The return to the White House was made with all possible speed, and the following review of the procession was much curtailed by reason of the discomfort and suffering imposed by the intense cold.
Although there was no moderation in the weather conditions, the peak of the general desire was to attend the ball. For months the inaugural committee had devoted elaborate plans and lavish expense to the problem of providing quarters for the gigantic ball that they were assured would far surpass all previous affairs in the attendance. No building or hotel being sufficiently commodious to house the expected multitude, it was decided to put up a temporary building in the centre of Judiciary Square, which should be the perfection of art, skill, and comfort, designed to meet the needs of the largest throng that had ever descended upon Washington. The principal room was three hundred feet long by one hundred fifty feet wide, with walls twenty-five feet high, and was spanned with thirty-one arched girders. The floor was built to rest upon the foundation and be independent of the walls, so that vibration could not disturb their strength. All anterooms were correspondingly spacious.
A huge American eagle with outspread wings was suspended from the highest point in the centre of the hall. In his talons he held the shield of the United States and streamers of the national colours one hundred feet long, radiating to every part of the hall and terminating at the arches with coats of arms of the states.
The walls, ceilings, arches, and columns were lined and covered with white muslin or cambric, then trimmed with flags, shields, bunting, rosettes of the national colours, and evergreens. The profuse use of white cotton over the rough boards gave it the name of “The Muslin Palace.”
The President’s reception stage or platform was commodious and a marvel of artistic decoration and luxurious furnishings. Several hundred canaries had been purchased and arranged in such numbers as to make their singing a notable and unique factor of the welcome to the President and his party.
Gas was the accepted medium of illumination at that time, and in the piping and arrangement for lighting, the committee was consistently lavish. A great sunburst of lights in the form of a rising sun sent out its rays backed by reflectors from above the presidential stage. Rows of chandeliers extending the length of the ballroom were provided with reflectors. Great standards holding clusters of burners for additional lights were placed at regular intervals of space. Twenty-five hundred burners were installed to give the desired brilliance to the scene.
The attractive dining hall occupied the full length of the building and adjoined the ballroom, to which there were twenty arched entrances. The table was extended the entire length, with sideboards along the wall to supply dishes of all kinds.
Five smaller buildings adjoined for use as pantries, each being devoted to the supplies and provisions for one part of the supper; for instance, one for coffee, tea, and liquids, another for dessert.
With all of the elaborate attention to every detail and the expenditure of sixty thousand dollars to make this event surpass all previous affairs and meet every possible demand in the emergency of unprecedented numbers, there was no provision made for any undue weather emergency, and what heating facilities had been installed were wholly inadequate, and the ball was a frosty horror. People came bundled to the eyes in furs and wraps, and danced in their overcoats and furs to keep warm.
The arrival of the presidential party was announced by the Marine Band with “Hail to the Chief.”