Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-06-11
Seal of the United States


| appear,d in one form or another.
| II was really Charles Tomson. sec
r.lary of Consr, IS. who made the d
sign which was the model Of iii" pres
cnt seal His sketch was given tI
;, William Barton TO be. as We would
say. licked into shape. Barton kn""
a lot about h, raldry, and he retin' d
the details OF TOmSon's idea. hui
without changing 1t essentially.
j Ii was this design which WAS HnailS
adopted by Congress June 20. u.s.
! and first used So far as We know.
three months later ON a commission
to &c neral Washington granting HIM
power to arransr with the British for
the exchange OF prisoners OF war On
4 that document III" seal was impressed
i over white wafer fastened to III"
parchmnt BY means of rcd wax In the
upper left hand corner
! We have changed the corner now
| and use thu lower left hand one In.
stead of the upper. That seal was cut
on brass in Philadelphia. but II Is not
| known by whom the work was done.
| That was the first OF our great
i seals We have had three new ones
since then. and curiously enough no
two of the four have been exactly
alike.
The first seal was in Use fifty-nine
years. from 1882 till iSil. when sec
| ond one was order d BY Daniel Web
ster as secretary Of state. The third
was cut in 1885. and the present one
which. by the way. was also cut In
Philadelphia--in 1903.
Wink. The first S. al, there fore, waI
used fifty-nine years and the second
fort -four years. the third one lasted
| ouly eighteen years. According to
! thu. rate at which the life of the seal
| was being shortened the present one
1 won't be good for more than q decade.
| The explanation OF this contracted
| usefulnt IS probably lies in the in
| creased work which as the country
grows the Great Seal has to perform.
| On the other hand since 1874 the
Great Seal has been relieved OF so
many small jobs that It seems as If IL
ought to be enjoying the leisure Of
an aristOcrat now. Up to that time il
was. placed on all civil commissions.
even those of postmastt RS. Since tn n
the system has been changed.
/ Postmasters' commissions besr the
l seal of the pOStOffice Department.; ju
4 dietary officers, marshals and Unite d
States attorneys are appointed un-
| der the seal of the department OF jus
tice; officials of the interior depart
mept under the seal OF that depart
ment. AND so on.
u
ito the commissions of ali cabinet Of
ficers and of diplomatic and consular
Il officials nominated by the President
l and confirmed by the Senate; to all
ceremoniOus communications from the
! President to heads of foreign govern
ments: to all treaties. conventions AMI
! formal ayr ements with foreign pow
/ ers: to all pardOns or cOmmut ions
i of sentence by the President<FtO Of
tenders who have been convicted he
fore the courts of the Unit u States;
TO all exequafurs to foreign consular
| officers in the United States who are
appointed by the heads of the govern
ments they represent to warrants Ey
the President TO receive persona lIr-
rendered by foreign governments I'M
j der extradition treaties, and to all
miscellaneous commissions Of civil OF
ficers appointed by the President. by
and with the advice and consent of
the Senate. whose appointment is not
now especially directed by law to be
j signed under a different seal"
As before said, no two Of the four
n great seals have been exactly alike.
Number two had six arrows in the
eagles left claws instead Of the thir-
teen which had been clutched by Gag
n le number one. The bird himself was
Il more graceful in number two. tn
1 clouds were less Iike spit curis. the
II olive branch bore berries along with
n it's leaves. the outline OF the shield
1 was entirely different and so was the
n border.
4 In 1885. when number three was Ia
\ be- cut. the department Of state sui.
I mitted the design TO several suthOri
4 ties on heraldry with a view to cor.
recting any faults that might exist
4 The experts declared the seal to
y quite correctly conceived. SO the same
81 desg was cut but again there wera
slight Differences The whole sea!
!, was slightly smaller than the pres
4 eBt one; the f'utter Of the scroll wa
\ altered: SO We're the claws and the
Il olive branch
p a document. no recrse design is
needed Nevertheless. We have an q;
\ fcislIy accepted design for this un-
4 used reverse.
4 In its crntrr is an unfamiliar pvrl-
4 mid. to signify strength and duration /:
over II an eye fof ProvidenceD IN a
4 triangle surrounded by a glory: on
r, tho has. uf the pyramid the date 1875
\ in Roman capitals. and n Latin mott q
Il above and another below In the r.
! port accompanying the design OF the
: present seal IL was said that Of the