Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1898-06-11

| by civil strife-since
| the American Congress June IA, 1777 in all
the pride of it's newborn strength, "Resolv-
! ed. That the flag of the thirteen United
| States be thirteen stripes, alternate red
! and white; that the union be thirteen stars
| white in a blue field, representing a new
| constellation" has the flag of the stripes
and stars appealed to all that is trues;
and best in the hearts of liberty-loving
| people more than it has during the last six
| months. From horizon to horizon
| 1.-The red of sunsets dye
| The whiteness of the moonlit cloud,
| The blue of mornings sky
have tossed upon the summer winds from
church tower and cottage home, from
mansion and shop, from giant liberty
poles and modest school house roofs
till the very air of heaven seems surcharg-
ed with the sentiment Of absolute and in
Invisible union
1.-THE union Of lakes, the union of lands
! The union of states sever;
| The union OF heeIts. the union of hands"
and with a sublimity Of patriotism the
lean heart north and south,
| 1.-The flag Of Union, forever!'
| victor Hugo once said, There are two
things holy-the flag, which represents mil
itary honor. and the law, which represents
the national right" In all this display OF
flags and bunting 1t is probably true that
1t represents to thousands only the self
Ism sentiment my flag" which means
&c them in the abstract that the American
flag. being our flag, is mighty and must
| prevail. Narrow though the sentiment ma y
| be, 1t Is yet a grand stride toward national
education: Mankind loves symbols and en-
niems. Ihey are OF Infinite use to human
| ity and absolutely essential to mans spir-
| 1tua1 and moral elevation. They speak a
| higher finer language than tongue car
| frame. After speech has done it's best, af-
| no
| symbols and emblems come in the con.
| crete sign of all that words have struggled
| to express, of more than speech can con.
| Vey. Ihey represent a range of emotions
ana aspirations far tranScending utterance
| flights Of the soul that tongue must ever
| lag far behind.
Means All That is Best.
To the citizen the flag means not only
| all that Is good and great in his country
ana her history and all that the men whom
| ne honors have done for her advancement,
| but all that his brain conceives and his
| heart wishes for the betterment of his
| land, his fellow citizens, humanity and
| nlmself. He may be weak, sordid and sell
/ fish, but it Is impossible that he should he
| without some pride in his country some
hopes OF the future, some aspirations for
higher things. ,
II; The Chinese call Old Glory 1.-THE Flower
| Flag" and America-"Kow-kee-ko the
| fowery flag country. The American
| peple are pleased to accept this pretty
sentiment. for of all the flags in the world
they believe that beautiful Old Glory soars
| above them all
In this epidemic of patriotism, MANY
| really funny things happen because very
Few know that there is flag CODE or
.nat mere Is certain way to wear a flag,
| ana that the tiny bit of silk and tinsel can
| be made to express some very odd senti-
| ments, just by a change of it's proper posi-
ton.
In cat
| le1t TO right as you face it. The tiny silk
| nags That are SO common should be cut
| from the piece, SO that the blue field will
stri towa sae Inc right shoulder and the
| way makes the flag look awkward 1t
should be worn upon the left breast, Just
| over the heart, and above all other badges
| and emblemS, should others be worn To
put any other emblem above it would be
| 10 suggest that the flag is secondary
| matter Not infrequently both men and
NOR, are seen wearing the flag with the
| blue field down! That is a ludicrous
break, because that Is the distress sign.
| AT sea, chip in distress turns the blue
field OF her flag down and the instant this
condition OF affairs is noted through the
glasses OF a passing steamer it is under
| STOOD that the ship is signaling for aid A
| great many women have fashion Of har-
pc oning the flag to their shoulder with
or more above the flag. That is at half
| mast and is sign of mourning. Vessels
| at sea when bringing dead into port an
| nounce 1t by half masting the flag. The
| and all government flags are half maste
when member of Congress dies, or any
| high official Of the government.
The Flag as an Ornament.
Inc flag, be 1t a metal pin or a silk rib
| bon, should be adjusted .squarely with the
shoulders, and the blue line of the field
should always be straight up and down.
Any other way is slovenly and disrespect-
full. The American" flag has thirteen
| stripes and star for every state. If the
flag Is very small, the stars drop to thir-
| teen, the original number.
Love for the flag should scarcely lead
one to don shirt aists on which they are
printed. Half the flags, to avoid the up
ana down. which go torments the economi-
cal woman, are at distress. or the blue
fields down. perfectly sweet necktie
has been put on the market, in which the
DAINTY nags are every blessed one Of them
at distress. The woman who wears a belt
made OF flags should be looked upon with
suspicion, and to make a sofa pillow Of a
nag would be equivalent to making a foot
rug OF It, AS an ornament, flag is prop
erly placed, as an article of clothing or up
holstering, 1t Is degraded.
In modern warfare flags play a prominent
part. They are symbols of rank and COM
| mand, the officers using them being desig-
mated as nag officers Flags so used are
banners. They are of different devices
Admirals, rear admirals, commodores and
ether naval officers have flags of their own,
prescribed by army and navy regulations,
which float at the masthead when those
officers are aboard ship, and are taken
down when they leave, just as the flag
floats above the Whate House when the
President is there, and is furled when he
| is absent. If thetPreSident goes out upon
the sea, a specially designed flag is dis
played over the vessel in which he sails
Much has been1heard of the Spanish de-
termination to sink her ships before she
| will Strike her icolors" to the American
sailors. To strike the flag Is simply a
term which means to lower the national
| colors in token of submission to con-
| queror. 1t has in all times and all ages
| been considered fearful degradation to
strike the colors" to a foe, and many
heroic incidents have grown out of the de-
termination to keep the colors flying at the
masthead while the ship remained above
water. One of the most striking in the his
| tory Of the American flag Is that which
comes down to us in Official documents
from the fight between the Bon Homme
Richard and the Scraps, September %,
| i7Y,
| Capt Paul Jones had the honor Of having
presented to him within few days after
l Congress ratified the flag act q flag made