Show Heard Lincolns First Inaugural Address Newspaper Correspondent Recalls Mtnentoua Event Which Ushered In a New Historic Era in America Amer-ica A Memorab e Message It was a little after ono oclock when tho outgoing and Incoming presidents arm In arm entered tho capitol proceeding immcdlndctly to tho presidents room whence they emerged In a few minutes preceded by tho marshal of the district judges of tho supreme court and sergeant nt arms and followed by tho senators diplomatic corps heads of departments depart-ments governors of states and others and made their way to a small wooden pavilion unde which Mr Lincoln stood while he delivered his memorable message Chief Justice Tanoy old shriveled to the bone with a face like parchment muffled in his silken robes sat In front of the array of judges Closo by stood Douglas so near in fact that Mr Lincoln Lin-coln finding no place on or under the small reading table provided for him on which to deposit his hat handed it over to his mighty rival who held It carefully till tho address was finished fin-ished Mr Lincolns voice was clear and penetrating and was distinctly heard far and near among tho assembled multitudes which preserved unbroken silence from the beginning to the end laxynvbSet N > rtzn br gny t + r nwt r cry µ A it w M t j rnnlr xlr I 1 d J l lr i Lriaientng 60 Lie r inaugural address J After Sketches from Harpers Weekly March 1351 Then a great cheer arose and ran like a wave along the avenue carrying testimony which was likewise flying over tho wires In every direction that the Inauguration had been successfully suc-cessfully accomplished and that In spite of all perils visionary and real Abraham Lincoln wn president of tho United States and a now historic era had been ushered In I stood within a few yards of President Lincoln when ho delivered his first Inaugural address from the east portico of the capitol In Washington Wash-ington writes a veteran newspaperman newspaper-man I was a newspaper correspondent correspond-ent and had come with him from his homo In Springfield to recount for my paper the Incidents of his journey Washington looked on tho day as u momentous one and was not free from a senso of peril No provlous Inauguration day had been so ushered In The senate sat all tho night previous previ-ous not adjourning till after daylight Crittenden Douglas Trumbull Wig I fall and Wade thundering against each other In their final debate which after all was not loud enough to keep all their colleagues awake us i I many of them lay stretched out on the senatorial sofas snoring a drowsy I accompaniment The town was astir by sunrise with crowds gnthprlng at I all points from the White House to tho Capitol I Lincoln spent tho early morning hours In his rooms at Wlllards and I remember that among his callers were David Davis Thurlow Weed Leonard Swett Ward Lamon with many others not now clear in memory mem-ory oryThe The procession began to move about 11 oclock but It was an horn I and a half before Buchanan appeared I ap-peared having been delayed at the capitol In signing bills some ot which It Is said got his signature after his term of office had actually expired When nil was ready Senators Bakei and Pierce took seats In the carriage fronting the two presidents Buchanan Buchan-an looking old gray and haggard Lincoln dark and firm and wearing n mournful and anxious expression ol countenance Thus accompanied they set forth on their historic ride to the capitol Around tho carriage were mounted guards and a flying squadron of newspaper correspondents the latter lat-ter keeping as near to It as possible one of the artists of an Illustrated paper making a sketch of the scene as he went along There was a desert des-ert cloud of dust along the avenue riding the blustering March winds I and it sometimes seemed to hide the entire procession from view |