The Washington herald., 1913-09-05
BRYANS Dove
Turns EAGLE
State Secretary Chooses Per-
sonal Seal and Makes
an Error.
HISTORIAN NOW NEEDED
Department Needs Official to Keep
Cabinet Premier from Repeat
ing Mistakes.

wANTED-A NATURAL HISTORIAN IN THE
| State Department. Apply at once 90 WILLIAM
JENNINGS BRYAN, Secretary Of State.
This advertisement did not appear in
any Washington newspaper. but 1t might
| haye-or, rather, it should have. For
| Secretary Bryan has discovered that,
while he may be proficient in diplomacy,
| oratory, grape fruit. and Chautauquas,
he is not well posted on natural history.
Some time ago, when the present Sec
retary of State was journeying through
| the Holy Land. filled with the dual inter-
/ ests Of a student and a lover of the re-
| ligious, he met a fellow-American who
| had made a hobby of the collection Of old
| coins The American, being a great ad-
mirer of the Nebraska statesman. pressed
| upon him a coin which he said would
make an excellent souvenir OF the visit
TO Palestine.
This is a genuine coin OF the time of
Alexander the Great" said the numis-
matist, "and thereby differs from % per
cent of the coins which you would buy
over here and which are guaranteed to
be antique while they are, in reality, but
! the baldest fakes. l found this coin in a
newly opened grave not far from CAL
vary, and l suppose it was inferred with
! its owner to allow him TO pay his fare
over the River Styx without trying to
beat Charon out of the legal allowance
for the journey"
Bryan Accepted Coin.
The coming Secretary Of State accepted
the coin gratefully. 1t is a small round
piece, bearing on one side the head OF a
Clean-shaven man with a strong face
! which the coin collector assured Mr..
Bryan was Alexander himself-and on the
other a bird which the commoner took
to be a dove. The American statesman
pocketed the coin and thought no more
about it for some time.
Several months ago he came across ths
antique and decided that he would have
it carefully sawed in half, so as to pre-
serve the images both on the diverse
and the reverse, and he could then have
it made into q pair of cuff buttons.
This was done and the first time the
Secretary of State appeared at his ONCE,
on the day after President Wilson was
inaugurated, he was wearing his Alexan-
drian cuff buttons.
Among the first pieces of information
received by the new Secretary was that
he was supposed to have a private seal.
What's that for?' asked the successor
to Secretary Knox.
ITO use on private papers which might
have an intrinsic value outside their gov
ernmental importance" he was told,
Where is Mr.. Knox's seal?"
He took It with him." replied the
custodian of the office. 1T was his per-
sonal property"
What, then would you suggest that
use as a seal?" queried the new Secre-
tary of State.
Anything unique which has a personal
significance" came the answer. and NJ.
Bryan commenced a search through his
pockets to see what he could find to fill
the bill. Nothing appeared satisfactory
until Second Assistant Secretary of State
Adee's eye happened to light upon the
Secretarys queer cuff links.
What are those?" asked the man who
has been connected with the State De-
partment since 1870 and knows more
about it and its affairs than any other
dozen men alive. a.r
New Seal Suggested.
They're made from an old coin that
1 picked up in Palestine" the Secretary
replied. As his eye regarded the coin he
noted the bird upon the left sleeve-button
and the idea suddenly struck him that
here was an excellent seal.
The more so, he thought, because of
the fact that this button contained a
bird which he was sure was a dove
and which then would be eminentiy
suitable to impress upon the wax on
the peace treaties then under consid-
Grafton.
The cuff button accordingly was
lifted from it's accustomed place and
set in a seal handle, nobody taking the
trouble to examine the plunage or
general structure of the bird thereon.
A few days ago. when the first of
the peace treaties, that with Saliva
dor, was signed. the Secretary of
state sent a complimentary copy of
It TO each of the foreign diplomats In
washington. each copy bearing the i'm
press of the Bryan dove seal. In the
letter accompanying the treaty Sec
retary Bryan inclosed a form letter
calling the attention of the diplomats
to the fact that this was the first Of
what bade fair to be most important
series Of treaties, and to the impress