Evening star., 1897-06-05

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Written Exclusively for The Evening Star.
"The recent observations in The Star In
relation to some authoritative expression
on the part of the government In the mat
ter of flying the flag on ceremonial days
were forcibly brought to mind on Decoration
day in New York. observed an army OFF,
Ger to q Star reporter. Under orders from
the War Department the flag was flown at
half mast at the government garriSonS and
forts in the New York harbor, as well as
elsewhere, from sunrise to midday. when
it was hoisted to the peak and flown there
during the remainder of the day. This was
all right as far as it went. but during the
same day, under orders and the custom of
the navy, the flag was flown at half mast
all day In respect to Memorial or Decora-
tion day. 1t Is the custom Of the ships Of
all foreign nations which are in harbors on
such occasions to observe the customs OF
the country in whose harbOr they are,
and In respect and In sympathy they flew
their flags at half mast. At high noon.
however, they saw our flag go up to the
peak at the forts. The flags at the navy
yard and on the vessels there remained.
under the custom of the navy, at half mast,
and the foreign ships were In a quandary
as TO what to do. Some continued flying
their flags at half mast, and Others not
knowing what to do. followed the flag at
the forts and hoisted their flags to the
peak The same thing has frequently hap
pened. The army claims to be right and
so does the navy. The trouble Is they do
not work In harmony. The foreigners do
not know which Is right and do not want
to offend either side to the controversy, so
they divide up on it."
A naval officer. In speaking on the same
subject. said: 1T seems to me stupid that
the army and navy cannot get together in
this ceremonial. The only precedent that
1 know of is All Souls day. which occurs in
November AL French ships fly their flags
at half mast on that day. and when our
ships are in French ports they observe the
custom. Should an American ship run up
her flag. or any other ship. for that mat
ter. to the peak on that day In French
port. 1t would be regarded as in exceedingly
bad taste. and would be decidedly offensive
to the French. The same way when an
American vessel Is in a French port on
Decoration day, she flies her flag at half
other nations in respect fly their flags in
the same way. The Navy Department when
in a separate building always flew its flag
on Decoration day at half mast the entire
day. while the War Department. which
was In an adjoining building as on Monday
last. only flew the flag at half mast for a
half day. Now that they are in the same
building they are divided the same way on
flag was flown at half mast till noon and
for the remainder of the day at the peak.
Though there are thousands Of willows
growing on the Potomac fats. or, to speak
more correctly, Potomac Park, for Con-
gress a. its last session 30 named the
flats explained a Long bridge attendant
to Star reporter "they are all volunteer
growth. coming up on their own accord.
In cleaning cut the channel. the dredged
material was dumped into the flats. With
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which was washed down the river. and in
a couple Of years there was full crop Of
willow trees, and which will in time be
very ornamental as they get older. A care
full examination Of other trees and plants
on the flats shows specimens which are not
Indigenous to this section. the seed having
washed down the Potomac and being
dredged up in the same way Some Of
these seed must have come over a hundred
miles. for they are only known in the coun-
try adjacent to the extreme head waters
of the Potomac and the streams that are
the source of the Potomac. The willows
have been of special value. for they are
&c ep rooters and serve to keep the dredged
material compact The result Is that the
flats are now nearly as solid as IL 1t was a
naturally formed earth. The other trees
which grow there have been of great bene-
fit in the same direction My own idea
however. Is that the willows will not grow
as high as might be desired, and for this
reason i think the government should
plant out some trees which will grow high
er and afford more shade. As 1t takes
twenty years at least to grow a large tree
1t seems to me. IL much good Is to come
from Potomac Park. that the additional
trees should be set out as early as possi-
Bile. so that those who follow US can reap
the benefit from them even II we cannot
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There Is considerable money invested in
the adjoining sections Of Maryland and
Virginia In chicken farms. well as in in
cubators. and while many Of them have
not met with all the success the enterprise
Of their owners deserved. they are learning
many things in connection with the chicken
business" said an extensive chicken raiser
from Ohio. 1T happens that / have the
largest chicken farm in this country, and
know considerable of the business. / have
builded an incubator three stories high
heated throughout by steam. 1t has a ca
pacity OF thirty thousand eggs, though L
seldom have over ten thousand eggs hatch
ing out at the same time. / have sold as
many as one hundred dozen chickens In q
day, and there Is seldom day in the year
that my farm does not send fifty dozen
chickens to the market. besides barrels
and barrels of eggs. There Is more money
in chickens. though. than in eggs. 1 find
that there are a number of department
clerks who run chicken raising plants, and
many OF them complain that the cost is
more than the income, and some of them
are greatly discouraged. In every case
find that the difficulty Is that they are un-
able TO give as much attention to their
chickens as Is needed. 1t Is a light task 10
raise few hundred chickens In q season
in an amateur way. but If one expects to
make any money out of the business they
must be prepared to give 1t their undivided
attention, for there Is no business which
demands such close attention as the
chicken business. For anything like sue
cess absolute cleanliness Is necessary. To
obtain this my judgment Is that no one