CEREMONIES It was desired originally to have the ceremony take place on the birthday of Washington, February 22, but as this anniversary occurred on Sunday, it was decided to select the day preceding. The details of the ceremony were prepared by Capt. John Stephen Sewell, Corps of Engineers, U. S. Army, under the direction of Brig. Gen. G. L. Gillespie, Chief of Engineers, who was appointed master of ceremonies by Hon. Elihu Root, Secretary of War. They were submitted to the War College Board and approved by them before execution. Everything was arranged with a view to the participation, as far as possible, of all branches of the military service. The operation of setting the stone was, by invitation, performed according to Masonic rites, by the Grand Lodge of Masons of the District of Columbia. At the site of the corner stone two stands were erected, one for the special accommodation of the President of the United States and those taking part in the ceremony, and one for the invited guests. The President of the United States, accompanied by Hon. John Hay, Secretary of State; Hon. Elihu Root, Secretary of War; Hon. George B. Cortelyou, Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Col. Theodore A. Bingham, U. S. Army, military aid, and Capt. W. S. Cowles, 3 U. S. Navy, naval aid, was escorted from and to the White House by Troop F, Second Cavalry, Capt. Lloyd M. Brett commanding. Addresses were made by the President of the United States, by the honorable Secretary of War, and by Maj. Gen. S. B. M. Young, president of the War College Board. Mr. C. F. McKim, of the firm of McKim, Mead & White, architects of the War College building, was introduced, but merely acknowledged the introduction and made no address. The invited guests included members of the Cabinet, the diplomatic corps, the justices of the United States Supreme Court, the United States Senate and House of Representatives, the Lieutenant-General Commanding the Army, the Admiral of the Navy, and other officers of the Army and the Navy in Washington, the major-general commanding the Department of the East, representatives of the press, the Commissioners of the District of Columbia, the justices of the District of Columbia supreme court, the general officer commanding the District of Columbia militia and his staff, and the commandants of the Military Academy and the various army service schools, besides a number of individuals who, for various reasons, were interested in the ceremony. At the site of the stone the following order of exercises was observed: ORDER OF EXERCISES. 1. Invocation, by Right Rev. Henry Y. Satterlee, Bishop of Washington. 2. Music. 3. Address by the President of the United States. 4. Music. 5. Address by the Secretary of War. 6. Address by Maj. Gen. S. B. M. Young, president of the War College. |