THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 26, 1912.
PAGE THREE
GREAT SEAL OF
THE CONFEDERACY
Secret of Its Disappearance
Has Just Been Told,
BOUGHT BY VIRGINIANS,
Relle of Civil War Traced From Colo
nel Pickett to Rear Admiral Solfridgs.
Traditions Revived by Its Purchase
i For $3,000.
The great seal of the Confederacy,
after being lost for forty years, has at
last bocn found.
Hear Admiral Thomas O. Sclfridgc.
O. S. N., retired, came Into possession
of the historic silver disk In 1S72,
when bo acted as the representative of
the United States government in a
transaction by which the government
obtained various Confederate state pa
pers and other mementoes for $7T,000.
Acting as agent for the government.
Rear Admiral Selfridgo, then a young
lieutenant, went to Canada and got the
Confederate souvenirs from Colonel
John T. Pickett, who wns n souvenir
hunter, nndfln,co,nnectlon with his law
practice here niadebuslness of buy
ing and selling papere'1jni(I(locumenta
connected with the Confederacy.
From the time of Its disappearance
the seal was not heard from until re
cently traced to the possession of Itcar
Admiral Selfrldgc. This deduction
was made by Galllnrd Hunt, chief of
the division of manuscript In the libra
ry of congress. In looking over the
Pickett papers he noted the nbsence
of the great seal. Inquiry was made
of Colonel Pickett's son, and it was
learned that the seal had been pre
sented by his father to Rear Admiral
Selfridge. The rear admiral said that
the seal was In a safe at his residence.
1SC7 Kalorama road. In Washington.
Said to Have Been Buried.
The state of South Carolina has a
tradition that the great seal wns
burled in a well in Abbeyvllle follow
ing the last meeting of the Confeder
ate cabinet
James Jones, formerly bodyguard of
Jefferson Davis, who is now living In
Washington, at the ape of ninety, is
confident that he burled the seal In
Georgia, having received It from the
hand of President Davis. At that time
the injunction of secrecy was laid upon
him by Mr. Davis, said Jones.
For fifty years the people of the
south have speculated over what had
become of the Beal after the evacua
tion of Richmond by the Confederacy
Its disappearance and the mystery sur
rounding have been subjects of en
thralling interest at all gatherings of
the gray veterans, and many theories
of its whereabouts havo been put for
ward and had their share of believers.
At the last general reunion. In Macon,
Ga., it was suggested that the peal had
been burled In the cornerstone of the
Confederate monument In that city.
There was even talk of removing the
stone.
Little Doubt as to Genuineness.
There is little doubt of the genuine
ness of the seal that now reposes In a
vault of the Jefferson hotel in Rich
mond, Va., hnvlng been purchased
from Rear Admiral Selfrldpe for $3,000
by Epps nunton, Jr.; William II.
White and Thomas P. Bryan, all of
Virginia. It will be sent to the Eng
lish firm of engravers who originally
made the seal to have its genuineness
verified. The contract of sale contains
a provision that if It is not pronounced
real It may be returned.
Whether any credenco is to be placed
In the gossip that the great seal left
Richmond in 1SC5 hidden in the bustle
of Mrs. Walter J. Bromwell, wife of an
officeholder of the Confederate state
department, It has had an interesting
history.
Following the fall of the Confederacy
the eeal, with n number of state papers
and other documents, was removed
from Richmond by Walter J. Brom
well, a clerk In the state department
under Judah P. Benjamin. The seal,
according to tradition, had been In
trusted to Mrs. Bromwell.
Id Miking through the archives of
the library of congress in connection
with the researches for material to be
used in a history of the civil govern
ment of the Confederacy Judge Wal
ter A Montague, formerly a member
of the supremo court of North Caro
lina, discovered that the seal had como
Into Admiral Selfridgo's possession.
RECORD FOR TELEGRAPHING.
Western Union Transmitted 715,000
Words on Day Carpathia Arrived.
The flood of telegrams received at
and sent from New York on April 18,
the day of the arrival of the Carpathia
with the survivors of tho Titanic, rep
resented a total of 715,000 words, n
new record for telegraphic communi
cation for tho Western TJnlon Tele
graph company. Tho total transmis
sions included private messages, offi
cial communications, news dispatches
and other communications.
