Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1896-08-06
FLAGS IN OUR NAVY.
spREssINc" A WARsHlP IN THE MA.
TIoNAL coLoRs.

stSNN1 SSS~"
Every Day Costume and Holiday Schemes
In Vogue and tbs Flag Symbols used-'
Psnnants and the Rainbow"
That fashion DEGREES what woman
shall wear everybody knows; but that
custom, equally memorable, prescribes
how a ship. shall "dress" herself under
all circumstances few are aware. Wo-
man 'rigs'' herself out In silks, satins,
velvets, and all the gay connections OF
the loom, but the dressing" of Unit
ed States man-of-war is confined to the
colors In "Old Glory" for Uncle Sam
decks out his ships with bunting only
the red, the white and the blue. In
deed, dressing one Of the modern bat
tie ships or cruisers is not nearly SO
effective now, says the New York Her.
aid, as In the days Of the line-of-battle
ships, frigates, corvettes, etc., with
their tall, raking spars. Military masts
do not yield the same opportunities.
All these bits Of bunting have a
practical use; nothing Is ever kept on
board a man-of-war without there be-
ing a special reason for 1t. The num-
Der of pennants, flags, ensigns. etc.,
that an American naval vessel carries
runs into the hundreds. She must be
provided for international and dOmes-
tic signaling with flags of every nation
In the world, with all the bunting need
ed, not only for every day duty, but
for every emergency that is likely to
occur. The signal quartermaster is the
custodian Of all the flags and banners
him that his commanding officer looks
for the good condition of his ships
bunting.
The largest flag used by the Ameri-
can navy is 36 feet long by 10 feet
hoist-this latter very expressive word
meaning the width of the flag. In a
flag of these dimensions the union"
Is 14.4 feet by 1912 feet. This flag flies
only In fine weather and Is the banner
which holds the place of honor over all
national flags in the ships outfit. Es-
pecially Is it flown upon Muster Sun
day, when, IL the weather is fine, the
ship is expected to be in her best trim.
When it rains or SHOWS or blows "half
q gale" smaller flag is flown. Ensign
No. is 27.19 feet by 14.35 feet, and the
union is 1888 by 7.73. Numbers 3, 4,
and are still smaller, the latter being
the storm flag. 1t measures only 9.75
feet by "a feet, and the union is 80
feet by 2.76. 1t flies in wind and rain
or sleet, and endures all the rough
weather that the ship it floats over
chances to encounter.
Number q, which Is the smallest en-
sign in common use, is the boat flag;
this measures 90 feet by 90 feet.
When there is q man-of-war in the har-
Dor this is the flag seen floating over
the gig, or steam cutter, taking the Of
ficers ashore or carrying boat loads of
fair visitors to the polished decks OF
the New York, Philadelphia, San Fran
cisco, Baltimore or Charleston, as the
case may be.
The United States Navy does not
the cloth and makes it up into ensigns,
manufacture its own bunting, but buys
pennants and flags at what landsmen
call the Brooklyn Navy Yard; the sailor
knows it only as the New York Navy
Yard. The bunting is thoroughly tes-
ted for color by well-established
methods, and the tensile strength tried
by special machinery, but, as all bunt-
ing varies unavoidably in quality,
some ensigns wear much better than
others, although exposed to no harder
usage. One cardinal rule of navy dis
cipline is never to let Jack be idle;
and whenever rent or tear is discover
ed in the ships dress Jack "squats" on
deck and darns away at his sweet
hearts finery as deftly as any house
wife works at hers.
The pennant Is the personal flag of
the ships commanding officer, indicat-
ing his rank. The pennant of an officer
below the rank of commodore is known
In the navy as the ''coachwhip." 1t is
q long, narrow, triangular banner. made
up of q solid blue field with thirteen
white stars, ending in two triangular
stripes, one red and the other blue
The home bound pennant, with which
United States ships sometimes come in
to this harbor, is from two hundred to
three hundred feet long, flying out over
the masts and riding the water like
bladder, so as not to trail in the sea.
The etiquette of the pennant is as rigid
as any right of precedence ut court;
whenever an officer superior in rank
to the commanding officer boards a
down comes the captains
pennant and up goes the visitors in it's
ranking officer takes his leave.
If there are several officers of the
same rank in port with their ships, the
ranking officer flies blue pennant. the
next in rank red and the Junior white.
The commodore's pennant is known as
the "swallow-taiP "a nickname which
describes its shape), and has one white
star. 1t is in common use as the house
flag of yacht clubs.
The rear admirars pennant Is of the |
same shape, but with two stars. The
Secretary of the Nays flag has a blue |
field with two white crossed anchors |
and the Assistant Secretary of the |
Navy's is the same, with the colors re- |
versed. These pennants fly night and |
day in all weathers, the night pennant,
which goes up at sunset, being the
same as the one used during the day, |
except that 1t is somewhat smaller. !
There used to be pennants for the rank