Friday, January 16, 2009
Inauguration Inaugural Weather
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Fri, Jan 16, 2009 at 3:07 PM
Eli's right, it's cold, but not nearly as cold as it was in Chicago, and it's bright: We're on track for an inauguration far less bleak than, say, Ulysses S. Grant's two inaugurations. It was cold and rainy at the first one, and the second one, in 1873, was one of the coldest days in the history of the ceremony. According to a 19th-century memoir by Mary Clemmer Ames, the music in the inaugural parade came to a stop when the spit of the musicians froze their instruments. Then, in the march to the White House, several cadets passed out from the cold and "the tears of the drummer boys marching past froze on their cheeks," writes the historian Paul F. Boller, Jr.
The ball that night was a wreck. A tremendous amount of money was spent on entertainment and food, but the planners completely forgot to install a heater in the building, so guests danced in their overcoats. The spread was one of the most lavish in inaugural history—stuffed boars' heads, fried scallops, pickled oysters, lobster, egg salad, charlotte russe—but Boller writes that most of the spread was frozen by the time anyone tried to eat it. And there's this: "Canaries, brought to the ballroom to sing cheerfully while the guests danced, simply tucked their bills under their wings and froze to death in their cages."
And I probably don't have to tell you what happened to William Henry Harrison, weather-wise (pneumonia, death; shortest presidency ever).
Another shot of the weather at the Capitol today, where the ceremony will take place, from slightly farther back:
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There was something satisfying about seeing these buildings empty, at night, in the freezing, freezing cold, something having to do with history and sacrifice and hardship. I suggest a late-night stroll through the Roosevelt monument.
There was something satisfying about seeing these buildings empty, at night, in the freezing, freezing cold, something having to do with history and sacrifice and hardship. I suggest a late-night stroll through the Roosevelt monument.
Medical research in the 1950s exposed 400 volunteers to cold viruses using various temperatures and conditions as variables. The result was no difference in the rate of infection between the different groups. A similar study in the late 1960s produced comparable results.
But.
Research by Cardiff University’s Common Cold Centre in Wales has proven that a drop in body temperature can cause a dormant cold virus to develop. If a person becomes chilled, for example by wearing damp clothes in cold weather, the blood vessels in the nose become constricted. When this occurs, the warm blood is closed off, no longer supplying the infection-fighting white cells.
And.
One study involved the effects of volunteers placing their bare feet in an empty bowl for 20 minutes or soaking their feet in a bowl containing ice-cold water for the same length of time. Within five days after the experiment, more participants who had soaked their feet in cold water developed cold symptoms than the other participants.
L'chaim, Eli--hope to see you on the mall!
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