Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1895-06-27
fSTAR-SPANGLED BANNER
AS TOLD BY THE AUTHORS GRAND
DAUGHTER.

v
Annapolis. Was Honorsd ON Flag Days at
Bound Brook. N.J.--she Gives an In
teresting Historical sketch 90
How the e.'star-spangied Ran
ner Was Composed.
Flag Day is comparatively new In the
calendar Of anniversaries, but it was
celebrated with patriotic zeal, fairly RI
vailing that Of the time-honored Fourth
of July, on the 2lst, at Bound Brook,
N. j., by the Daughters of the American
Revolution. The feature of the celebra-
tion was the reading Of sketch by Mrs.
Annie Key Barlow, granddaughter OF
Francis Scott Key, and daughter of Mrs.
M. Steele, OF Annapolis, and how her
honored grandfather wrote "The Star
Spangled Banner,n The Bound Brook,
N. ]. Chronicle gives the following in
teresting account of the affair;
In one of the sea-ports of Japan there
is an old hulk of English oak, that ls now
utilized as a powder ship, and which was
once His Majesty's Ship "Surprise. ,,
Upon this historic deck one midsummer
night IN 1914 prisoner reatleHaly paced
back and forth, his hands clasped behind
his back, his head erect, and every facul-
| ty keenly on the alert. He was a tall.
slender man of graceful mien and refined
aspect, and appeared more slight than In
reality by contrast to the burly English
sailors, who from time to time cast surly
glances upon the American captive tread
ing their deck. His unselfish quest of
friendship held in allegiance and his own
liberty denied him, he seemed one man
/ a ho ufr a
din OF battle on the deck OF q hostile shin.
while the fate of his country was at
stake.
The dark curls upon his forehead lay
damp and heavy, but not from the dews
OF night alone, and the dark eyes from
under the high-arohed brows had ether
mists before them than the smoke of bat
tie. The incendiaries' fires still smoul-
dered around his home in Washington,
and a like fate awaited Baltimore If this
nights work was triumph for the Eng
lish hosts. OH call her no more the
"Mother Country" No material hand
could thus rend and destroy again and
again the children born of her own body.
Call her rather as she is "The Dragon
OF st. George, /" this slayer of her own
offspring
The anxious watcher summons up the
victories Of Decatur and Perry, Lake
Erie and Lundy's Lane, TO strengthen
his faith and animate his hopes, but the
roar of cannon and the flashing OF artil-
lery lies like heavy pail upon his heart
and shuts him in with horrid fears He
sleeps not at this crisis of Americas o fate,
but stands solitary watchman upon
Freedom slower through that long night
OF carnage, striving with prayer and vigil
| m rafa ho G.of fots -
dawn. 1t il stealing up now, from the
under world, dim and sweet. The guns
are silent, the shores enwrapt in smoke,
and EnglandB dogs of war are Ominous-
ly still. Great God of Battles give him
strength to know the worst A CLINT
OF rosy light breaks over the Patapsco
1t gilds the waters and lights the land,
and as the clouds part above the ram
parts OF Fort McIIenry the tattered
'Flag OF Stars and Stripes triumphant
ly opens out to the morning breeze.
The prisoners bonds are burst "On
eagle 3 wings he mounts, he scars" to su-
premiEt heights of joy What thoughts,
what emotions are shaping themselves
| in his loyal heart for i'm mortal utterancel
The rising sun, the majestic wooded
heights, the sparkling waters, all seem
ringing in his ears loud p@ans Of victoryl
while below, the vanquished hosts are
iieelng TO their ships, with their dead
and dying, in gloom and haste. England,
"canst thou bind the sweet influences of
the PlciadesS or loose the bands OF Orionl
| canst thou guide Arcturug with his sonsY
Ihe stars" of America are fixed in
their orbits. and neither Kings nor
Queens can "alter their COURSES or
quench their glittering light. Then was
proclaimed in rapturOus praise an i'm
paHsioned song of victOry-a song that
shall last as long as the stars in Heaven
and that shall thrill mems hearts with
| patriotic pride. and move them even to
tears, when they shall hear its strains in
foreign lands. But the singer2 He
sleeps in an obscure grave at the side of
the wife of his youth. The only token
that marks that quiet spot as his is the
tiny flag that Is always waving there.
"No costly pile. nor monumental tomb
Describes the spot where now no sleeps,
But there the wild thyme and the cowslips
And there affections wecps
Maryland, his native State that he SO
much loved, remembers him not. 1t
was left for stranger on the far Paci-
ic'B coast to erect monument to him
that is as much memorial of nation IS
neglect of, as it is tribute of respect to,
the genius and patriotism of Francis
Scott Key.
At the conclusion of Mrs. Bartowis
paper she was again greeted with hearty
applause, and then Bound Brooks IA
vOrite orator, j. B. Cleaver, was an
n0unced. He was rendered an ovation.
His addresses on Francis Scott Key and
the American Flag fully accorded with
the sentiments of his attentive audience,
ID al
rupted with expressions Of approval.