New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-12-04
THE FIELD MEDAL.


Aow il was Lest and HoW Round-An In.
teresttng Story.
The discovery of the original Cyrus w.
Field medal in the safe in the room of As
distant Treasurer futile is the occasion of
no little amusement among tho clerks Of the
body but Mr.. Tuttle seemed to know there
was such thing in the building. That Of
ficer came into possession Of the medal in
Consequence Of request to have safe
meved from one of the vaults into his room
some time ago, and in this safe he found the
medal, which, it seems, the Treasurer be-
Eeved to be lost or stolen.
safe, wondering all the while why NO one
cent or applied for it, and finally concluded
that some sort Of ceremony of presentation
was being arranged, which, when perfected,
would lead to its being called for: But still
it remained, and occasionally Mr.. Tuttle
would ask the cashier why the medal was
not called for, and the subject would be
,gether. But the other day Mr.. Dudley
Field was in the treasury to see General
Spinner, and, after he left, Mr.. Tuttle heard
his name mentioned by the Treasurer, and
Immediately asked if he had come about
that medal.
'What medal :" asked the General;
ssWhy, the Field medal" said Tuttle.
1Whyn ouoth the General, sit was stolen
or lost long ago, and has been duplicated"
"Well, said Tuttle, sit is in the safe in
nv ROOM and has been there ever since the
safe was removed there from the vaults"
So Mr.. futile produced the box, and there
it was sure enough. 1t seems that after
President johnson had examined the medal,
on its receipt from the Philadelphia Mint,
he sent it to the treasury for safe-keeing,
and it was deposited in the vault, and it was
there, by some unaccountable circumstance,
lost sight of, and finally was supposed to
have been either stolen or lost. between the
Presidents house and the treasury depart
ment.
In the box containing it is the original
letter from the director Of the mint, describ-
ing the medal, which we do not remember
to have seen in print, and accordingly pro-
MINT OF THE UNITED srATHs,
Philadelphia, June Is, 1863
SRI have the honor to forward to your
address to-day, per Adams Express Com
, Dany. the gold medal struck at the mint per
\ y6ur instructions, for Cyrus w. Field, Esq,
under the resolution Of Congress- authoriz-
ing the same. The medal is inclOsed in a
neat pearl case with gold mountings, all Of
which were prepared from dies made with
our new engraving machine. The mount
ings on the case are intended to harmonic
with the object Of the medal inside, and
s.the fraternity of man." 'ocean divided" is
the true "gem Of the sea" (pearll. The tri-
dent Of Neptune in the corners is the form
used for the points Of electricity. and ex-
presses the real dominion or mastery by
man; while the gold cable running round the
globular part Of the pearl continues the
metaphor.
The centre, with the shield and crest Of C.
w. Field, with the arms Of the United
States and England on either side and
European arms right and left Of them, ex-
presses the binding Of the nations by the
cable; the small shield of America at the
bottom of the cable, and the private arms OF
Mr.. Field in the centre, or post of honor, is
asserting the claim of the first place in the
enterprise for the United States.
inclose bill for the medal and case,
a:nount Of which please remit gold coin,
$5o3 60; currency, $42 30.
Very respectfully, your Obedient servant,
II. r. LINDERMAN, Director.
Hon Hugh McCulloch, Secretary OF the Treasury
Washington, d. G.