Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-06-19
REVERE THE AMERICAN FLAG

IL
New York Tribune
OF late, it is gratifying to note, there
has been manifest a disposition on the
part of our people to honor the flag as it
never has been honored before in time
of peace. \ bill was passed at the last
session of the Legislature authorizing
the purchase by the local authorities of
the American colors to the end that
they may be flung to the breeze over the
public school buildings Early in the
spring one of the Grand Army posts at
the Capitol presented a beautiful flag to
the High School, and there have been
many similar presentations of late in
various parts of the State and the coun-
| try.
OF relative significance is the bill
which was lately reported to Congress
| from the Judiciary Committee, having
for its object to prevent the desecration
of the national flag. 1t provides that
any ''persOn who shall use the national
flag either by printing, painting or affix-
ing on said flag, or otherwise attaching
to the same any advertisement for pub
lie display or private gain shall be guilty
| of miSdemeanor, and on conviction
thereof in the District court of the Uni
ted States shall be fined in any sum not
exceeding $50 or Imprisonment not
less than thirty days or both, at the dis
cretion of the court" Doubtless some
70 ahor
lacteriZing it sentimental. But the ma
jority of Americans will heartily ap-
prove of it. 1t is the plain duty of all
public spirited Americans to do their
best to make the rising generation feel
an enthusiasm for the flag, to inspire in
the hearts of the boys and girls of to-day
so deep an affection and admiration for
it in all that it implies that they shall
grow up through going patriots, who,
if needs be, will defend it with their
lives. Let the revival of interest in the
flag increase. 1t is good sign.
CAUSES OF DEATH IN WAR.
No doubt many newspaper readers
have seen the statement that it takes
mans weight of lead to kill him in bat
tie, and they may have considered it to
be merely rhetorical hyperbole, sug
gested by the fact that comparatively
few out of shots fired in heat of battle
take effect. Marshal SAKE, we believe,
first made the assertion which forms the
base of the above, when he said it would
take one hundred and twenty-five pounds
of lead and thirty three pounds of pow
der to put each of the enemy in the long
trench Wild and visionary as this may
seem, it appears that there was more
truth than poetry in the remark. With
all improvements which have been
made in the art of war since the days of
SAKE, Cassendi, the French savant,
proves that the great Marshal's philo-
sophical remark still holds good.
AT the battle of Solferino, according
to Cassendi's fully deduced calculations,
a comparison of the number of shots
fired on the Austrian side with the num-
Der of killed and wounded on the part
of the enemy, shows that 700 bullets
were expended for each man wounded,
and 4,200 for each man killed. The av-
erage weight of the ball used was 80
grains, therefore it must have taken
126 Kilograms, or 227 pounds of lead for
each man killed! Yet SolferinO was a
most important and bloody battle. In
the Franco-PruSsian war the slaughter
caused by the needle gun among the
French soldiers show how much superb
or that gun is to the Austrian carbine;
yet with that deadly weapon 1900 shots
were fired for every soldier destroyed in
the enemy's ranks. Verify there was
good foundation for Bogert's ungram-
matical remark: "War is awful, but the
noise of war is awfuller."