Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 55, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 March 1917 — Inaugural Balls of the Past [ARTICLE]

Inaugural Balls of the Past

♦ How shopkeeping Washington evened up on campaign expenses : : Comedy, Tragedy and Splendor have been mingled in this V spectacular a fair f

RESIDENT WILSON called attention very widely in 1913 to the ancient and honorable custom of holding an Jjfr\ inaugural ball to ..'.welcome the new /WL ] president to his job by refusing to sanction the affair. And owing’ to (‘pressure of official business” there will be no Inaugural bail this year of fs\A\ “1 1917. In other words, American of--1 vyy J ficlaldom is in no mood for gayety. 1 —■ The inaugural ball, says the Kansas City Star in a historical article, 'is not a* state function, financed by the Nation, as most of the Nation believes. at first as a welcome to the nefr president by Washington society It has become of late years the business venture by which Washington merchants recover the money they spend to hang the capital with bunting and hire bands and fireworks to make the occasion lively. While the ball costs a large sum of money, the profit from the sale of tickets, priced nowadays at $5, is estimated at $20,000, and tfiis profit is distributed among the men who subscribed the funds to make the celebration a success. - But the inaugural ball does cost the Nation somethin'g, becaase it discommodes whatever department of state lends Its building for the festivities. Recent balls have been held in the pension building, and a vast deal of trouble and expense has gone into the organization of their gayety. There'has been balls In the past, like that stately first ball that welcomed President Monroe, notable for the brilliance of the assemblages, the beauty and wit and fashion displayed, truly/great social occasions, worthy of the dignity of the occasion they celebrate. And there have been balls of which old timers in Washington still talk, notable for the widespread inconvenience they have caused. «For instance, there is the second Lincoln Inauguration ball,- when Horace Greeley lost his hat and standing on the steps of Jfie treasury building-put a curse on tjie city of Washington lurid enough to set fire to the snowdrifts that blanketed it; then there Is the ball that welcomed President Grant, held in a vast pavilion of muslin, unheated, whose walls swayed to and fro in an icy blast that froze dainty ears and finger tips—yes. and noses—and put- a damper on the merrymaking not to be forgotten. March 4, 1809, was the sort of chill, damp, uncomfortable day Washington expects for the presidential inauguration, but In this year the Inconveniences of bad weather jn the new little capital were far worse than they could possibly be today. The sprawling, ragged, unfinished city no pavements. Roads were so deep in mud that many a coach" was mired as it carried its load 6f distinguished persons to witness the inaugural. There were few hotels and boarding houses, and these were crowded to suffocation on the great day. But the society of the. capital and notables from far and near were determined to overcome all handicaps of weather, for this drear evening was to mark the first presidential inaugural ball. An organization of young men, the “Washington Dancing assembly,” formed seven years before, had the affair in charge and had secured the assembly rooift of Long’s hotel on Capitol hill. The “four hundred” in America originated with this first presidential ball. Washington society represented the best of the Nation. The influence of the Southern families of aristocratic tradition was strong. There were few people of wealth, hut many of culture; and society was gay without 1 ostentation. The men *of the dancing assembly who drew tip the list of those who would be asked to buy tickets to the inaugural ball found that four hundred *would include all persons df breeding and worthy When George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were inaugurated they were .glad to go early to bed after the day of ceremonies, but on this -night ox-President Jefferson, personally opposed to os- * fentatlon, appeared in the ballroom promptly at seven o’clock, the time of its opening. He came smiling and happy, glad to see his friend succeed film in the direction of the Nation, happy at having the burden off his own shoulders, as he confided to a friend during the evening. v The orchestra played “Jefferson’s March” as the ex-president entered* - i —~ “Am I too early?” asked the great Democrat. •"You must tell me how to behave, for it is more than forty years since I have been ball." * Soon after the musicians played “Madison’s March,” and the guests flocked about the door to greet the %tew president,, a slight, short figure , —of a-itom, whose gray hair wfishrushed smoothly back from his high forehead and tied with « black ribbon. His small hazel eyes were remarkable for a humorous twinkle, for Madison, in private life, c enjoyed a good joke and sprightly banter. His long, pendulous nose came low over a long upper lip. His teeth were noticeably white and even. •The new president wore plain black, with ruffles at the throat and wrists, with black Bmalls' and silk stockings. There were big silver buckles on bis shoes. But it was to Dolly Madison, formerly the fascinating Widow Todd of Philadelphia, that all -eyes turned. The new mistress of the White House was a center of attraction wherever she went. Without great beauty of face or figure, she bad a manner ’which won friends instantly. Her ready tact, her good humor, her vivacity, made her Jeasily a social* leader and the best-remembered land beloved of the many “first ladles.” Mrs. Madison wore pale buff velvet made very plain, with a long train and no trimmings. Her bead .was surmounted by & turban from- Paris of pale buff velvet and wl\lte satin When America’s first ‘four hundred” danced at the Madison ball the air of* the assembly room became very £lose and the guests finding they could not lower the window" sashes broke the glass for ventikfion. That is the only recorded Icft-oaven-tenet, aside from the universal Inconveniences