Tho highest record for one day's
transmission previously made was dur
ing the Republican convention in 1008,
when tho total reached -333,000. Of
the 715,000 words transmitted on April
18, 45,000 were sent to Europe.
England Burns Chalk.
In England thcro is a chalk which
Is very cheap and can be burned in a
erate with coal.
Odd Facts of
I Political
I That of 1880, the Noisiest on
Record, Failed to Nom-
inate Grant.
. . . .
'k'fc'k A A A A A A irk'k'k'k'k'k'k'k A A A A 'k'k'k'k
THE unexpected actually occur
red at tho Chicago convention
of 1SSO that nominated Gar
field and Arthur. This was a
remarkable convention In overy wny.
The demonstration for Grant tho third
term candidate of 300 unwavering del
egateswas never equaled In determi
nation. Several times slnco tho out
burst following a noininntlon, notice
ably that of Bryan and of Roosevelt,
consumed more time, but the totrt of
human endurance for shouting, sing
ing and all devices for creating noise
by lung power wns that started by tho
speed) of Roscoo Conkting, In which
Grant was placed before tho conven
tion. Nevertheless, in spite of tho roar,
tho nomination of the presidential can
didate went to a man for whom no
nominating speech was made, and
when Arthur was offered as a candi
date for nomination for second place
tho delegates of the middle west and
the northwest oeked who he was. He
was not known outside of New York
and adjacent states. He was nominat
ed. Both nominees of ono convention
became president
Only two permanent chairmen of na
tional conventions were ever nominat
ed for president Seymour and McKln
ley. The first wns named in the con
vention over which he was presiding
In New York city. Uo vacated the
chair while tho ballot was being taken,
but returned to decline tho honor which
wns Inter thrust upon him. That wns
In 1SSS. Ho wns also the permanent
chairman of tho convention that nomi
nated McClellan and Pendleton to Chi
cago in 1S04.
Pendleton was a delegate to that
convention, nnd when he received the
nomination as vice presidential candi
date he accepted from the platform.
McKlnley was permanent chairman
of the convention that nominated ITar
rison and Reld in Minneapolis in 1S02.
Four years later McKlnley won the
presidential nomination at the St. Louis
convention.
lodge's Distinction.
Tho only Republican United States
senator now living who waa permanent
chairman of his party's oonventlon is
Senator Lodge of Massachusetts. The
way he adjourned tho convention that
nominated McKlnley and Roosevelt is
a story in Itself. The only hurrah in
that Philadelphia convention followed
the naming of Theodore Roosevelt
The work of the convention wns over.
Chairman Lodgo was standing nt his
desk waiting for tho "amen" motion.
Delegates were scrambling to get out
of tho hall; the crowd had gone. Sen.
ator Piatt of New York had fallen
asleep in his chair in the front row.
Rcpresentatlvo Sereno Payno was try
ing to restore him to waking con
sciousness. Chairman Lodgo looked
down upon the scene and immediately
took tho cue.
"On motion of Rcpresentatlvo Payne,
which Is seconded, the convention
stands adjourned," said Senator Lodge.
He struck the table with his gavel,
picked up his hat and left the plat
form. The only ex-Confederate who ever
presided over a national convention
was Donolson Caffrey of Louisiana.
The convention wns that of tho sound
money Democrats, who nominnted Pal
mer and Buckner In Indianapolis in
1800.
The Longest Session.
It is the custom to select as perma
nent chairman of a national conven
tion a man who Is In office at the time.
The Democratic conventions have ob
served this custom less frequently than
the Republicans. In the convention
which nominnted Cleveland and Ilen
dricks at Chicago in July, 1884, W. F.
Vilas was presiding officer. In the con
vention which nominated Cleveland at
St. Louis In June, 1SSS, P. A. Collins
TRIES LEFT HANDED TUITION.
School Head Seeks Cause For Failure
of Left Handed Pupils,
George L. Farley, superintendent of
schools of Brockton, Mass., Is investi
gating tho cause for the failure of the
left handed students to measuro up to
the standard of his right handed cluss
mates, for that there Is such a failure
at least Ui Brockton appears to bo the
fact.
