Uncle Sam's Flags

1895

The Vast Number Which a War Vessel Needs to Have Ready.

Before a man-of-war is completely equipped she must be supplied with a varied assortment of the flags of all nations. The flag lockers of a cruiser like the New York will contain more than 200 different ensigns.

All the flags for our navy are made in the equipment building at the Brooklyn navy yard. The floor of the flagroom is covered with lines representing the exact measurements of the various ensigns, and it is no easy matter to turn out a flag which will be exactly according to pattern, both as to design and measurement.

There are eight colors used in flags — red, white, blue, orange, yellow, green, brown, black and canary yellow.

The canary yellow is used instead of white in flags used for signaling. This is because it is found that, when signaling at a distance, a white flag or a device on a white ground blends with the horizon and becomes almost invisible.

The largest American flag made is called No. 1. It measures 34.86 feet in length and 13.12 feet in breadth and is very rarely used.

The size called No. 2, which is considerably smaller, is the one generally used by warships.

Cruisers carry the stars and stripes in seven different sizes, but only the Minneapolis and the Detroit fly the gigantic No. 1 size.

The most difficult flag to make is that of San Salvador. This flag requires all the colors, and Costa Rica runs it close, requiring all but brown.

Our own flag is by no means an easy one to make. The 44 stars in their blue field have to be accurately arranged and the stripes mathematically exact according to the official pattern.

The stars are made of muslin, folded 25 times and punched out by a steel punch, which cuts a dozen or more stars at each operation.

There are used in the navy yard 50,000 yards of bunting annually, which is all made in the United States. Before being made up into flags the bunting is put to a very severe test. From each lot a sample is taken and steeped in fresh water for 24 hours. After that it is thoroughly scrubbed with strong soap and then rinsed and dried. It is then exposed to the direct sunlight for 18 hours, and if it shows no fading in color it is accepted.

The industry gives employment to a great many men and women. — Boston Globe.

The Stars and Stripes

1895

A German periodical, Fuer Allewelt, has the following story as to the origin of the stars and stripes: The idea originated with a Dane named Marker. He was born on the island St. Croix of the Danish West Indies, where his father and grandfather had lived. In 1775 he left his native island and proceeded to Philadelphia. He was among the first to join a company of volunteers for American liberty and independence. For valor shown at Oriskany he was elected captain, and to show his gratitude he designed a flag in whose upper corner he applied the 13 stars emblematic of the 13 original states of the union. This was the first occasion upon which the "star spangled banner" was unfurled. The original flag of Captain Marker is supposed to be in existence in some national collection of relics of the war of the Revolution.


The Sheep Wore Out

The owner of a menagerie in Berlin, which included a "happy family," consisting of a lion, a tiger, a wolf and a sheep, was asked one day in confidence how long these animals had lived together. "About nine months," he replied, "except the sheep, which has to be renewed occasionally." — Glasgow Times.


The Difference

Harry — Clara, dearest, you are the only woman I ever really and truly loved.
Clara Dearest — You said that very same thing only last week to May Blossom. She told me so herself.
Harry — True, but that was only a dress rehearsal. This is the first performance. — Boston Transcript.

Old Glory

1895

General Miles at a dinner party in this city surprised the guests by reminding them — a fact little popularly known, by the way — that the flag of the Union is older than that of any other now used by any other nation. The French tricolor is antedated by the stars and stripes a few years, and the British union jack as now flown came a little later. All other national flags have been modified to their present unfurling even after that period. Then what bird is older of creation and fuller of longevity than the eagle? If there be any, let him scream. — New York Mercury.


And That Settled It

"But, great heavens!" said the man, "you are already an editor, postmaster, justice of the peace and undertaker. Why in thunder should you have the county clerkship?"
"Sir," said the other man, proudly drawing himself up to his full height, "I was born in Ohio." — New York Recorder.


Trivia

During the reign of Trajan a Roman laborer paid 6 cents for two pieces of woolen cloth to serve as socks.

Earthen dishes, large enough to hold the carcass of a lamb, were found in the Pompeiian kitchens.

A fair article of molasses can be made from the stalks of the common maize.

Louis Joliet furnished a name to Joliet, Ills.

Flag Again On Pike's Peak

1916

Thanks to a Patriotic Kansas City Woman.

KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Mrs. Emma Howell, 2614 Olive Street, while on her vacation in Colorado this summer, stirred Colorado Springs to provide funds for keeping the American flag waving above the summit house on top of Pike's Peak. It is said to be the highest point in the world where the Stars and Stripes are displayed regularly.

While on the peak, Mrs. Howell noted the absence of the flag. She asked about it when in Colorado Springs and was told a flag was whipped out by the wind on the mountain top in a few weeks and "it cost so much to buy new ones."

"For shame," the Kansas City woman said. And when she was asked to address a meeting of an auxiliary of the G. A. R. she advocated obtaining a permanent fund to buy flags. The money was found.

Mrs. Howell is a member of the women's auxiliary of the Sons of Veterans here.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 3.

Uses Flag for Coat Lining

1916

"Prettiest Thing I Could Find," Tailor Told Court.

BOSTON, Massachusetts — Pankus Brown, a tailor and a United States citizen for several years, admires the flag so much, he told the South Boston district court, that when he wanted to make a fur coat especially attractive he caused his assistant to use a silk flag for lining.

"I meant no insult to the flag," Brown pleaded, when charged with misuse of the national emblem. "I wanted to make the coat look nice and I used the prettiest thing I could find. That flag cost me a lot of money."

The court ordered him fined $50.

—The Saturday Blade, Chicago, Sept. 16, 1916, p. 11.

She's Proud of Her Title of "Modern Betsy Ross"

1915

In her studio on the top floor of a quaint brick building in Westland avenue, Boston, Mass., Mrs. Amelia Fowler, the famous flag expert, sits quietly in a businesslike frame, and, with needle and thread, works wonders. The photograph shown here was taken recently in the studio. Mrs. Fowler takes a piece of silk and embroiders America's seal on one side. Then she turns it over and embroiders something else in different colors on the other. And neither design shows thru the silk. She is said to be the only person in the world who can do this.

And yet there isn't the slightest inclination on Mrs. Fowler's part to make believe she is endowed with any special ability. She assumes — in fact, says openly — that her accomplishment is due to natural ability combined with hard, conscientious work. Tho she has many employees, she is herself probably the hardest working of all. She's enthusiastic over flag restoration and imparts this enthusiasm to her co-workers.

Mrs. Fowler is known all over the world as an authority on flags, flag restoration and flag history. She is called the "modern Betsy Ross." And she is proud of this title. It will be remembered that Mrs. Elizabeth ("Betsy") Ross, a patriotic lady, made the first "Stars and Stripes" in 1777. Previous to that time several designs had been used for flags. The flag as adopted June 14, 1777, had 13 white stars, arranged in a circle, in a field of blue, and the fly had 13 stripes, alternate red and white, and retained its form until 1795, when Vermont and Kentucky were admitted into the Union; then, by an act of Congress, it was changed to 15 stars and 15 stripes. On March 24, 1818, an act was passed restoring the flag to its original 13 stripes, and ordered "That a new star be added on the 4th of July succeeding the admission of every new State."

Mrs. Fowler does practically all the present flag work for the United States Government. She has restored 173 flags and received $300,000 for her work. She specializes on the "Stars and Stripes," America's emblem. "It means so much to me now, more so, perhaps, than ever before," says Mrs. Fowler. "We should all feel proud of our flag and our country in these days of trial."

Paul Jones's Flag, and Dewey's

1899

One of the remarkable features of the reception given to Admiral Dewey at Washington was the display of the flag which John Paul Jones, the first of American naval heroes, is said to have carried on the ship Ranger, when he set sail from the Delaware River to make a name for the infant American navy. This flag is now preserved in the National Museum at Washington.

There is evidence that it was indeed the flag which John Paul Jones flew on the Bon Homme Richard in the famous fight with the Seraphs off Flamborough Head. In that combat the flag was shot away and fell into the sea, whereupon Lieut. James Bayard Stafford jumped overboard, recovered the flag, carried it back to the Richard, and nailed it to the masthead.

It is believed by many, on the supposed authority of John Paul Jones himself, that this was the first American flag, of the pattern now employed, that was ever flown. In a letter of Jones's, which is quoted in his biography by Hamilton, the following passage occurs:

"America has been the country of my fond election from the age of thirteen, when I first saw it. I had the honor to hoist with my own hands the flag of freedom the first time it was displayed on the Delaware, and I have attended it with veneration ever since on the ocean."

