Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-12-05
FLAGS FOR UNCLE SAM
Made by Wholesale Here in Town-Method
OF Their Manufacture.
6S0UR FIRM MAKES ALI THE rrAac

Made by Wholesale Here in Town-Method
OF Their Manufacture.
ss0UR FIRM MAKES ALL THE FLAGS
" for the post Offices, custom houses, court
houses and revenue cutters Of the
United States" said . Washington dealer
to . STAR reporter. ''The government
furnishes the bunting. On the same terms
We manufacture by contract the code
signals Each set Of signals consists Of
nineteen flags. of different shapes and colors
They form q sort Of alphabet. and with them o
whole language has been made up, 20 that
vessels can talk with one another at distance
Of miles as plainly - II they spoke English.
This il the international code, which sailors of
all countries comprehend.
''The national flags which we manufacture
must be Of certain pattern, Oh directed in the
Revised Statutes. Whenever q new state is ad-
mitted an extra star is added to the blue field,
and the stars must all be arranged Just so. At
Presen. there are forsy-fouS stars and the law
directs tina. they shall be in six rows, the upper
and lower rows each containing eight, and the
other rows seven. Thirteen stripes there must
be to correspond with the number of the orig
inal colonies, and the blue field is required to
be two-fifths of the entire length OF the flag.
Also it must be Of the depth Of seven stripes.
The regulation flag il ten feet by nineteen
feet
I'VE get our flags from factories In New
England in the shape Of bunting. 1t is a
WOODEN material, loosely woven, SO that the
wind may blow through it easily. We receive
1t in big rolls--some red, some whito and some
blue The blue, of course, is for the blue field
and the red and white for stripes To make
the stripes We take q roll tightly wound and
cut il into slices with very keeu-edged cary
| ing knife, saving it through. Then We cut the
stuff thus sliced into the proper lengths. Aft
erwGrd they are sewed together. The blue
| field is called the Union
The stars are cut ont Of white linen and
| seved upon each side of the tIue field They
| are made very simply, with pair Of scissors
and q tin pattern. The sewing and arrange
ment OF them has to be very carefully done
First they are basted on and then the edges are
| turned under before the final sewing is per.
! formed. After the Union and the striped par.
| are sewn together q canvas band il strongly
| attached along the back Of the flag. With the
| large flags, rope Is run through between two
| th;cknesses OF the canvas for fastening the
flag to the pole tackle, with loop ON each end
| Of il.
| Flag poles are made Of tho best spruce
timber. The big ones represent very tall trees
| There is one ON q building herc in Washington
that is sixty feet in height. 1t took monarch
OF the forest to supply that. That sort OF wood
| Is chosen because it viii bend like a whip be
| fore 1t will break. Sticks for small flags arc
mostly OF ash. Such flags are made Of white
cloth in one piece and are colored with stencils
leaving the stare and white stripes untouched
by the dycs- In small flags no attempt Is mad,
| TO have tho number of stars in the blue field
L correct became no one tasea uotiea of that ~