The National tribune., 1908-05-14
ANSWERS To-
CORRESPONDENTS.

w. I. W., Ogden9 Utah, asks: Will
you inform me if the British Govern
ment is paying pensions to the men
who served in the Crimean war? If so,
who would be the proper ones to write
to about it?
Any application for a pension for
services in the British army by resi-
dent of the United States should prop
erly be made thru the Hon. James
Bryce, British ambassador to the Unit
ed States, Washington, D. c.
w. w. K, Long Beach, Cal. writes:
Please give short history of when the
81, SO and $50 gold pieces were coined,
and what became of the dies from
respective values?
The gold dollar came into existence
by act of Congress of March 3, 1S49,
and the SO piece was authorized by the
act of Feb. 81, 1853. The $50 piece
was never issued by the United States
Government. The gold dollar is still a
coin of the United States, but none have
been minted in recent years, except the
commemorative dollars issued for the
Lewis and Clark and the st. Louis Ex-
positions. The SO gold piece went out
of existence by operation of law in
1880. The California coins were in the
majority of cases struck by jewelers.,
and were used as pocket pieces or SOU
venirs. The large, octagonal $50 gold
piece was struck by United States As
sayer Augustus Humbert, at the mint
of Moffatt & Co.. then Government as
saying contractors, at an establishment
in San Francisco Many of these local
coins were used in the manufacture OF
jewelry. and were held to be infringe
ments of the laws against counterfeit
ing by the United States authorities. In
1882 law was passed that these jewell
ers' tokens should not bear designa-
tion of monetary value, and thereafter
interest in them diminished. The dies
of the Government coins are controlled
by the mints, but those for the Califor-
MIA coins are naturally in the possession
of the jewelers. who used them. 1t Is
said that one collector in Massachusetts
has gathered no less than 81 varieties
of the gold-coined money of the denom-
ination of 81, made in California.
A NJ, Savannah, Ga, asks: What
do the letters L. II. ID. signify, when
they follow mans name?
They stand for the Latin words Lit
terarum Humaniorum Doctor, signifying
Doctor of the More Humane Letters;
that is, of the humanities or university
studies. 1t is degree commonly given
to those who have achieved distinction
by their writings; thus. Richard Watson
Glider, editor of the Century Magazine,
was given this degree last year by Co
lumbia University.
G. NICK, Norfolk, Va. asks: Have
the Columbian commemorative postage
stamps any special value?
Cancelled copies of the higher values,
beginning with the 81, have the follow
ing selling prices: One dollar, salmon,
So; two dollars, brown red, s1.40; three
dollars, yellow green, $3.50; four dol
lars, black, $3.50. {
G. II. NJ, Newark, N. j., writes: Can
you give me a brief history of the Car
lyle Building in Ale:1andria, Va? When
l visited it with the G. A. r. last year
/ was told there were three bodies in
the building at that time. .reis't-,F -@t t'
The Carlyle House, on the corner of
Fairfax and Cameron streets, Alexan-
dria, was built by John Carlyle in the
year 1852, at a time when Alexandria
was the metropolis of the British EN-
pire in America. This was the period
of the wars with the French and In
dians, and in 1755, when Gen. Brad
dock came to America to take command
of the British forces, his headquarters
were in the adjoining house. 1t was,
however, in the blue room of the Car
lyle House that, on the invitation OF
Mr.. Carlyle, he received and conferred
with the Colonial Governors, Shirley, of
Massachusetts,; De Laneey, of New
York; Morris, of Pennsylvania; Sharpe,
of Maryland; Dinwiddie, of Virginia,
and Dobbs, of North Carolina. The chief
purpose of this conference was to de-
wise means of raising revenue for the
support of the military service in North
America, and II was resolved that the
Governors, having found 1T impractical,
BILE to obtain in their respective gov
ernments the proportion expected by
His Majesty. they are unanimously Of
the opinion that it should be proposed