Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 June 1893 — Which Was First Admitted. [ARTICLE]

Which Was First Admitted.

It will never be known which was ad mitted first—North or South Dakota—says the Detroit Free Press, which makes this explanation: “When the two proclamations were presented for the President’s signature, somebody raised the question of priority, and the President, finding it hard to decide which to sign first, ordered the documents, which were exactly alike, to be covered down to the blank sleft for his name. They were turned face downward, and rapidly changed about until nobody could tell which was which. After this they were turned over, and the President wrote his name on each. The ink was allowed to dry without the use of blotting paper, and then the documents were again turned down and again shuffled about. They were then taken up and the coverings removed. One of them came into the Union before the other the length of time it took the President to write his name.”