these notables experienced in getting to Washington, but the balls held in later years made a less enviable record. Probably the ball held to celebrate the second inauguration of President Lincoln was one of the most notable for the universal distress It ebused. Mary Clemmer Ames, in her book “Ten Years in, Washington,” says of this exciting carnival: “The air throughout .the entire building was perforated with a fine dust, ground until you felt that you were taking In with every breath a myriad homeopathic doses of desiccated grindstone. The agonies of that ball can never be writ- ’ ten. There are inortals dead in their graves because of it. There are mor\als who still curse, and swear, and sigh at the thought of it. There are, diamonds, end pearls and precious garments that are naught to their owners because of it. The *be forgotten by any who witnessed them. The ’colored messengers, called from their posts in the treasury to do duty In these rooms, received hats and wraps with perfect facility, and tucked them in loopholes as It happened. “But to give them back each to its owner, that Avas®mp6sslDie. Not half of them could read numbers and those who could soon grew bewildered, overpowered,! ill-tempered and impertinent under the hosts that advanced-upon them for cloaks and hats. “Picture Itl Six or more thotosand people clamoring for their clothes! In the end they were all tumbled out ‘promiscuous’ on the floor. Then came the siege! Few seized their own, but many snatched other people’s garments—anything, something, to protect them from the pitiless morning, whose wind came down like the bite of death. Delicate women, too sensitive to take the property of others, crouched to corners and wept-on window ledges, and there the daylight found them. Carriages, also, had fled out of the scourging blast, and men and women who emerged from the marble halls, With very little to wear, found that they must ‘foot It’ to their habitations. One gentle- ' man walked to Capitol hill, nearly two miles, in dancing .pumps and bareheaded; another performed the same exploit wrapped In a lady’s sontag. “Poor Horace Greeley, after expending his wrath on the stairs and cursing Washington anew as a place that should be immediately blotted out of the universe, strode to his hotel hatless. The next day and the next week were consumed by people searching for their lost clothes, and General Chipman says he still receives letters demanding articles lost at that Inauguration ball.” One wqnld suppose that the lesson of the Lincoln ball, would have resulted In great reforms when theTnanguratlon ball, which welcomed President Grant, four years later, was held. One reform was notable, a complete checking system for wraps was devised, but on this occasion not a guest parted with his wraps'! They did not dare, for as ft was, noses and ears were frozen. The Grant inaugural ball cost $60,000 and great things were expected of It. A pavilion- 350 feet long, with a ballroom 300 by 100 feet, was built In Judiciary square. This pavilion was madeof light boards, roofed with tar paper and pealed with pink and white muslin. “The mighty American eagle," to quote the official report, "spread his wings over the president's platform ond from his pinions spread streamers 100 feet long, caughtup on either side by coats of arms. Tips president’s reception platform was €M) feet long and 30 feet wide. Twelve pilasters supported alternate gold figured, red and blue stands, \vhich held pots of blooming flowers. Platform and steps were richly carpeted and thousands of canary birds ■were placed toward the ceiling to add their chorus to the music. Tickets to this magnificent entertainment cost S2O. Then came Inaugural day with a blizzard and cold wave so severe that marchers in the inaugural procession dropped by the way, overcome by cold L The north wind swooped down on the muslin palace and rattled Its flimsy grandeur until the, roof was swaybacked In one place and ballooned out In another, while-thV tar paper and loose boards "rose In the gusto and rattled down fai* and wide. President Grant recovered sufficiently from the* exposure of the Inauguration to spend a short time at the-ball, arriving *at 11 o’clock In the evening. He and fits brilliant suite of guests, many of them foreign diplomats/ and their brilliantly clad ladles.

