NOTE 



NOTRE DAME 



circle fits into the circumferences as a chord 6 

 times. It is thought that the arc of this chord, 

 % of 360 or 60, gave the base 60 for thrir 

 number expression. Among many early people 

 of Western Europe is found the base 20 (from 

 the number of fingers and toes). When they 

 reached 20 in count, they scored by a mark on 

 the earth, or a cut in wood, or by some manner 

 of mark that would hold the number. We find 

 the score 20 common in Ireland and Wales. 

 The bases 2, 5, and so on, proved too small ; the 

 60 and 20 proved too large, and the decimal 

 base 10 has survived. See ADDITION. A.H. 



NOTE, or PROMISSORY, prom' i son, 

 NOTE. Arnold Shaw is a retail merchant hav- 

 ing a good business and a good financial stand- 

 ing. He needed $500 worth of merchandise, 

 but did not have the money in hand to pay 

 for it. He knew, however, that he had accounts 

 becoming due within sixty days that would 

 enable him to pay for the goods at the end of 

 that time, so he went to Henry Brown, a whole- 

 sale merchant, who sold him the goods and took 

 his note, payable in sixty days. The note was 

 as follows: 



$500. San Francisco, Gal., 



August 1, 1917. 



Sixty days after date I promise to pay to the 

 order of Henry Brown five hundred dollars, with 

 interest at six per cent per annum. Value re- 

 ceived. 



ARNOLD SHAW. 



A promissory note, of which the above is an 

 example, is a written promise to pay a specified 

 sum at a given date. The one who signs the 

 note is called the maker; the one to whom it is 

 made payable is the payee. 



A note is negotiable when it is made payable 

 to bearer or order, like the note given above. 

 If Brown needs the money before the expira- 

 tion of the sixty days he can endorse Shaw's 

 note by writing his name on the back and have 

 it discounted at the bank. Then Shaw will pay 

 the bank when his note becomes due. In order 

 that a note may be negotiable it must meet the 

 following requirements: 



1. It must be made payable to bearer or to 

 order. A promise to pay A. B. is not negotiable. 

 A note payable to bearer is transferable with- 

 out endorsement. 



2. The promise to pay must be unconditional. 

 "I promise to pay A. B. $100 when I sell my 

 wheat" is not negotiable. 



3. It must be payable in money. A note paya- 

 ble in goods, and commonly called a chattel note, 

 is not negotiable. 



4. The amount must be definite ; that is, the 

 precise amount of money must be stated. 



.". It must be given by one legally qualified to 

 a note. 



Liability of Maker. When a note has been 

 transferred by endorsement, the person in pos- 

 session of it is known as the holder. He can 

 transfer it to another by adding his endorse- 

 ment and so on indefinitely. The holder of 

 the note, when it falls due, looks to the maker 

 for payment, and the law protects the holder 

 under practically all conditions, including fraud 

 of the payee. A was the agent for a washing 

 machine. He showed the machine to B and 

 secured B's signature to what appeared, to be 

 a recommendation of it. A made the recom- 

 mendation into a note for $100, which he sold 

 to the local bank. B had to pay the note. 



In case the maker fails to pay the note when 

 it falls due, the endorser is liable. In order to 

 hold him he is served with a notice signed by 

 a notary public (which see) and called a pro- 

 test. In case there is more than one endorser 

 a protest is sent to each. 



Days of Grace. Formerly the maker was al- 

 lowed a specified time, usually three days, in 

 which to meet his note after it fell due, but in 

 most states this privilege has been withdrawn. 

 See GRACE, DAYS OF. 



Caution. A negotiable note stands in the 

 place of money and is often used as money. 

 As the law holds the maker responsible for his 

 signature, one should never sign a document 

 without first understanding fully the obligations 

 which his signature will require him to dis- 

 charge. W.F.R. 



Consult Bigelow's Cases on Law of Bills, Notes 

 and Cheques. 



NOTRE DAME, no' tr' dam, CATHEDRAL OF. 

 The term Notre Dame is French, and means 

 Our Lady. The name is given to the most 

 famous cathedral of Paris, built on an island in 

 the Seine River in the heart of the city. It has 

 been the scene of some of the great historic 

 events of the country. There Napoleon was 

 crowned ruler of France, and Mary Queen of 

 Scots was married to the Dauphin. The story 

 of the cathedral is the theme of much of the 

 literature and art of France. Several churches 

 stood in the same place, the first one built so 

 long ago the date is not known. As each crum- 

 bled or was destroyed, it was replaced by an- 

 other. The present building was begun in 1163, 

 but was not finished as it is to-day until the 

 first of the nineteenth century. The style of 

 architecture is Gothic. The famous gargoyles 

 of the building serve the purpose of spouts to 

 gather the rain water and keep it from stain- 



