temporary building on Judiciary Square, and called by the newspapers of the day “The White Muslin Palace of Aladdin.” Already there were rumblings of trouble betwen the North and South, and but few Southerners attended. Washington, having a majority of resi- dents in sympathy with those below the Mason-Dixon line, also remained away. After the supper Mrs. Lincoln and the Little Giant, Senator Stephen A. Douglas, and others danced in a quad- rille, Mrs. Lincoln wore the extreme style in hoop skirts, her white satin gown almost covered with point lace, being so voluminous as to force her to reach at arm's length to clasp the hands of the other dancers. She wore a rich lace shawl. But Mrs. George Prancis Twain was the great show of the ball, her finely plaited blue silk dress with flounces of real thread lace almost as deep as the skirt itself caught with flowers and her hair powdered with gold. Lincoln’s second inaugural ball was held in the model room of the Patent Office, which was just then finished, For this ball Mrs. Lincoln wore a gown of great width of skirt, made of heavy white satin with set bouquets of flowers in many colors brocaded on it. There was a deep fall of lace at the top of the very low bodice, which fell off the shoulders with a cluster of flowers at the front and an elaborate garland of flowers on her smooth, dark hair. She wore pearl earrings, necklace and brace- lets and short white gloves. Like all ladies of the time, she carried a fan and a fine lace handkerchief, Greeley Loses Hat and Coat. The real nightmare of President Ulysses Grant's inauguration was the ball, held in a new wing of the Treas- ury Building. It was there that Horace Greeley lost his famous white hat and his y overcoat. The management amotnted.to cruelty. It is by an odd quirk of fate that the President's grandson and namesake is chairman of the inaugural ceremonies to induct President Herbert Clark Hoo- ver into office. The guests had to descend steps to get to the ballroom and there was no provision for checking wraps or for carriage calls, and the supper was a failure. Those who got into the supper room simply stayed there, and hungry, sleepy and tired many sat or even lay on the floor of the ballroom to rest. Women were almost unprotected from the hardships of mismanagement. President Grant’s second inaugural ball was intendled to be the most elab- orate ball ever given, but the weather was not reckoned on. It was just 4 de- grees above zero and the temporary structure on Judiciary Square was a mere shell. The principal room was 300 feet long by 150 feet wide and an arched ceiling 25 feet high. Never had there been such an elaborate decora- tion and several hundred canary birds had been purchased and so distributed as to fill the room with their notes. The poor little things tucked their heads under their wings to keep from freezing and never peeped. There were five other buildings and each as uncom- fortable as the ballroom. Mrs. Grant's gown was of white satin covered entirely with black brussels lace, and the gown of Nellie Grant, the White House belle, was of white silk covered with illusion. But no one at the ball knew this, for they had to keep on their coats all during their stay in the room. The food was fairly frozen stiff, Sixty thousand dollars had been spent on the ball to make it the most gorgeous in the history of the Capital. There was no inaugural ball with which to finish the ceremonies for President Rutherford B. Hayes and aside from considerable restlessness in the political situation which made it inadvisable, there must have lingered the memory of the frozen guests and canaries at the Grant ball. Temporary buildings had not proven comfortable for 4th of March balls, end when President James Abram Garfleld was inaugurated it was decided to hold the ball in the New National Museum, now the Old Museum, and President and Mrs. Hayes, who remained in Wash- ington, followed the precedent of some of the early Presidents and attended the ball. They ‘.d declined to have 3 ball mark the ceremonies at the end of President Hayes inauguration, be- ing strict church folk, but they did not mind attending the ball for his suc- cessor. Mrs. Garfield wore & mauve satin gown, trimmed in handsome lace, and no jewels. Like many other hand- some gowns worn by Firs: Ladles of the Land, this garment is in the collection in the National Museum. Supper Is Bounteous. ‘The presidential party arrived at 9 o'clock and after the usual promenade, a bounteous supper was served. The guests were vast in numbers and of wondrous capacity for food. They consumed 1,500 pounds of turkey, 100 gallons cf oysters, 3,000 biscuits and rolls, 50 hams of the fine Virginia type, 200 gallons of chick- en salad, 50 gallons of jelly, 250 gallons of coffee, 15,000 cakes, 250 gallons of ice cream and 300 pounds of butter. President Grover Oleveland’s inaugu- ral ball was held in the