Mr. Farley was induced to take up
the problem because the first five In a
class of seven boys who failed to at
tain the mental mark of their fellow
pupils aro left handed.
"Tho question arose In my mind," ho
said, "that the boys' deficiency might
be due to their being left handed, as
ail instruction, especially in drawing
and manual training, is with tho right
hand.
"My first stop to determine tho truo
cause was to have the teachers instruct
tho left handed pupils in a left handed
way that is, drawing and using tools
with tho left hand. Tho pupils imme
diately showed signs of improvement,
and It may be shown that they arc not
deficient, but havo been handicapped
by present methods of Instruction."
National 1
Conventions!
When Four Candidates Were
Placed In Nomination
In 77 Words.
A:A-A-A-A
of Boston, who had never held any
Important elective office, wns perma
nent chairman.
It Is a common political error to re
fer to tho Chicago convention which
nominated Garlleld and Arthur us that
which had the longest session. That
convention wns in session seven days.
The Charleston convention of 1800, In
which the Democrats met wns In ses
sion In that city ten days. Caleb Cn sit
ing of Massachusetts was permanent
chairman. As te known to political
students, tltat convention fntlod to
nominate and adjourned to meet at
Baltimore two months later, on Jnne
18. Thoro it nominnted Douglas nnd
Johnson, the latter of Georgia. But
there was nnothcr Democratic conven
tion hold by the scceders from the
Charleston convention, which also met
nt Baltimore n few days later, on Jnnc
S3, nnd nominated Brocklnridgc and
Lane.
The national Republican convention
of tho same year met at Chicago in
May nnd nominated Lincoln nnd Ham
lin. George Ashman of Massachusetts
was permanent chairman of that body,
nnd noToce Greeley appeared ns n dele
gate from Oregon.
Another Republican convention pre
ceded the Lincoln nnd Hamlin con
vention four years. It met In Phila
delphia in June, 1850, and nominnted
Fremont nnd Dayton, nenry S. Lane
of Indiana was permanent chairman.
This was tho first Republican national
convention to nominate candidates for
the offices of president and vice presi
dent, although it wns a continuation of
a preliminary convention held at Pitts
burgh In February of the same year,
where, strictly speaking, tho Republic
an party first root in national conven
tion. Other Conventions.
The national Republican convention
which renominated Grant and selected
Wilson for vice presidential candidate
met nt Philadelphia in June. 1872.
Thomas Settlo of North Carolina was
presiding officer.
In the next Republican national con
vention, which met at Cincinnati,
nayes and 'Wheeler were the nominees.
Edward McPherson of Pennsylvania
was permanent chairman.
John B. Henderson was permanent
chairman of the convention which nom
inated Blaine nnd Logan at Chicago in
18S1.
Morris M. Estes was pcrmaent chair
man of tho convention which nominat
ed Harrison nnd Morton at Chicago in
18SS.
In the Democratic national conven
tion which nominated Cleveland and
Stevenson nt Chicago In 1802 W. L.
Wilson was permanent chairman.
In the convention which nominated
Bryan nnd Sewnll nt Chicago In 189G
Senator White of California was per
manent chairman. Bryan was the sec
ond Democrat present in convention to
receive the nomination for first place,
the other being Seymour.
Some interesting facts are grouped In
recollections of two national Democrat
ic conventions. In the convention that
nominated Franklin Pierce and W. It
King at Baltimore in June, 1S52, of
which John W. Davis of Indiana was
permanent chairman, Jefferson Davis
received cloven votes from the Illinois
delegation for vice president It is a
curious bit of political history that the
later president of the Confederacy
should have received such a vote from
a northern state.
In the convention which nominated
Buchanan and Breckinridge at Cincin
nati In June, 1850, four candidates were
placed in nomination Buchanan, Cass,
Pierce and Douglas In tho shortest
nominating speeches ever delivered.
The four speeches made exactly seventy-seven
words. Breckinridge, who
wa3 present when lie was nominated
for vice president, declined in n speech
and later accepted. The permanent
chairman of this convention was John
E. Ward of ilcorgln.
PLANTING TREES FOR TIES.
Pennsylvania System Works a Con
servation Scheme For Its Own Use.