This, however, seems to refer only to the first flying of the flag on the Delaware River. This particular flag is of English bunting, two and one-half yards long and a yard wide. It contains twelve stars, arranged in four horizontal lines of three stars each on a field of blue. There are thirteen stripes, alternately red and white.

The flag was made in Philadelphia by the Misses Mary and Sarah Austin, who worked, it is said, under the instruction of General Washington. It was presented to Capt. John Paul Jones, and immediately flown by him. This must have been as late as 1777.

A part of honor was assigned to this venerable flag in the reception to Admiral Dewey and the members of the crew of the Olympia. The space between its unfurling on the Delaware, with its twelve stars, and the triumphant bearing of the Olympia's flag, with its forty-five stars, into Manila Bay, was not a long one, as the history of nations goes, but it was a proud and honorable one.

The later hero of the American navy is no less worthy of honor, surely, than the earliest one, and Paul Jones's flag not only honored the Olympia's in the Washington procession, but was honored by it. — Youth's Companion.

Socialist Learns Not To Discuss Politics During War

Indiana, 1917

THIS IS NO TIME TO DISCUSS POLITICS

Thomas McGuire, Socialist, Learned a "Bit" on Friday

When a common purpose wells in every man's breast is no time to argue politics, admits J. T. McGuire, 2017 Walton avenue, carpenter and socialist.

McGuire leaned heavily on the bar of a down town saloon Friday night and boisterously mentioned that the young men who are flocking to the colors in answer to the war call are "dubs, because they don't know what they are going to fight about."

Several citizens attacked the man and Patrolman Brandt arrived just in time to quiet talk about forming a lynching party. McGuire was taken to jail on a charge of intoxication, pleaded guilty to the complaint in police court Saturday morning and was fined $5 and costs. He paid his fine.

"I am through talking politics until this war is over," McGuire told reporters after the court session. "This is no time to start an argument."

Henry Bair, who was also taken on an intoxication charge and who admitted that he attacked McGuire, "for insulting our loyal lads," was released by Judge Kerr.

—The Fort Wayne Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, April 7, 1917, p. 18.

The Way Old Glory Goes (poetry)

1903

The Way Old Glory Goes

In sunlight or in stormy day,
With friendliness or foes.
The country's going just the way —
The way "Old Glory" goes.
Today — tomorrow — still she waves
Over earth's Freedom or our graves!

She arches earth — a rainbow's ray,
Or, when the storm-wind blows,
A beacon-blaze, she lights the way —
The way that freedom goes.
Today — tomorrow — still she waves
Over our glory or our graves.

Gertrude May Have Been Stolen by Gypsies

Indiana, 1909
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Northern Indiana News and Gossip (only pieces of the column follow)

Gertrude, the 7-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dan Austin, near Mishawaka, has been missing for several days and it is feared she has been stolen by a band of gypsies encamped near the place.

Mrs. Michael Gray, of Bluffton, was arrested and fined for whipping the child of a neighbor.

Mrs. R. A. Brown, of Huntington, who has been spending the summer at Northport, Mich., was attacked by a large bald eagle a few days ago, but succeeded in beating the huge bird of before it had inflicted more than a few scratches upon her.

When Steven Cotton, a Wells county farmer, was stricken by heart trouble and sank unconscious in the field where he was plowing Thursday, his faithful dog summoned assistance by running to the Cotton home and barking, then darting back to the field where his master lay. Mrs. Cotton went to her husband's assistance and he soon revived.

George Young, for sixteen years proprietor of a meat market at Huntington, has sold out to Louis Diffenbaugh, who is moving the fixtures of the establishment to Fort Wayne.

Peter Flum, 89 years of age, died Saturday at his home northwest of Osslan. He was a pioneer resident of Wells county, having located there in 1849, and was widely known.

The ax used by J. Henney, an Avilla liveryman in splitting wood, struck a clothesline, was deflected and cut an extensive gash in Mr. Henney's scalp that required five stitches to close.

Major N.N. Boydston claims the distinction of being the only resident of Warsaw to unfurl the American flag on Thursday in honor of the discovery of the north pole by Dr. Frederick Cook.

--Fort Wayne Weekly Sentinel, Fort Wayne, Indiana, September 8, 1909, page 11 (partial).