Pensicn Build- ing and Miss Rose Elizabeth Cleveiand, his sister, trod the boards with him that night. Miss Cleveland wore white silk and carrisd white roses. Eight thousand were said to have attended the ball. President Cleveland’s second inaugu- ral ball was also held in the Pension Building, and as between the first and the second Cleveland administrations he had become a family man, he and Mrs. Cleveland arrived at the ball at 9 o'clock. Mrs. Cleveland had become famed for her beauty, poise and gra- clouness, and as a White House bride was almost sainted in the eyes of the public. She was very lovely at this her first inaugural ball, and wore a gown of heavy white satin, empirc front and a tightly fitted back, a pointed train and trimmed in lace and crystal beads. The huge puffed sleeves dotted with crystal were so voluminous as almost to hide a side view of her face. She wore diamonds. The sleet, rain and hail that attended President Cleveland’s inaugu- ration March 4, 1893, obtained on Presi- dent Harrison’s inaugural day. The ball n held in the Pension Building, and as if to offset the miseries of the day, a huge ship of flowers 30 feet long was so suspended above the entrance as to shower the Prasident’s party with flowers as they stepped info the room. ‘Twelve thousand tickets were sold and preparations along every line were elaborate. Mrs. Harrison wore pearl color brocade with gold embroidery, the bodice cut chin high except for a soft- ening of lace at the front, sleeves were elbow length. These last inaugural balls are well within the minds of the citizens of the United States who came from far and wide to attend them, and always there is a sadness of heart when one thinks of the money spént and the discomfort endured. As if to temper the direful end of President William McKinley, his first inaugural day was attended by unusu- ally good weather for March 4 while four years, later, all the evils of the elements were let loose to give a day and night of discomfort. Both of the McKinley inaugural balls were held in the Pension Building, both were elabo- rate, and Mrs. McKinley, who prom- enaded with the President at the first ball, was very lovely in her gown of f white and gold and her hair done in soft puffs about her sweet face. Mrs. Mc- Kinley had, according to the news- papers, spent $10,000 on her wardrobe to take to the White House, and she was looked upon with great interest by simple-minded American women. As Elaborate ‘as First. ‘The second inaugural ball was quite as elaborate as the first, but Mrs. Mc- Kinley did not promenade with the President, but was taken directly to their box. At the last ball she wore white satin, lace and diamonds. The President’s mother, who had been with them at the first ball, dled shortly after her son was sworn into office, her death being the cause for President McKin- Ey not holding a New Year day recep- on. Enthusiasm Runs High. ‘There was particular joyousness in, the inauguration of President Theodore Roosevelt March 4, 1905, and the vast company of many thousands who met in the Pension Buildlnf for the ball were almost hysterical with enthusiasm. It had been long since there were chil- dren to grace such an occasion, an the ruddy foun( father and the whole- some, dignified mother and their chil- dren were fascinating figures to the public. While President Roosevelt was filling out the unexpired term of Presi- dent McKinley Mrs. Roosevelt had be- come known for her handsome gowns, especially those worn at State functions, and her inaugural ball gown was watched for with the keenest interest. ‘The material was woven in New Jer- and the SPECIAL INAUGURAL sey mills and was of heavy robin's eg; blue with a long plume effect brocadex in gold, which alternated th me- dallions of gold. The train was three yards long and the lace on the bodice was 200 years old. Quite as stately was Mrs. Fairbanks, wife of the Vice Presi- dent, in a gown of white satin with gold brocade and point lace. Perhaps the most interesting of all inaugural ball gowns on record is that of Mrs. Nicholas Longworth, worn at the ball following her father’s elec- tion to office. The Roosevelt family re- ceived but little advertising at the ball of the last McKinley administration and Mrs. Longworth, then Alice Roose- velt, was a young girl only about 14 years of age. She grew up rapidly in the warming light of public praise and adulation—also adoration—and her en- trance in the ballroom with her par- ents was the signal for enthusiastic applause. Twice as much space was devoted to discriptions of her gown as to even that of her mother or the gown of Mrs. Fairbanks. The almost regal robe was of white satin and gold, the petticoat of gold-color gauze over white, worn with a court train of white satin festooned about the hem with roses formed of gold gauze. The bodice of satin was cut square at the neck line and a jacket effect of