Part 23

The Auditorium--the modern Parthenon--typifying the spirit of the age, is largely the conception of Mr. Ferd. W. Peck, and its realization is the fruit of his zeal, supported and encouraged by the wealthy men of Chicago. The great structure, costing three and a half million dollars, was built by the Chicago Auditorium Association, whose officers at the time of completion were: Ferd. W. Peck, President; N. K. Fairbank, First Vice-President; John R. Walsh, Second Vice-President; Charles L. Hutchinson, Treasurer; Charles H. Lunt, Secretary. The building was begun June 1, 1887; the laying of the corner-stone occurred in September that year, and was witnessed by President Cleveland and other distinguished visitors. It has a frontage of 710 feet on Congress Street, Michigan and Wabash avenues. The exterior material is granite and Bedford stone. The height of the main structure is 145 feet, or ten stories; height of tower above main building 95 feet, or eight floors; height of lantern above main tower 30 feet, or two floors; total height 270 feet--one of the tallest buildings in the world. The permanent seating capacity of the auditorium is over 4,000, but for conventions--by utilizing stage--this capacity is increased to 8,000. A feature of the great hall is the grand organ. In addition to this unrivalled convention hall the colossal structure contains a recital hall, 136 stores and offices, a hotel with 400 guest rooms, and a magnificent banquet hall 175 feet long.

The gathering at the dedicatory exercises nationalized the Auditorium; 15,000 people were within its walls. The President and Mrs. McKee were the guests of Mr. and Mrs. Ferd. W. Peck. Among the several thousand prominent residents present were the following gentlemen and their families--stockholders in the Auditorium Association: G. E. Adams, A. C. Bartlett, G. M. Bogue, C. W. Brega, J. W. Doane, J. B. Drake, J. K. Fisher, Carter H. Harrison, Charles Henrotin, O. R. Keith, G. F. Kimball, S. D. Kimbark, J. T. Lester, W. L. Peck, R. W. Roloson, W. C. Seipp, Lazarus Silverman, Robert Warren, John Wilkinson, Jr., C. S. Willoughby, C. T. Yerkes, J. McGregor Adams, W. T. Baker, Gen. J. C. Black, H. Botsford, R. R. Cable, C. R. Cummings, J. C. Dore, G. L. Dunlap, C. B. Farwell, J. J. Glessner, E. G. Kieth, W. D. Kerfoot, W. W. Kimball, L. Z. Leiter, J. M. Loomis, A. A. Munger, N. B. Ream, Conrad Seipp, J. G. Shortall, W. Sooy Smith, P. B. Weare, Norman Williams, F. H. Winston, and J. Otto Young.

The exercises opened with an address of welcome by Mayor Cregier, followed by a speech from Mr. Peck, President of the Association, who received an ovation. President Harrison's address was followed by the rendition of the hymn "America" by the Apollo Club of 500 trained voices. Hon. John S. Runnells delivered the dedicatory oration. Then came the real event of the day--"Home, Sweet Home" and the "Swiss Echo Song" by the incomparable songstress Adelina Patti, who shared the honors of the occasion with the President. The programme concluded with an address by Governor Fifer and the grand "Hallelujah" chorus from "The Messiah."

As Mr. Peck introduced President Harrison the great assembly enthusiastically testified its welcome. The President spoke as follows:

_Ladies and Gentlemen_--Some of my newspaper friends have been puzzling themselves in order to discover the reason why I left Washington to be present here to-night. I do not think I need, in view of the magnificent spectacle presented to us here to-night, to state the motives which have impelled my presence. Surely no loyal citizen of Chicago who sits here to-night under this witching and magnificent scene will ask for any other reason than that which is here presented. [Applause.]

I do most heartily congratulate you upon the completion and inauguration of this magnificent building--without an equal in this country, and, so far as I know, without an equal in the world. [Applause.] We have here about us to-night in this grand architecture, in this tasteful decoration, that which is an education and an inspiration. [Applause.] It might well tempt one whose surroundings were much farther removed from this scene than is the capital city to make a longer journey than I have done to stand for an hour in the view of such a spectacle of magnificence and grandeur and architectural triumph as this. [Applause.] And if that be true, surely there is reason enough why the President may turn aside for a little while from public duty to mingle with his fellow-citizens in celebrating an event so high and so worthy of commemoration as this triumph to-night. [Prolonged applause.]

