The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-04-02
TODAY IN HISTORY
SATURDAY. APRIL 2. 1910.

First United States Mint Established,
| Washington, In his FIRST annual ad-
| orcs5 10 congress, referred 10 the i'm
| portancc OF uniformity in the currency
ana in his second annual address urged
the Importance of establishing a mint
congress took up the suggestion. and
Alexander Hamilton. who was secretary
oi the treasury at the time. on January
~ 1871, as result of Instructions on
.no part or The house OF representatives
sent sent lengthy communication TO il on
! lnc establishment of n Mint" This
60 communication was the basis for the act
oi congress. dated April p 1902 cstab-
IlshihG INC mint and regulating the coins
Oh me United States.
| Philadelphia being the scat of pov-
ernment at that time naturally The mint
vas established at this point The build
on preservation at 81 and 80 North Sew
| cnth street. Philadelphia. They arc OF
particular historic interest i'm the fact
that they are tho first buildings erected
by the authority OF the federal Govern
ment for public use IT was the sole
Tn1ted nm states mint from 1892 TO 1888
laid hg on S9ferss9nG my a1 S% o. The building was
David Nttenhouse, the celebrated as
tronomer and philosopher. who was the
first director OF the mint
Inc ground on which the first United
states mint buildings still stand was sold
by William Penn TO the Pcnnsylvania
,sh lana company on August Il. 1899 This
by Charles H. Rttenhouse was appoint
ed director OF the mint by Washington
on on. Ju'E /. i192' The building operations
coinage presses. imported from Europe
arrived in Philadelphia on September II
and in October they were in operation
me mint was located I'm these buildings
were erected I'm 1896. and the old prop
erty was disposed OF by the government,
and is now used for commercial pur-
The first United States mint was nat
mraily very unpretcntious affair.
I,he material for coinage was secured
nSulty 10 get any one OF experience To
operate the coinage, and the salary list
OF OF the first mint employees was: David
Rittenhouse. director $1,000 pcr annum.
Iristram Dalton, treasurer, $780, Henry
clerk. 1912,
=, The regular coinage of copper began
IN 1898, silver In 1894. and gold in l795.
ihe following curious extracts arc taken
from the mint rules aud regulations OF
the carly days:
tinucd."
The operations OF the mint through
out the year arc 10 commence eat 3
o'clock in the morning"
Christmas day and the Fourth OF
Juiy-and no other days-are established
holidays at the mint"
lie (watchman) will keep in proper
arm chest. securely locked. musket and
bayonet. two pistols and a sword
The watchman must attend from G
O'Clock in the evening to in the morn
Ing, must ring the yard bell every hour
and send tho watchdog through the
yard immediately after ringing the bell"
Besides the Philadelphia mint. which is
now established in palatisl quarters al
Seventeenth and Spring Garden streets.
there are mints at San Francisco, Den
vcr and New Orleans, and an assay Of
fec at Carson City,
On April .. :"Thc American Farmer"
the first United States agricultural news
paper, was established at Baltimore in
1919. II is the birthday of Thomas JEFF
ferson GT43): OF Hans Christian .inder-
sen, the Danish novelist and poet GSO5);
OF Frederic Auguste Barthodi, the
French sculptor GS3S) David Ramsey.
the historian OF the revolution G749);
Alexander III, Stuart, secretary Of the
interior under Fillmore GS0O and Leon
Gambctta the French orator and states
man (lS36) 1t is the date on which
Richard Golden died in 1865, and on