gold gauze fell over it. Fes- toons of crush pink roses started at the shoulder and edged the line of the court train to its hem. She wore a necklace of pearls. Her hair, which she always wears plainly dressed, was drawn into a graceful knot at the back of her neck and loops of gold gauze roses caught at either side form- ed a half headdress. This beautiful costume will descend to Paulina Longworth, the daughter of Princess Alice, and is a much- treasured keepsake in the family. Taft Ball the Last. A wild frenzy of bad weather ac- companied President Willlam Howard Taft to Washington and inducted him into office March 4, 1909. Like Andrew Jackson, the President was driven to take the oath of office in the Senate chamber and 6,000 men were kept busy shoveling snow and sleet to break a trail for him to and from the Capi- tol and for the elaborate parade that was planned and partly carried out. SECTION, 5 GRANT INAUGURAL BALL LIKE NIGHTMARE TO SOME Horace Greeley Lost Famous White Hat and Gray Coat With Lack of Checking Place. }\{[z‘e’ than 58,000 tons of smow were Notwithstanding all these drawbacks the inaugural ball, the last in the history of inauguration day up to $his time, was a thrillingly brilliant e, The Pension Office, with its lofty c and stately plllars, was transfor into a magnificent ballroom with flowers, bunting and flags, and, as at the Roosevelt ball, there was the ele. ment of youth, the three children, & daughter and two sons, of the President and Mrs. Taft attended, as did the President’s Aunt Della. Mrs. Taft looks back upon the last in- augural ball with consummate pleasure, but admitted that the most troublous thing connected with it was her coif- fure, her hairdresser in her nervousness having to do and undo her tresses sev- eral times before the proper and becom- e Tresh in the minds of Washington qud resh in the m! o residents, it can truthfully be attested that the hairdresser was finally suceess- ful, and when a spray of diamonds was placed in just the proper position it was a regal success. Another trial which beset the day in connection with the ball was the fact that the unprecedented weather held up the railway trains, holding the ball gown and a few accessories somewhere between New York and the Capital. ‘Telegrams were sent back and forth as long as the lines lasted, and at the eleventh hour the gown and the woman accompanying it arrived, and at last the First Lady of the Land stood robed for the occasion. The general effect of the gown was empire, the foundation of rich white satin, over which fell white chiffon richly embroldered by hand in silver and crystals, the goldenrod design reaching to the waist in front and ex- tending about the very long train, There was rare old lace on the bodice, and about her throat Mrs. Taft wore a diamond dog collar. She and the Presi- dent promenaded up and down the ball- room and finally went to their box, ‘where there awaited them the members of their family. Should there never be another ball arranged by the inaugural committee, thers will always be a grand ball—per- haps several of them—on the night of March 4 with which to close the day’s program. And there are those of the past than which no other feature of inaugural ceremonies stands out as more colorful and interesting. Such Has Become the Marine HEN _the Marine Band, the President’s Own, comes marching down Pennsyl- vania avenue in advance of the motor car bearing the President and the President-elect— that's the grand moment for the throngs which' line that historie thoroughfare. | For since 1801 this group of musicians has proclaimed the approach of the moment when authority vested in one man passes by law into the keeping of another. For many years the Marine Band hore the burden of inspiring the citizens of the Federal territory with the proper spirit when the inauguration day rolled around. Although much musical aid has been proffered in later years, March 4 brings up the vision of this marvelous collection of musicians in full action, escorting the Chief Magis- trate to the Capitol, playing in the | interim between his taking the oath and his oration from the of the legislative halls and later at review of the visiting troops. This impressive band has played for every President ex- cept Washington, and if the opinions { of those who knew his traits of char- | acter are to be accepted he would not | have been impressed by French horns, |clarinets and such fol-de-rols. He { much preferred the fife and drums, the i music to which the Revolutionary sol- | diers went into action and which kept up the morale of the Army during the | bitterest of those waiting years. ‘The National Capital’s initial effort at |2 military parade, and what passed for | a band, was in the Spring of 1797. Gen. | Washington was returning to Mount | Vernon from Philadelphia after he had | taken part in the induction of the sec- |ond President, John