Tho growlug scarcity of timber suit
able for manufacture Into railroad tics,
which has been responsible for a rapid
Increase in the cost of ties in recent
years, has led the Pennsylvania rail
road to adopt a conservation scheme
which includes the production of trees
for its own use.
More than four and a half million
trees have been planted by the Penn
sylvania In the past ten years. Last
year nlono 515,703 trees were trans
ferred from tho company's nursery at
Morrlsvllle, Pa., to permanent places
on railroad property. In 1009 1,000,000
young trees were set out.
At the nursery the Pennsylvania has
In operation thirty-six acres, which are
kept up to practically maximum pro
duction. In 1011 -183,118 forest trees
wero shipped from tho nursery for
company use, whllo an additional 4GV
553 ornamental trees nnd shrubs wero
used by tho various divisions. The
present stock on hand at tho nursery
Is 2.200,833, of which 2,072,100 are
forest trees and 221,007 ornamental
plants.
RAPID RISE OF
SIR RUFUS ISAACS
English Attorney General Took
Up Law at Twenty-six.
JUST MADE CABINET MINISTER
He Once Pailed as a Broker The
Whitaker Wright and Other Famous
Cases Which Ha Prosecuted Wife
His Constant Adviser.
Tho career of Sir Rufus Isaacs, the
English attorney general, whose ap
pointment to the British cabinet has
Just been announced, disproves tlie Idea
tltat remarkable and rapid rises In for
Mttie can occur in America alone. When
it boy Rufus Isaacs ran nwny from
homo nnd joined a ship's company for
Rio de Janeiro. At twenty-five, al
though a member of tho London Stock
Exchange, he was already marked as
a financial failure, and yet ten years
after he had been admitted to tho bar
of the Middle Tomplc, for which hu
began studying when twenty-six years
old, he had been created n king's coun
sel and had the largest practice of any
barrister in England.
Sir Rufus Dauiel Isaacs is the son of
loscph M. Isaacs, a London merchant
Ue received his education at the Uni
versity College school nnd In Brussels
and Ilanover. His lutrents destined
him for Cambridge, but the Idea of
study was irksome to the spirited
young man, so that whllo arrangements
for Ills education were being perfected
ho embarked on a sailing vessel for
South America as a common sailor.
He soon tired of this life and return
ed to London. Although he might still
have gone to a university, young Isancs
preferred huslness and became n bro-
kei". lie learned, however, that busi
ness In London was ns uncongenial to
him as the sea. At twenty-six he wns
face to face with financial ruin.
Meets His Future Wifo.
It wns nt this juncture that young
Isaacs met his future wife, Miss Alice
Edith Cohen, who was to play an itn
portnit part in his later career as his
constant helpmeet and ndvlser. Miss
Cohen was the daughter of an Ameri
can merchant who hnd moved to Lon
don. She became engaged to the young
broker and advised him to study law.
Isaacs remonstrated at the hopeless
ness of beginning in tho profession at
so late a date, but the young woman
Insisted. Together lit the evenings the
two used to pore over the lawbooks.
Such was their success that In 1S87
Isaacs wns admitted to the bar in
London. The same year, although he
had left the Stock Exchange absolute
ly penniless, he married Miss Cohen.
Whitaker Wright's Case.
When Whitaker Wright, the great
English "frenzied finance" expert, who
had fled to America, was brought back
to London and successfully prosecuted
by Isaacs his reputation was secured.
It wns within a few feet of his prose
cutor that Wright drank poison and es
caped imprisonment.
Tlie Slevcr blackmail case added to
Isaacs' eminence at the English bar.
Bob Slever, the proprietor of a Lon
don racing paper, ran a column known
as "Celebrities In Glass Houses," In
"which, it was alleged, prominent men
who had refused to accede to Slever's
demands wero consistently blackmail
ed. Finally J. B. Joel, a Londoner of
great wealth, sued Slevcr for black
mall, and after a sensational trial
Isaacs succeeded In obtaining his ac
quittal.
In 1004 Isaacs was returned to par
liament ns a Liberal from the Reading
district From then on his rise was
rapid. Up to the death of Edward
VII. he was a regular "fourth" at the
royal bridge table, and it was joking
ly said that tho reason that the king,
who was not a great bridge player, en
joyed playing with Sir Rufus Isaacs
was that tho lawyer played as badly
as he did.