Not speech, certainly, not the careless words of an extemporaneous speech, can adequately express all the sentiments I feel in contemplating the fitting culmination of this deed. [Applause.] Only the voice of the immortal singer can bring from these arches those echoes which will tell us the true purpose of their construction. [Applause.]

You will permit me, then, to thank you, to thank the Mayor of Chicago, to thank the President of this Association, and to thank all those good citizens with whom I have to-day been brought in personal contact, for the kindness and respect with which you and they have received me; and you will permit me to thank you, my fellow-citizens, for the cordiality which you have kindly displayed here to-night.

It is my wish, and may it be the wish of all, that this great building may continue to be to all your population that which it should be--an edifice opening its doors from night to night, calling your people here away from the care of business to those enjoyments, and pursuits, and entertainments which develop the souls of men [applause], which will have power to inspire those whose lives are heavy with daily toil, and in its magnificent and enchanting presence lift them for a time out of these dull things into those higher things where men should live. [Great applause.]

CLEVELAND, OHIO, MAY 30, 1890.

_Garfield Memorial Dedication._

On Decoration Day, 1890, President Harrison and Vice-President Morton, accompanied by Secretary Windom, Postmaster-General Wanamaker, Attorney-General Miller, Secretary of Agriculture Rusk, and Marshal Daniel M. Ransdell, visited the city of Cleveland for the purpose of participating in the dedication of the grand mausoleum erected to the memory of the lamented President James Abram Garfield. Fifty thousand people greeted the President and his party on arrival.

The mausoleum is situated in Lake View Cemetery, overlooking a region closely associated with Garfield's memory; it is built of Ohio sandstone--a large and imposing circular tower 50 feet in diameter, rising 180 feet. At the base projects a square porch, decorated externally with an historical frieze, divided into panels containing life-size bas-reliefs picturing the career of Garfield as teacher, statesman, soldier, and President. This imposing monument was erected under the auspices of the Garfield National Memorial Association, whose officers were: Rutherford B. Hayes, President; J. H. Wade and T. P. Handy, Vice-Presidents; Amos Townsend, Secretary. The Trustees of the Association were: Charles Foster, R. B. Hayes, James G. Blaine, H. B. Payne, J. H. Wade, Dan'l P. Eells, J. H. Rhodes, James Barnett, John Hay, T. P. Handy, J. B. Parsons, William Bingham, W. S. Streator, and H. C. White. The memorial cost $150,000, of which $75,000 was contributed by citizens of Cleveland; the architect was George Keller, of Hartford, Connecticut.

More than 100,000 people witnessed the parade and the dedicatory ceremonies, which were conducted under the auspices of the Grand Commandery, Knights Templars of Ohio--Right Eminent Henry Perkins, of Akron, Grand Commander; Very Eminent William B. Melish, of Cincinnati, Grand Marshal; Eminent Sir Huntington Brown, of Mansfield, Generalissimo; Eminent Sir L. F. Van Cleve, of Cincinnati, Grand Prelate; Eminent Sir H. P. McIntosh, of Cleveland, Grand Senior Warden; and Eminent Sir J. Burton Parsons, of Cleveland, Grand Treasurer. The committee to receive and entertain the guests from other cities comprised the following prominent residents of Cleveland: Hon. J. H. Wade, Dan'l P. Eells, M. A. Hanna, Col. William Edwards, Hon. R. C. Parsons, Henry D. Coffinberry, Gen. M. D. Leggett, Hon. George H. Ely, Hon. Joseph Turney, Samuel Andrews, Hon. S. Buhrer, Hon. H. B. Payne, Charles F. Brush, Hon. Charles A. Otis, R. K. Hawley, William Chisholm, H. R. Hatch, W. J. McKinnie, John Tod, Hon. N. B. Sherwin, L. E. Holden, George W. Howe, Samuel L. Mather, Judge S. Burke, Col. John Hay, Hon. T. E. Burton, Hon. R. R. Herrick, Selah Chamberlain, A. Wiener, Charles Wesley, Hon. Lee McBride, Hon. O. J. Hodge, H. C. Ranney, G. E. Herrick, Hon. W. W. Armstrong, S. T. Everett, Judge J. M. Jones, Hon. J. H. Farley, Hon. G. W. Gardner, R. R. Rhodes, J. B. Zerbe, Samuel W. Sessions, Louis H. Severance, Hon. M. A. Foran, Hon. C. B. Lockwood, Hon. William Bingham, John F. Whitelaw, Fayette Brown, Capt. P. G. Watmough, E. R. Perkins, Bolivar Butts, George T. Chapman, Hon. D. A. Dangler, Charles Hickox, and George W. Pack. Committee on Finance: John H. McBride, Myron T. Herrick, S. C. Ford, Joseph Turney, Charles L. Pack, H. S. Whittlesey, H. R. Groff, Percy W. Rice, Charles H. Bulkley, Douglas Perkins, Kaufman Hays, M. A. Hanna, T. S. Knight, James Parmelee, I. P. Lampson, Samuel Mather, O. M. Stafford, C. J. Sheffield, Harvey H. Brown, J. K. Bole, Dan'l P. Eells, H. R. Hatch, John F. Pankhurst, John Tod, and George P. Welch.

