Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-12-24
ITEMS OF INTEREST.

A MAN born ct sea belongs to the
nation to which the ship on which he ia
born belongs.
THE mignonette now commonly
known as the "Frenchman's Darling"
was first SO called by Cowper, who
uses the expression in his "Winter
Evening""
AT the breaking out of the Revolu-
ton all of the thirteen colonies traf.
licked in and held slaves, and it was not
until the census of 1860 that it was
found no slaves whatever were held in
the States North of Mason and Dixon's
line. The first State to decree the
abolition of slavery was Vermont in
l777, before the formation of the Union,
Pennsylvania provided for the gradual
emancipation of her slaves in 1850, New
York in 1899, and New Jersey in 1904.
The common phrase, "There's many
a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip" had
mythical origin. The helmsman of the
ship Argo, Aucnas, was told by seer
that he would never taste the wine Of his
own vineyards. A bottle of the wine
being placed before him, messenger
was sent for the seer who was to per-
ceive the falsity of his prophecy. Be-
fore the messenger returned a wild boar
entered the vineyard, and Aucmas,
while trying to drive him out, was
mortally wounded and died soon after
ward, without tasting his wine.
The term dollar" from the German
"thaler' was applied to authorized
money issued by the Government May
10, l775. The coinage of the United
States is Spanish in origin and Dutch
in name. The paper issued in 1775,
was to be redeemed in Spanish milled
dollars" which contained about 3S5.72
grains of fine silver and 3l.75 grains of
aIoy. June 3, Of the same year, Con-
gress tried to borrow an amount stated
in pounds" It would satisfy many if
some one who has looked into the mat
ter would tell us why the English coin
age was dropped by the colonies, and
how Spanish coin came to be known
by the Dutch form of German name.
The German "thaler" (the word is pro-
nounced "taaler" Ia that language)
coined in 1900, was worth two-thirds Of
n Spanish dollar. The phrase, "The
words worth dollar" has reference
to the Spanish coin, according to Scott.
The Legion of Honor is an order of
merit instituted by Napoleon in 1902,
Us national reward for services of a
distinguished character. It was given
for military and civil services alike,
those who were distinguished in litera-
ture, science, scientific discoveries, and
commercial pursuits being equally
eligible for the decoration with the
soldier and sailor. The order consists
of five grand crosses, grand.
officers, commanders, officers, and
chevaliers of whom there may be any
number. Although established by Ma
poleon when he filled the Office of First
Consul, it was kept on the restoration
of the monarhy, and had suffered little
material change during the revolutions
which called Louis Philippe to power
and drove him into exile and those
which raised Napoleon III. to the sum-
NIT Of his greatness. The recipient of
the cross of the Legion of Honor is en-
titled to small annual pension, which
is now fixed at 400 francs. The grand
cross was sent by Napoleon III. to the
Prince of Wales on the occasion of his
marriage.
The currency issued by national
banks is secured by registered bonds of
the United States deposited with the
Treasurer of the United States. Should
the market value of these deposited
bonds fall below the amount of circula-
ton issued for the same the Comp
troller of Currency is authorized to de-
mand additional security in United
States bonds or in money to the amount
of such depreciation. Banks are furn-
ished with the amount of national bank
notes they are authorized to circulate.
These notes are printed by the Govern
ment, and over issues are thus provided
against. When national bank fails to
redeem its circulating notes, the holders
may have them redeemed by presenta-
ton at the United States Treasury.
The full value of the depositor's claim
is not always realized by the failure of
national banks, but their loss is smaller
than it would otherwise be. The loss
of creditors of national banks from 1868
to 1882 amounted to about $400, 900 per
annum. The average capital for this
time was $45O,00O,O0O and the annual
deposits amounted to $S00,000,000.