In 1000 Isaacs was made solicitor
general, and in 1010 he was knighted
and made attorney general. The fol
lowing year ho wns created irivy eoun
cllor and knight commander of the
Victorian order. This year, as if lion
ors had not come rapidly onotigh, tlie
historic precedent of tho British con
stitutlon wag broken In order to make
hint a member of tho cabinet, for he Is
tho lirst nttorney general ever to be ad
mitted.
Aided by Lady Isaacs,
It is generally said among the
frlendB of Sir Rufus Isaacs that Lady
Isaacs has been instrumental in his
phenomenal riso from financial fail
ure. One of the many friends who call
nt Foxhlll, tho Isaacs' estuto in Ber
wickshire, I James M. Barrio, the
dramatist Rumor has it that Barrio
obtained tho germ of his play, "What
Every Woman Knows," in which a
wife's wlU led her husband to io
Iltlcal success, from tho continuous
counsel of Lady Isancs, who first Im
pelled her husband to study law. Tito
sad featuro is that Lady Isancs Is nn
invnlld and cannot go about with her
husband nor bo preocnt when ho con
ducts some famous inquiry, like the
present one, on tho Titanic disaster.
When Sir Rufus left practice to be
come nttorney general it "was said tltat
ho received not less than $10,000 ns n
retainer and $1,000 for a dny's ap
pearance In court.
IA7TH RUB NOSES.
BEAK ANNABEL!
Rubbing Foreheads Also Suggested
in Move to Ban Old-Time Kit
ing. A Milwaukee special says: Tho
Milwaukee Physicians' Association
will proparo a bill for tho noxt Leg
islature Intending to stop tho prac
tice of kissing and stamDlnK tho
habit as a "blot on civilization" and
n "menace to health nnd decency."
'ino action was decided on at n
meeting at which a dozen papers
wero read on tho nubiect. A sub
stitute for tho practice offered wna
tnat or rubbing noses or foreheads,
this being hold more docent bv the
physicians.
GREENTOWN.
Grcentown, Juno 22. Simon
Fields, Sr., a woll known resident
of Greono township, died on Monday
of last week at tho homo of his
daughter In 'Prlceburg, Pa., aged
84 years. He Is survived by his
wife, four daughters and three
eons. Tho funeral was hold Wed
nesday at Canadensis. Mr. Fields
had lived In Greeno over fifty yoars.
THE SUMMER GOODS
AT
Menner & Go's Department Stores
ARE
ingestions for Comfort for Hot
Weather Wear
In Our
Ladles' Suit Department can be
found.
The new Rattlne and Linen Goods
In Norfolk Blazer and Coat Styles.
One-Piece Dresses in house and
street styles.
Fancy White and Silk Dresses for
Evening and Church Wear, new
styles.
Children's Dresses In Lawn, Per
cale and new stylish wash goods.
Long Coats In Pongee Linen and
light weight wool.
Shirt Waists, new models and ma
terials. Underwear in New Form and fine
quality In soft fabrics.
Corsets In the new, long hip
shaped styles, best models.
Menner & Go's Stores
always Up-to-Date in Goods and
Makes.
StOD
Look
Do You want Electric Lights
in your home, boarding house or hotel? If so we
will put them in. Let me know how many and I
will tell you what it will cost. Electricity beats
them all.
It's the
Dean Home Electric Lighting Plant
Our store In the Grantbs Iluildin-, Is lighted by it. Let us show it to
you.
Reo the Fifth, Ford and Brush
AUTOMOBILES
John Deere Sulky Plows,
Hoosier Grain Drills, Dain Vertical Lift Mower,
Ireland Wood Saw, Kant Klog Hand Sprayers,
The Famous "New Way"
E. W. GAMMELL
Honesdale, Pa.
JOSEPH N. WELCH
Fi
Insurance
The OLDEST Fire Insurance
Agency in Wayne County.
Ufllce: Second floor Masonic Build
ing, over O. C. Jadwin'a drug store,
Honedalc.
C. Have The Citizen sent to
your address. Only $1.50 per
year
Success Manure Spreader,
Air Cooled Engine,