The event called together one of the most distinguished assemblies of the decade. Among the guests not previously mentioned--who occupied places of honor--were Gen. William T. Sherman, Chief-Justice Melville W. Fuller, Maj.-Gen. John M. Schofield, ex-Postmaster-General Thomas L. James, Gov. James E. Campbell, Lieutenant-Governor Marquis, Hon. William McKinley, Jr., Bishop William A. Leonard, Bishop Gilmour, Col. Wm. Perry Fogg, and many others. Mrs. Garfield was accompanied by her four sons, her daughter, and General and Mrs. John Newell.

The spectacular event of the day was the grand military and civic parade, participated in by President Harrison and the other guests. Six thousand men were in line, commanded by Chief Marshal Gen. James Barnett and a brilliant staff. At the head of the great column marched 115 survivors of Garfield's old regiment--the Forty-second Ohio--led by Capt. C. E. Henry, of Dallas, Texas, the Colonel, Judge Don A. Pardee, being absent. The procession comprised twelve divisions, commanded by the following marshals: Capt. J. B. Molyneaux, Gen. M. D. Leggett, Col. W. H. Hayward, Em. Sir M. J. Houck, Col. Louis Black, Col. John Dunn, Capt. E. H. Bohm, Captain McNiel, Capt. Louis Perczel, Col. Allen T. Brinsmade, Col. C. L. Alderson, and Capt. M. G. Browne.

Ex-President Hayes officiated as Chairman of the dedicatory meeting at the mausoleum, and introduced Hon. Jacob D. Cox, of Cincinnati, who delivered the oration of the occasion. Many other distinguished men spoke briefly. When the Chairman introduced President Harrison an ovation was tendered him, and almost every sentence of his address was enthusiastically cheered.

The President spoke with great earnestness. He said:

_Mr. Chairman and Fellow-citizens_--I thank you most sincerely for this cordial greeting, but I shall not be betrayed by it into a lengthy speech. The selection of this day for these exercises--a day consecrated to the memory of those who died that there might be one flag of honor and authority in this republic--is most fitting. That one flag encircles us with its folds to-day, the unrivalled object of our loyal love.

This monument, so imposing and tasteful, fittingly typifies the grand and symmetrical character of him in whose honor it has been builded. His was "the arduous greatness of things done." No friendly hands constructed and placed for his ambition a ladder upon which he might climb. His own brave hands framed and nailed the cleats upon which he climbed to the heights of public usefulness and fame. He never ceased to be student and instructor. Turning from peaceful pursuits to army service, he quickly mastered tactics and strategy, and in a brief army career taught some valuable lessons in military science. Turning again from the field to the councils of state, he stood among the great debaters that have made our National Congress illustrious. What he might have been or done as President of the United States is chiefly left to friendly augury, based upon a career that had no incident of failure or inadequacy. The cruel circumstances attending his death had but one amelioration--that space of life was given him to teach from his dying bed a great lesson of patience and forbearance. His mortal part will find honorable rest here, but the lessons of his life and death will continue to be instructive and inspiring incidents in American history. [Great applause.]

BOSTON, AUGUST 11, 1890.

