The National tribune., 1909-08-12

or so from port. The customs houses
at New York and other ports have been
busy places in the past few days. The
increase of imports in anticipation OF
the new tariff bill has amounted to
hundreds of thousands of dollars. The
total receipts of the custom house at
| New York for four days last week was
about $4,000, 600, nearly double what
it was in the corresponding period last
| year.
Fossil remains of marine animals es-
| timated by geologists to be 10000, 600
years old, were found a few days ago by
workmen who are digging on the Mary
| land side about n quarter of mile
above the old Chain Bridge. The de-
positS. which are known as molluscoidS,
were in the center of a 500-pound mass
of Trenton limestone. According to au-
thorities on geological matters. this dis
covery is proof that the Potomac had
| at one time existed $50 feet above its
present bed before it had cut the gorge
at Great Falls. A geolegist said that
| this deposit is a Devonian fossil. and
was brought down thousands of years
ago by the combined action of the river
and floating ice, as it doesn't belong
| to the rock bed in which it was found
The fossils found in the rock, which is
known as Trenton limestone of the
| Psleozoic age, were deposited by the
river at least 0,000 900 years ago, and
are of the brachiopod or molluscoid
! type. an extinct form of bivalye.
Tennis is dead at the White House.
after an illness lasting since March 4
last, when Theodore Roosevelt. its we'll
beloved friend, left During the siren
uous Presidents term of office, which
lasted more than seven years, tennis
was one of his closest companions, and
handsome tennis court was built in
the White House grounds just south Of
the new office building on 18th street.
Now the tennis court is to go to make
room for the prosaic addition to the
White House Office. Mr.. Taft has a
pet sport of his own known as golf, con-
sequently there will be no use for a
tennis court. 1t was here that Roose-
velts famous Tennis Cabinet" met
the unhoused Cabinet that became fam
our the world over, composed of such
men as former Secretary of the In
terror Jimmy Garfield; Clifford Pin
chot, Chief Forester of the United
States; former Secretary of State Rob-
ert Bacon, and others.
Workmen have begun the excavating
for the foundations for the addition to
the Executive Offices. which is to be
erected during President Taft's absence.
The Lincoln Penny.
The new Lincoln penny is out, and it
is beauty. 1t is of bright copper, and
Abraham Lincoln. Above his head is
the motto I'm God We Trust" and If
those simple words ever belonged to
any one man before another they GER
tainly belonged to Abraham Lincoln.
His trust in an almighty power was al
most childlike. Over the right shoul-
der is the word Liberty" and in front
of Lincoln is the date 1909. On the
|opposite side of the coin are two sheaves
of wheat, with the words, "One cent,
United States of America" In the CEN
ter and on the upper edge the motto
E Pluribus Unum' is placed. 1t is en-
tirely unique for a cheap COIN. 1t is
the first change that has been made in
our penny in 25 years, the old Indian
head having served for that length Of
time. The specific law does not permit
a change oftener than once in quarter
of century. The new coin had the
approval of President Roosevelt
On the first day that the new Lincoln
cent appeared Qast Tuesday, the ru-
NOR was firm that they were to be re-
called because of the fact that the ini-
tials of the artist who made the design.
Victor ID. Brunner, were put on the
ColH. Inc IilllldlS are Defiedtn the
wheat sheaves on the reverse side. 1t
was thought at first that this was an
error, but such is not the case. The
initials were placed on the coin in ac-
cordance with the established plan of
the Mint to give credit to the artists
who design our coins. On the silver
and gold coins of the later issues the
initials OF the artists who designed them
are somewhere near the coins edges,
but in microscopic letters. As a conse-
quence of this false rumor about 5000
people were in line at the Treasury
cash room on Wednesday from about
IL o'clock until closing time, at 2, to
get some of the new coins. Each per-
son was limited to SO coins, and $4,000,
or $500 worth, were dealt out.
While the coins will not be recalled.
Secretary MacVeagh decided that the
initials of the artist are too prominent,
and that the dies must be changed so az
to reduce the size of the inscription.
He gave orders to cease coming the
pennies until the dies are changed. This
will be done.
He subsequently said that the only
objection to the initials were that they
were too prominent and gave the coin
an advertising, commercial aspect
which he did not approve. There was
no objection, he said, to the initial 'B"
appearing somewhere on the coin. but
ne Would not permit the three Initials
to continue in raised letters.
Secretary MacVeagh's order will soon
put the pennies that have been minted
at small premium, it is thought, altho
probably a million of them have already
been placed with subtreasuries thru
out the country and issued to an eager
public.
The Treasury officials say they have
never before seen such rush for new
money. altho each new issue of coins
of any kind creates little furry at the
beginning of their distribution The
newsboys and street gamins reaped
quite harvest by selling the pennies
to people on the street at from three
for five cents to five cents each.