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Show "Uncle Sam." The application of the term "Uncle Sam" to the United States had its beginning be-ginning in Troy, N. Y., during the war of 1812. A commission contractor of Troy, named Elbert Anderson, had a. shop in which the stocks were always examined and passed by a government inspector called Samuel Wilson, who-was who-was generally known as "Uncle Sam." When the boxes were passed they were always marked with the Initials-of Initials-of the contractor and the nation, "EA-US." "EA-US." One day the man who was doing; the marking was asked what the initials ini-tials stood for, and repllcil, jokingly, that they were the Initials of the contractor con-tractor and of "Uncle Sam." The joke spread among the men, got into print,, and long before the end of the war had become known all over the country. coun-try. Mr. WllBon. the original "Unci Sam," died in Troy in 1854. |