_The Guest of Massachusetts._

Monday afternoon, August 11, the cruiser _Baltimore_, bearing President Harrison, Secretary Rusk, Secretary Noble, and a number of friends, entered Boston harbor, saluted by the _Atlanta_, the _Kearsage_, the _Petrel_, the _Yorktown_, the _Dolphin_, the dynamite cruiser _Vesuvius_, and the torpedo-boat _Cushing_. The distinguished guests were met by the Hon. John Q. A. Brackett, Governor of Massachusetts; Hon. Alanson W. Beard, Collector of the Port; Adj.-Gen. Samuel Dalton, Surg.-Gen. Alfred F. Holt, Judge Adv. Gen. Edward O. Shepard, Col. Sidney M. Hedges, Col. Wm. P. Stoddard, Col. Samuel E. Winslow, and Col. Edward V. Mitchell, of the Governor's military staff; Hon. Thomas N. Hart, Mayor of Boston; Hon. Geo. L. Goodale, Chairman Executive Committee National Encampment, G. A. R.; Hon. John D. Long, President National Encampment Committee; Hon. E. S. Converse, Treasurer; and Secretary Silas A. Barton.

Many thousand visiting veterans greeted the head of the Nation as he passed through the historic streets escorted by the First Battalion of Cavalry. Arrived at the Hotel Vendome, the President and his party, as guests of the Commonwealth, attended a State banquet, presided over by Governor Brackett. There was no speech-making. Other distinguished guests were Vice-President Morton, Secretaries Proctor and Tracy, General Sherman, Admiral Gherardi, Gov. Leon Abbett, of New Jersey, and Lieutenant-Governor Hale, of Massachusetts. Later in the evening Governor Brackett and staff escorted the President to the Parker House, where they participated in a reception given by E. W. Kinsley Post of Boston to Lafayette Post 149 of New York. Many veterans of national fame were present, among them Gen. Lucius Fairchild, Gen. Dan'l E. Sickles, Corporal James Tanner, ex-Gov. Austin Blair, of Michigan, Commander Viele, of Lafayette Post, and the following prominent citizens of Massachusetts, comprising the Reception Committee of the National Encampment: Hon. Henry H. Sprague, President Massachusetts Senate; Hon. Wm. E. Barrett, Speaker Massachusetts House; Hon. Wm. Power Wilson, Chairman Boston Aldermen; Horace G. Allen, President Common Council; Hon. John F. Andrew, Geo. H. Innis, Charles E. Osgood, Arthur A. Fowle, Fred C. King, Paul H. Kendricken, J. H. O'Neil, Joel Goldthwaite, Hon. Charles J. Noyes, Hon. E. A. Stevens, Horace G. Allen, Capt. Nathan Appleton, Col. Albert Clarke, Chas. D. Rohan, F. C. Brownell, and A. S. Fowle, of Boston; Gen. A. B. R. Sprague and Col. H. E. Smith, of Worcester; John W. Hersey, of Springfield; John M. Deane, Fall River; Gen. J. W. Kimball, Fitchburg; Maj. Geo. S. Merrill, Lawrence; Wm. H. Lee, Greenwood; S. W. Benson, Charlestown; Joseph O. Burdett, Hingham; Col. Myron P. Walker, Belchertown; and Arthur A. Smith, of Griswoldsville. The reception concluded with a banquet. Col. Charles L. Taylor acted as toastmaster and presented General Harrison, who received an ovation.

In response to these cordial greetings the President said:

_Comrades_--I do not count it the least of those fortunate circumstances which have occasionally appeared in my life that I am able to be here to-night to address you as comrades of the Grand Army of the United States. [Great applause.] It is an association great in its achievement and altogether worthy of perpetuation until the last of its members have fallen into an honorable grave. It is not my purpose to-night to address you in an extended speech, but only to say that, whether walking with you in the private pursuits of life, or holding a place of official responsibility, I can never, in either, forget those who upheld the flag of this Nation in those days when it was in peril. Everything that was worthy of preservation in our history past, everything that is glowing and glorious in the future, which we confront, turned upon the issue of that strife in which you were engaged. Will you permit me to wish for each of you a life full of all sweetness, and that each of you may preserve, undimmed, the love for the flag which called you from your homes to stand under its folds amid the shock of battle and amid dying men. I believe there are indications to-day in this country of a revived love for the flag. [Applause.] I could wish that no American citizen would look upon it without saluting it. [Loud applause.]

BOSTON, AUGUST 12.

