The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-01-29
EBENSHUR(1. PA FRIDAY JANUARY %, 1872

sign ior the head which was accepted.
selected as his model Miss Annie
Williams, young school-teacher, who
had, Mr.. Morgan said. the purely
American features"
Quit number of people have been
under the impression that Mr.. MOrEan's
wifc's head had been used as a moIcl
for the perfection of the design, but
such was not the case.
Regarding the dollar mark writers
are not agreed as to the derivation of
this sign TO represent the word dollar
or dollars Some contend that IL cones
from the letters L and :. which. after
the adoption of the federal constitution,
were Prcf2cd to the currency OF the
new United States, and which after
ward. in the hurry of writing, were
run into each other. the L being made
first and the \ over 1t
Others say that the contraction Is
from the Spanish pesos, dollars; others
still believe il To he derived from thc
Spanish word fucrtes, meaning hard,
called To dcs -natc silver and gold
from paper or soft money The more
plausible explanation OF the puzzle l.
this: That ii Is a modification of the
figure :, and that the character. as we
mark it, denotes that we are speaking.
or writing, of sum of monry equal to
eight reals; or, as the dollar was former
" called "A piece of eight
In the carly history of the dollar,
when every body knew IL as piece OF
eight. writers who had occasion to
mention 1t in their articles dad SO by
making this character: tSD
-
The TWO eigbts and the double hy-
phcn gradually ''evOluted" until il
came ont as :
y word relative TO the origin of the
old shinplasters, cnanat:nF from 10
less Il source than the LAKE Gen. +. /.
Spinner, whose un.que autograph viii
long be rcmcmb mbcrcd. may not be amiss
1t this particular point:
when all the silver mad been paid
out of the treasury OF the United States
early III 1867 procured from the post
Office department quantities of postage
stamp, Tor the purpose of maiiin ng
change. My recollection now is that At
that time five and ten-ccnt staupS
were the only kind in use.
so TO facilitate the making of change,
had the stamps pasted on slips OF pa
per so - 10 make p and % cents. This
was done alter an agreement with Mr.
Montgomery Blair, the then Postmas-
ter general. that he would reiccr., them
in that condition in postage stamps. 1t
was soon found that this mode of pro-
ccdurc was imprac q !cablc-
Il then pcrs Iadcd the postmaster
general to procure the engraving and
printing of fac SMILES OF the postal
compound postage stamp These the
treasurer bought from the postmaster
general under an agreement that the
post office department should redeem
them This was what was called pos
tai currency
The postmaster general soon became
tired of the additional responsibility
and Il Dor that the issuing ana rcdemp-
ton OF this currency threw upon ms
Office. and he urged that the treasurer
should relieve him of it. lie then pro-
cured the passage Of a law by congress
for the printing of = currency which
would represent the fractions OF a dol
lar
These were engraved and printed
nominations OF ., >, II. -, - and
q .nt notes, AMI il coutradistinctIon
>
tioual currency, and were receivable
for all government dues.
Connected with the Unit ed States
treasury is one of the most re marla bic
coin experts in the world He i the
com examiner. and has the remarkable
gift of discerning the slightest fraud in
specie without being able exactly To
tell how IL i done.
a rai.s,.a h. CONG f,.I in,
= heap of honey he VIII detect IL blind
folded. lie runs his fingers through
Jhc mass, and in few moments every
coin is tested This is the result of
that rcmarl;abl power Of touch which
Is only perfected by long practice
When Treasurer Huston came into
his Office he gave a receipt for what the
treasury vaults contained. and this re
c,ipt was the largest ever given in the
history of the world. \ fac-simile OF
1t is framed and hung up III the treasur
er's Office and IL represents S17l, 49,,
:i29. 45s
over 90 per cent. of the silver
produced in the country passes through
the Eand, of few banks and firms
which make il their special business in
New York and san Francisco. In fact,
three or four houses monopolizc the
greater part of the trade. and To them
silver is consigned for safe 10y the Inin-
ing and smelling companies.
They dispose of il in the market to
the government tvhosc purchases un-
der the late silver law are now OF great
Importance, ship it abroad or buy it
themselves
The stock Is believed never to bc
very large. and even during thc recent
silver agitation was not much more
than from six to seven million ounces.
Bars weighing 1909 ounces on an aver
age are usually 800 fine, AMI all trans
actions in them are on This bass, which
IS the standard of the United States
coinage.
4 number of bars go to the assay of
flee to be converted into assay bars,
which are thin bricks of silver weigh
ing 200 ounces each and bearing the Of
fetal stamp of weight and fineness.
These are in demand by silversmiths
on account of the guarantee of the
stamp.
The bullion shipped to Europe is in
the form of commercial bars. which
arc simply cartcd To the steamer and
there placed, unpaclIcd. in thc treasure
room. 1t i quite unusual to pack sil-
yer with the care that Is bestowed on
gold. The bars also form the hulk %
the stock held in New Eork.-IL ID.
sim, in y. Y. Commercial
building Contracts.
Architects say that no more than one
house in ten is finished at the time
named in the building contract. and
probably half the houses are com
pleted from two months to u year be
hind time In large buildings the IA