The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1912-06-05
of the public institutions o, Rich

OF the public institutions Of Rich
mond
What lends picturesque interest TO
tho announcement of the discovery is
tho fact that. at intervals since the
dispersal of the effects of the Confcd-
eracy In 1865. there have appeared at
lcas two other claimants of the honor
of possessing the great seal The
state OF South Carolina received in
1883. as gift from u former citizen
what purported TO be tho genuine ar
ucle. The donor. or some one in his
Behalf, undertook to rchearse its
pedigree. including a story OF how
1t came into his possession directly
from tho hands of Colonel John T.
of the Confederate forces defending
Richmond. who had found It IN the
office of the Confederate Secretary OF
state while the evacuation OF the city
was in progress.
Eleven years later another claimant,
appeared in the person of Il West V!r-
ginian, a descendant OF Colonel Alex
andcr Boteler, chairman OF the COM
mittee on whom the Confederate Con-
gress imposed tho task OF procuring
Il seal for the infant republic. This
Boteler seal. like the one which has
just started for Richmond. was of
silver. whereas the South Carolina seal
was described as Of baser metal.
But with the lapse OF another eleven
years there was published, under re-
spectacle auspices, q clrcumstantial
account OF the flight OF the last rem
nant of the Confederate government
from Richpond toward the Gulf. Their
final council. according TO this nara
tive. was held in May ut Abbeville.
s. c.; and that evening Secretary Ben
jamln asked for n Ratchet. and with
IL dcfaced the great seal OF the Con-
fedcracy. About 10 o'clock the same
night" tho writer goes on. "the party
continued their retreat and while
crossing the Savannah River in the
darkness some one suggested that the
seal be thrown overheard. When
the boat reached midstream It was
dropped with n dull splash into the
sandy bed OF that beautiful Southern
watercourse where to this day. It's
mission all fulfilled. IL serenely rests"
There may have been other accounts
OF the fate OF the great seal but these
will suhice to show how easy IT is.
when the possible future Importance
OF an object or an event Is not IN
anybody's thought. for the details to
become confused In the minds OF those
who ought to know most about II. In
this instance a presumption is created
In favor OF the authenticity OF tho
relic which was the latest 10 turn up
by the circumstances that 1t was
traced to its hiding place in Rear
Admiral Selfridges safe through some
OF Colonel Picketts memoranda which
are now In the Library OF Congress.
Its hallmarks. moreover, are said to
bear every indication of genuincness.
But what. then. was It that Secretary
Benjamin defaced at Abbeville and
somebody dropped into the Savannah
River at midnight? Shall we ever And
out TIL some enthusiast. with the per-
sistency Of DIR. owen In his hunt for
Shakespcare's head, drags the Savan-
nah for this battered emblem OF
sovereignty? Or is the whole Able
VILE Incident romantic fiction. and
Is the adult Beajamin's Ratchet doom
cd to pass into the same legendary
limbo with tho Juvenile Washing
ion's?-New york Evening Post.