The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-02-05

Of the honors Which warren @.
Harding win fofsgo. By his policy
Of simplicity first ct iaauguration
time, d that Of having his profile
struck On . gold medallion - an
inaugural souvenir for himself.
Ever since the time Of william
Henry Harrison this has been one
Of the customs Of the occasion. a
gold medal with the liksness Of the
new executive - Presented to him.
smother goes 10 the viee president
and third to the chairman Of the
general inaugural committee. Sill
YER duplicates 60 to chairmeu OF
the Inaugural subcommittee,
bronze copies are made for mus
Gums and collectors. These medals
are among the permanent souvenirs
Of the Standardization, and - such
they are always highly prixed.
This year. the committee on med
ais planned to eclipse all past per-
forlnances in artistic finish. Eleven
designs were submitted. and one
had been selected. It bore the pro-
files Of Harding and Coolidge. with
Harding in front. inscribed around
the heads were phrases selected a
IMPLYING the policies Of the two
America First" for Harding, and
Law and Order" for Coolidge. The
reverse side Of the medal was to
carry Columbia seated. looking to-
ward the national capitol. her left
hand leaning on the national coat Of
arms. and her right holding the
fasces, symbolic Of the unity Of the
republic.
The inaugural medal u financed
by private subscription in Wash
ington, 20 that 500 copies, costing
about $1,000 do not represent any
expense to the federal treasury.
Even 80. the medal win probably
not be produced this year, az the
committees are now dissolved and
the money raised for the medal Il
to be returned.
There will, however, be . bronze
inaugural medal which any one can
buy, because the U. s. mint always
celebrates this way. Few people
know that the Philadelphia mint
runs sort Of art shop, where the
public can buy pictures in bronze
Of all our presidents and some
naval heroes and other great men
This Is NO joke. like the aged
wheeze Of a steel engraving Of
Washington for 2 cents-in other
words . postage stamp. Most Of the
mint's licensees sell for 81 and
are round bronze medallions, three
inches In diameter. They carry the
head Of the hero, usually In profile
on one side, and appropriate let.
tering or symbols on the reverse.
Medals for the lndians.
It is said that originally the gov.
eminent produced these bronze Oh.
jects Of art to inculcate love and
patriotism in the Indians. Amone
the first Of these examples to the
Indians were three medals known
as the Seasons Medals. They are
now extremely rare. A set OF three
sells for about $1,000. All three
were made during Washington's
second presidency. but his portrait
was not used on them. Instead
the dates and administration were
marked on the back between a de-
sign Of crossed oak and laurel
leaves.
The other side bears the pictures
by which the Indians were to profit
Spring, il represented by farmer
j sowing grain. and another mar
blowing, with q farm house 1t one
side. Summer has . shepherd
watching his flock. with mountains
IN the background and the house
still in the distance. Autumn wa,
skipped. and In the winter media
the scene shifts to the interior Of
the house. revealing . woman weav.
ing at . loom, another spinning, and
. child rocking q baby's cradle
Lest there be any mistake, eacl
scene is labeled U. S. A.
1t Is not plain now inst exactly
what the early republic expected t.
teach the Indians by these idyllit
scenes. The Indians knew how t
plant and raise corn, few Of then
had sheep to tend, they certainly
were past masters at the art Of
weaving. and their record for tax.
ing care Of their children seems tt
be - good as any. The idea was
possibly, to prove to the Original
land owners that the country wa,
not going to the dogs in the white
mans hands. and that the new re.