Fraternity-Testvériség, 1965 (43. évfolyam, 1-12. szám)

1965-11-01 / 11. szám

8

FRATERNITY

IT’S GOOD TO KNOW

LOUISIANA TERRITORY TRANSFERRED TO FRANCE

On October 1, 1800 — 165 years ago — the so-called Louisiana territory, comprising lands between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains and including much of what is now the states of Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, the Dakotas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana, was restored to France by Spain in a treaty signed in the royal palace of San Ildefonso, Spain. France had ceded this territory to Spain in 1763, following the French and Indian War. Spain returned it to France at the urging of Napoleon, whose ambition it was to revive a French colonial empire in North America. When President Jefferson learned of the secret agreement, he was deeply concerned over the threat posed to American security by a neighboring imperial power. It was also feared that French possession of New Orleans would close the Mississippi to Western commerce. These considerations led three years later, in 1803, to the purchase by the United States of the Louisiana territory from France, an event which doubled the area of the United States. — (A. C. N. S.)

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CHESTER ALAN ARTHUR — TWENTY-FIRST PRESIDENT

On October 5, 1830 — 135 years ago — Chester Alan Arthur, 21st President of the United States, was born in Vermont. He practiced law in New York, and during the Civil War served as quartermaster general for that state. President Grant appointed him collector of the Port of New York in 1871, but Arthur was removed by President Hayes for violating an Executive order forbidding Federal officials from participating in political campaigns. Elected Vice-President of the United States in 1880, Arthur became President following the assassination of President Garfield the following year. He came into office handicapped by a record in machine politics and grave doubt as to his ability and integrity, but his administration proved honest, efficient and dignified. As President, he secured the enactment of an important reform measure, the Pendleton Civil Service Act. He also began the rebuilding of the U. S. Navy and vetoed a Chinese exclusion bill. He was not renominated in 1884, and died two years later in New York City. — (A. C. N. S.)

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JENNY LIND — "THE SWEDISH NIGHTINGALE"

On October 6, 1820 — 145 years ago — Jenny Lind, a noted soprano, popularly known as the “Swedish Nightingale”, was born in Stockholm. She studied voice at the school of singing attached to the Court Theatre in her native city, and made her debut in 1838 in Der Freischütz. She v/as an instant success and made extensive tours of Europe. In 1850- 1852 she visited the United States, under the management of P. T. Barnum. Jenny Lind gave concerts from New England as far south as New Orleans and as far west as St. Louis. Towards the end of her American tour she was married, in Boston, to Otto Goldschmidt — a composer who was also her accompanist — and subsequently returned