The Minneapolis journal., 1901-12-14
Questions Answered


National Guard-What medals are offered in
the United States army in recognition OF
conspicuous galldntry or merit in a soldier or
oncef?-The only form OF medal offered ia
what is commonly known as the congressional
medal This is a medal of honor authorized
by congress in 1868 and issued in the name OF
congress. 1t is bronze medal In the gem
erai form OF a fVe-pOinted star above which
ana over cannon crossed over balls, hOvers an
eagle The medal is suspended from bronze
pm Dy silk ribbon one inch wide and one
llch long; the center stripe Of white one
sixteenth Of an inch wide hanked on either
sue by stripe OF blue seven thirty-seconds,
Dordered by two stripes of red, one-quarter
OF an inch wide" In lieu Of the medal the
recipient may wear less ostentatious bow
KNOT OF the same combination Of colors The
congressional medal is only awarded for the
most extraordinary gallantry and fearlessnegs
something far beyond the bravery expected
OF every soldier For enlisted men only pro-
vision is made for certificate Of merit. ,,
rms certificate may be awarded to a soldier
who has distinguished himself and it entities
him to an increase in his pay Of 81 per month.
Qrious-Can you inform me through the
columns of T Journ as to what is
the meaning of the heraIdic device on the
silver certificates, treasury notes. etc, and OF
the Latin motto surrounding it? 1 believe 1t
reads, "Thesaur Amer Septent SgI. The
NC'iNS lSlei4eu " ID lu6 OHlclal seal or the
treasury department, which was devised and
adopted prior to the formation OF the United
States. In ITS the continental congress re-
solved that a committee Of three be ap-
pointed to prepare seal for the treasury
and for the navy" The committee consisted
OF Mr.. Witherspcon, G. Morris and r. H. Lee
The navy at that time was under the juris-
diction of the board Of admiralty and the
treasury under that Of the committee on
finance, or board Of treasury. The committee
made report on the device for a seal for
the navy, but no record can be found Of a re-
port for the treasury. A seal, however, was
adopted, impressions OF which may be found
on original papers now in the files of the
office Of the register Of the treasury. Some
minor changes have been made from time
to time, but the seal adopted was substan-
italy the came in device and legend as the
seal OF the treasury department at this day
In the absence Of the report of the commit
tee in explanation Of the device adopted no
authoritative statement Of the heraldic mean
ing OF the seal can be given. A student Of
heraldry in the office of the treasurer of the
United States gives this explanation to 7 h .
ourn a I. He says that the device "is a
shield Or, on a chevron azure, between q
pair Of scales in chief and a key in base,
both proper, thirteen mullets argent" Trans
lated into ordinary language 1t means shield
OF gold or red with blue chevron (the rectan-
guar ueNlce between In6 scales ana KEY
with pair Of scales in the chief or upper
part and key in the base or lower part. The
thirteen mullets" are the thirteen stars
representing the thirteen colonies that en-
gagged in the war for independence This stu
dent OF heraldry says that the scales and key
mean nothing in heraldry. He thinks they
were inserted by the committee as sym
bolical Of the justice and safety OF the
treasury-the scales representing justice and
the key security or safety. The legend on
the seal is "Thesaur. Amer. Septent. Sigil.,"
being an abbreviation of the Latin sentence:
''Thesauri Americae Septentrionalis Sigil-
lum," !" meaning, THE seal Of the treasury Of
North America Literally-Of the treasury
Of America, North Seal)"
Inquirer-What are the home addresses of
j. Pierpont Morgan and John D. Rockefeller?
Mr.. Rockefeller's Office Is at 20 Broadway
and his residence at w Fffty-fourth street.
New York city. Mr.. Morgan's Office is at %
Wall street and his residence at 219 Madison
avenue, New York.