remained huddled in voluminous wrappings, looking down upon the guests dancing in overcoats and wraps, dancing like mad in order to keep from freezing to death. The canary birds did not sing. They tucked their heads under thefr wings and shivered pitifully. The elaborate refreshments froze Into blocks of ice. The ball ended before midnight. The first inaugural hall in the pension building was that held to honor President Cleveland’s first inauguration. The building was then unfinished and the courtyard was roofed by temporary construction, elaborately decorated and lighted by the then new electric lamps. The ballroom floor was 316 by 116 feet, and It Was crowded. The ticket sale for this ball brought to $40,000. It is pleasanter to contemplate more recent Inaugural balls. A notably brilliant ball w r as that which, welcomed. President McKinley. It was held In the pension building, and ‘for that night the building was transformed by bunting of white and gold. Not tl particle of woodwork or original decoration of the building was left uncovered. Elaborate electric lighting (elaborate for 1897) and a huge fountain were notable features, of this ballroom. Judging by contemporary accounts tills bill was a complete success, socially and financially. Mrs. William Howard Taft, In her charming book, “Recollections of Full Years,” tells the story of the last Inaugural ball. Mrs. Taft’s account of how the TnfJ family moved into the White House Is thoroughly, eaptivating because of its many bits of domestic color, bits that find an echo in common experience everywhere. It was at the close of a very busy day that Mrs. Taft put herself Into the hands of her nervous hairdresser and sat looking at her new ball gown, spread out on the bed. The ball gown had„arrlved at the very last minute and the new “first lady” had wondered for several anxious days what In the world she would wear to the toall if the dressmaker bailed her. “it was made of heavy white satin which I had sent to Tokyo to have embroidered," Writes Mrs. Taft, “and the people who did the work surely knew their alt. A pattern of golden rod was out- . lined by a silver thread and cleverly fitted Into the long lines of the gown, and no other trimmings had been used except some lice with which the low-cut bodice was finished. It fitted me admirably and I hoped that, in spite of all the mishaps In my preparations, I looked my best as I descended from the White House automobile at the entrance of the pension office. “The pension office was not' built for balls. Inaugural or otherwise, and, on the evening of March 4. 1909. after a day of melting sleet and snow, the entrance was not especially Inviting. Neither was the 4 dressing room had been assigned to me'. I suppose that for years It had rung with the ceaseless click of scores of typewriters and that Its walls Had beheld no more elaborate costume than a business blouse and skirt since the occasion of the last Inaugural ball which had mariced she beginning of the second Roosevelt administration, four years before. But as I needed to do very little ‘prinking’ it really didn’t matter and I quickly rejoined the president and proceeded on his arm to the presidential box, this being «a small round gallery above the main entrance of the great ballroom, which Is Itself, to everyday life, the principal workroom of the pension office. x , “A brilliant, an almost kaleidoscopic, scene spread before ns. The hall is of tremendous proportions,’pillared with red marble and with walls tinted In the same color. Every Inch of floor space seemed to be occupied. The bright colors, and the gleam of women’s gowns met and clashed or harmonized with the brighter colors of diplomatic uniforms. Officers of the army and navy In full regalia met and mingled with the hundreds of men in the plain black of fortnal evening dress. It was a wonderful, glittering throng, more mag’^fifteent than any I had ever seen. It was not possible to distinguish individuals except In the space directly below the box, but there, as I looked down. I saw a great semicircle of faces thousaadSr ft seembf to me —smilingly upturned toward us. The din otpuman voices was terrific; even the loudest band groeunafete toad difficulty in making itself heard: But the scene was so gay In color, and the faces that gazed up at ns were so friendly and happy that I felt elated and/ not at all overwhelmed.” ■ •