El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1898-05-28
''OLD GLORY" STORIES,
Facts and Fancies Which Cluster
Around the Piece Of Bunting
Dear to Every American

Dear to Every American
From the Chicago Times-Herald.
1t will soon be the 121st anniversary
of the American flag, or. rather, Its
adoption by congress-, George Wash
ing ton being chairman of the commit
| tee which gave the order for the thir
| teen stars and stripes. The patriotic
| women of that day did not immOralize
themselves by making the flag with
their own hands, but the expert needle
| woman who drew the threads and did
the fine stitching on George Wash
inc toms shirts made our first national
banner, aud within late years her
house, which is still standing, has be-
come a resort for the patriotic. 1t has
long been designated "the Betsy Ross
flag" SO it goes down to posterity with
q wOman's name attached as q factor
in it's being.
1t was succeeded by the flag Of if
teen stars. which will come to be
known as the ''Francis Key flag" our
national anthem, "The Star Spangled
Banner" having been written under
it's folds, or rather it was the fsg
which Key saw while inditing his
poem.
1 have had the pleasure of hearing
from the lips of one who knew the
lSUuTy VI Tue ud"O klNCu W OuT ~
in recent years, "Old Glory" the in
cidents of the occasion. The narrator.
George w. Bates, of Detroit, Mich, q
gentlemau.of unusual Information on
all topics, and an ardent patriot, says
that IL was applied to the flag of the
Unite States for the first time by Cap
tain Stephen Driver, an old sea cap.
tain whe was living in Nashville,
Tenn, in 1852. In order to keep the
flag, which had been presented to him
vii lie abroad by American friends, he
hid it in quilt and slept under it's
folds without its enemies being any
morning he would ascribe his good
sleep to the concealed flag, which he
called by the pet name "Old Glory"
and when the Federals entered Nash
Vile he flung "Old Glory" to the
breeze ind told the story everywhere.
The name is now as natiodal as the
flag.
AS nation we are the most picto-
rial in the world, and we began early
to re ad from symbols, our first stand
ard of independent rule being the de-
sign of rattlesnske cut in thirteen
pieces, representing the thirteen colo
MES. bearing first the motto, unite
or DE-" and later the significant
warming, Don't Tread on Me-" the
rattlesnake sbeing typified in an atti-
tude prepared to strike. Dr. Franklin
seem g the emblem one day, wrote of it
this adm irable explanation:
1.-THE rattlesnake is found nowhere,
but in America. Her eye is exceed
blems of vigilance. She never begins
an attack and she never surrenders-
emblem of msenanimity aud courage.
She never wounds even her enemies un-
til she generously gives them warning
rot to tread on her, which is emblem
a'ical of the spirit of the people who
inhabit her coup try. She appears ap-
weak and defenselees, but her
weapons are nevertheless formidable.
Her poison is the necessary
means for the digestion of her food, but
certain death to her enemies-showing
the power of American resources. Her
fifteen rattles, the only part which in
creases in number, are Distinct from
each other. and yet SO united that they
cannot be disconnected without break
ing them to pieces, showing the impos.
sibility of an American republic with
out q union of states. A single rattle
will give no sound alone, but the ring
ing of the thirteen together is suffici-
ent to startle the boldest man alive
She is beautiful in youth and her
besu'y increases with age. Her tongue
is forked as the lightning and her
abode is among the impenetrable
rocks.''
The magnificent apostrophe to q rat
tle-spake reads like an improvisation
from the book of Job or the Psalms
OF David, and connected as it is with
every epoch IF American liberty, it
should be as immortal in its senti-
ments as the Declaration of Indepen-
dence.