Adams. He | the journey by horse. When he reached the District line James Hoban, archi- tect of the White House, who was in charge of many laborers, organized his men into some semblance of a local militia. At their head with about 10 fifers and drummers, he met the former President not far from Bladensburg and escorted him to Suter's Tavern, where he spent the night. Next morning the escort was again on hand to follow Gen. Washington to the ferry and to make a tremendous rattling of instru- ments when the journey to the Virginia side was under way. At Alexandria a local company took over the escort, and the “musics,” as the fifes and drums were called, accompanied the carriage, which had been sent from Mount Ver- non, quite a distance along the river. Plans Take Form. It has been recorded by all co- temporary writers that about 1785 and for the ensuing 10 years every soldier, sallor and marine who had served in the Revolutionary army was regarded merely as a man out of a job and it ‘was not until July 11, 1798, that Presi- dent Adams was moved to sanction the re-establishment of the Marines. Al- most at once the organizing of a band was considered and after many efforts, Maj. William Ward Burrows, a South Carolinian by birth but a Philadel- phian by adoption, who was the first commandant of the new Marine Corps, obtained congressional sanction and presidential approval to begin the formation of “musics” after a more elaborate plan than the fife and drum of the Revolutionary heroes. Washington Irving describes Maj. Burrows as “a lawyer, an organizer and a gentleman of accompl! mind and of polished manner.” He was also & with but Headquarters "of the Marine Corps in Philadelphia were under a canvas out | toward Fairmount Park and a smaller tent served for the “musics.” ‘The Capital City takes particular pride in the fact that the band’s friend and able supporter was Benjamin Stoddert, first Secretary of the Navy and the only cabinet officer who can 4 claim the District of Columbia as a legal residence. Although in the early “THE PRESIDENT’S OWN” Band, Famous in Every Inau- gural Except the First. It Took the Place of Fifes and Drums. for the order that Maj. Burrows pur- chase at once two horns, two clarinets, one bassoon, base drum and the reeds for the clarinets and bassoon. This order was given on August 31, 1800, just before the Government moved to the new Capital on the Potomac. arri from the Quaker City the Ma- rine Cozps found a temporary barracks on the river front on the exact site of the Naval Hospital and its grounds. On November 1 the new instruments came by special transports, and on that date the oldest band in the established re- ::bu;mudwbennlemdm air. It had been, many old chroniclers nfi: a source of bitter envy the makers of Washington' that French allied wing had of instruments to lead battle, and the splendi the British side could be when the rattle of the fife the fine musician and could help train any one | the an ear for harmony. | tary records he is called a resident of Mary- on Prospect avenue in Georgetown, where he had extensive warehouses on strains with much spirit.” Attractjons at Ball. At the ball given on the evening of this first inauguration held in Wash- ington, the Marines and their band ‘were stellar attractions and President Jefferson met every member of the corps and the musicians. The President often attended. the rehearsals of the band and took a hand at the horn and with the cello. In remembrance of these friendly acts and his constant solicitude, its historians always call the sage of Monticello “the ather of the Marine Band.” Jefferson's sec- ond inauguration was somewhat more brilliant and better attended than his first, but the era of visi militia with their bands even from Baltimore 101“ ;djlcent small cities. had not ar- vt ‘When James Madison was inaugurat- ed. the Marines had a renowned band and its movements shared the attention almost as much ~ the R:'rsomm who were .uarching tory. Baltimore and town sent cavalcades of mount- phrase, a Cavalry escort, and the Band in front playing s new “Presi- dent’s March,” which inspired the wait- lgu throng to many lusty and promlonnd ) the succeeding 12 years presented the same aspect. But with John Quincy Adams came ward the grand the spectacle which inspired poets and artists. After 1853 inauguration processions were longer and the city was flooded with melody. More members had been added to the Marine Corps Band, their land, this is not exact. Huhm'nlw the river front, and he had resided in this previous to the passing of the old city from the jurisdiction of Maryland to that of the Federal Gov- ernment. Approves of Band. Mr. Stoddert approved of a Marine band which should always reside at the seat of Government and be at the dis- posal cf the President and play for his pleasure and for that of other exalted officials. Moreover, he was responsible o