Volume 15 , Issue 3

Over Hundred Years Ago - 15 February 1912

In The Princeton Union, dated 15 February 1912, page 2, Princeton, Minnesota, we found the following information of Presidential Inaugurations of our past. In February, 1912, they were reporting there were only two pleasant inauguration days in the past fifty years.

Do you know that when Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated for his first term in 1861 the day was overcast, although there was no rain. There were high winds, however, varying from southwest to northwest and accompanied by rapid changes in temperature. The mercury at one time registered 79 and at another period of the day showed 30 degrees less. The weather bureau had no available record of the second Lincoln inauguration in 1865.

Both of the Grant inauguration days were unpleasant. In 1769, when he began his first term, March 4 opened with rain, which continued until an hour before the ceremonies. After that the day was cloudy. The temperature ranged from 30 to 43 degrees, with light winds. The second Grant inauguration, in 1873, was signalized by very cold, but clear, weather. There were brisk north winds. The highest point the thermometer reached was 20 degrees, and the lowest was only 4 degrees above zero.

President Hayes was inaugurated on March 5, 1877, the 4th being on a Sunday. He had unusually good weather, considering the general average. The skies were cloudy in the morning, but cleared off in the afternoon. Light southwest winds prevailed, and the temperature ranged from 32 to 38.

President Garfield came into office in 1881 on a rainy day. The downpour started on March 3 and continued to within an hour of noon on the 4th. Brisk northwest winds brought a drop in the temperature in the afternoon, the mercury falling from 36 to 29.

Grover Cleveland's first term began in 1885 under balmy skies. There were general south winds, and the day was warm and pleasant. The minimum temperature was 36, while the mercury at times rose as high as 58.

President Harrison was inaugurated in 1889 in the rain. It was a raw, disagreeable day, with the wind blowing from the north. There was a let-up in the rain shortly after 6 o'clock in the morning, but it settled down again at 9 o'clock and continued for the remainder of the day. The temperature ranged from 34 to 44.

One of the Worst Days

President Cleveland's second inauguration was signalized by one of the worst days on record in Washington. March 4, 1893, opened with light snow, which soon changed to a heavy fall. The wind blew from the northwest, steadily increasing during the afternoon until it reached a velocity of thirty-six miles per hour. The snow stopped just before 1 O'clock in the afternoon, but the temperature began to go down and from a maximum of 32 dropped to 24. This freezing weather, combined with the high winds, caused intense suffering among thousands of visitors.

President McKinley began his first term in 1897. March 4 of that year was a clear day with fresh northerly winds, which shifted to the southward in the evening. The temperature ranged from 34 to 47. On his second inauguration day, in 1901. Washington was a sloppy town, although it was not particularly cold. There had been alight rain during the previous night, but it ceased long enough to enable the ceremonies to be held on the capitol steps. During the inaugural parade, however, it rained almost continuously, not a downpour, but a drizzle. The thermometer registered temperatures which varied from 36 to 51.

The Taft Inauguration in 1909 was of recent and bitter memory to thousands of people. They had been informed the day before by the weather bureau that a warm clear day could be expected, but seemingly out of nowhere came a ten inch snowfall. It began on the night of the 3d and did not cease until the afternoon of the 4th. In addition to the discomfort of a heavy blanket of snow there were high winds and low temperatures, the thermometer varying from 29 to 35.

The storm did so much damage to telegraph wires that it was many hours before the country knew what had really happened in Washington. Thousands of elaborate descriptions of the inauguration ceremony were printed all over the United States on the presumption that the program arranged had been carried out. It was not known until the next day that the inauguration arrangements had been knocked into a cocked hat.   |  View or Add Comments (0 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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