_G. A. R. National Encampment._

The morning of August 12 the President and the several members of his Cabinet, with Vice-President Morton, Governor Brackett, Mayor Hart, General Sherman, Governor Dillingham and staff, of Vermont; Governor Davis, of Rhode Island; Hon. William McKinley, Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge, Mrs. John A. Logan, Mrs. R. A. Alger, Mrs. McKee, Mrs. A. L. Coolidge, and Lillian Nordica, the _prima donna_, reviewed the grand parade of the veterans from a stand in Copley Square. As the head of the great column appeared, led by Commander-in-Chief R. A. Alger, with mounted staff and escort numbering 600 officers, the President and his Cabinet arose and saluted the veterans. General Alger and Gen. B. F. Butler reviewed the column from a stand in Adams Square. The parade was five hours and thirty-five minutes in passing.

In the evening the Mayor's Club of Boston tendered a banquet to President Harrison and other distinguished visitors. Mayor Fisher, of Waltham, introduced the Chief Executive, who said:

_Mr. Chairman_--I wish only to thank you for this cordial welcome. Being upon my feet, I cannot refrain from expressing here my deep sense of gratitude for all the evidences of friendliness which have been shown me during my brief stay in Boston. The President of the United States, whosoever he may have been, from the first to the last, has always found in the citizenship of Massachusetts stanch supporters of the Union's Constitution. [Applause.] It has never occurred that he has called upon this great commonwealth for support that it has not been cordially and bravely rendered. In this magnificent parade which we have seen to-day of the survivors of the Massachusetts regiments in the war for the Union, and in this magnificent parade of the Sons of Veterans, coming on now to take the fathers' place in civil life and to stand as they were in their day as bulwarks of the Nation's defence, we have seen a magnificent evidence of what Massachusetts has done in defence of the Union and of the flag, and in these young men sure promise of what she would do again if the exigencies should call upon her to give her blood in a similar cause. [Applause.]

Let me again cordially thank you for your interest and friendliness and to bid you good-night, and, as I must leave you to-night for Washington, to hope that the closing exercises of this grand and instructive week may be pleasant, and as the outcome of it all that there may be kindled in the hearts of you all, and of these comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic, a newer love for the flag and for the Constitution, and that this may all inure to us in social, family, and public life. [Applause and cheers.]

Quitting the Mayor's banquet, the President and members of the Cabinet, with Admiral Gherardi and staff, proceeded to Mechanics' Hall, where a joint reception of the Grand Army and Woman's Relief Corps was in progress. At least 15,000 people greeted the arrival of the distinguished visitors. On the platform with the President's party were Miss Florence Barker, first President Woman's Relief Corps; Mrs. Annie Wittenmyer, National President; Miss Clara Barton, President Red Cross Association; Mrs. Mary E. Knowles, Massachusetts Department President; Mrs. Cheney, National Secretary; Mrs. Lynch, National Treasurer; Mrs. Nichols, National Inspector of the Relief Corps; Department Commander T. S. Clarkson, Nebraska; Department Commander P. H. Darling, Ohio; Governor Brackett and Congressman McKinley. George H. Innis, Commander Massachusetts Department, welcomed the visiting comrades. Other speakers were General Sherman, Commander-in-Chief Alger, and Vice-President Morton.

General Harrison was introduced as Comrade Harrison, President of the United States, and was greeted with tremendous applause. He spoke as follows:

_Mr. Chairman and Comrades of the Grand Army of the Republic_--I had impressions both pleasurable and painful as I looked upon the great procession of veterans which swept through the streets of this historic capital to-day; pleasurable in the contemplation of so many faces of those who shared together the perils and glories of the great struggle for the Union; sensations of a mournful sort as I thought how seldom we should meet again. Not many times more here. As I have stood in the great national cemetery at Arlington and have seen those silent battalions of the dead, I have thought how swiftly the reaper is doing his work and how soon in the scattered cemeteries of the land the ashes of all the soldiers of the great war shall be gathered to honored graves. And yet I could not help but feel that in the sturdy tread of those battalions there was yet strength of heart and limb that would not be withheld if a present peril should confront the Nation that you love. [Applause.] And if Arlington is the death, we see to-day in the springing step of those magnificent battalions of the Sons of Veterans the resurrection. [Applause.] They are coming on to take our places, the Nation will not be defenceless when we are gone, but those who have read about the firesides of the veterans' homes, in which they have been born and reared, the lessons of patriotism and the stories of heroism will come fresh armed to any conflict that may confront us in the future. [Applause.]