The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1898-05-29

Secretaries who order the Piac-
ing of the New Stars.
AS was expected, there is already a
biz shortage in the flag Of the nation.
The demand has been something ire
mendcus. and manufacturers have not
been able to come anywhere near
meeting it. Speaking of the fact,
Rene Bache, the well-known CORE
spondent, says:
Ten million editions of Old Glory
are said to have been sold since the
batt.eshiD Maine WIS blown up, and
such a scarcity of bunting exists that
even the war department is having
trouble to procure a sufficient supply.
Flacs wear out pretty rapidly, ard
the number required annually for va
rious purposes by the government is
astonishing. One firm makes all the
flags for public bui,dn gs all over the
United States, under contract with the
treasury department, as well as for
the revenue cutter service. The navy
manufactures most OF its own hass at
the Brooklyn navy yard, but the code
signals are purchased outside, Uncle
Sam furnishes the bunting. These g.
nails consist of nineteen flags of differ
ent shapes and colors. They form
sort of alphabet and with them q
whole language has besn made up, so
that vessels can talk with one another
at q distance of miles as plainly as II
they spoke English This is the in
te!.aati6nal code, which sailors OF all
countries comprehend.
The business of making American
fags employs thousands of people,
nearly all of them wom5 n and girls, In
various parts of the United States.
Hundreds Of thousands of them are
manufactured every year in the city OF
Philadelphia, but there are flag
towns" in New England also which
contribute largely to the patriotic out
nut. Most of the bunting, which is a
sheer woclen material, comes from
New England; it is of loosely woven
texture, so that the wind may blow
through it. The stuff for the finest
reaches the flag-makers in big
rolls, some red, some white and some
blue The blue, of course, is for the
union" in the corner, while the red
and white are for the stripes. Each
roll of red or white bunting is wound
as tightly as possible, and is then
placed under
A RAZOR-EDGED KNIFE,
by which it is cut into a series of meas
ured slices, like a piece of meat. Each
slice, on being unrolled, is a long strip
exactly the length of the flag strip
that is wanted. The strips are next
cut into the requisite lengths for the
stripes of the flag that is to be, and
are sewn together by machine, with
the blue union in one corner. The
white stars, however, are sewn upon
the union by hand, and this work has
to be done with the greatest care, each
star being first basted on and then
having its edges turned under before
the final sewing is performed. The
stars are cut out of white linen and
sewed upon each side of the blue field;
they are made very simply, with a pair
of scissors and a tin pattern.
This is the way in which the very
best flags are turned out. The kind
next in quality are the so-called woven
flags, which are produced complete by
a loom, thirteen stripes, union and ALL
Flags of this sort come from the loom
in a continuous strip Or piece, which is
thereupon cut up into separate edi-
lions OF the national colors, the latter
being hemmed, and thus finished as
fast as they are emitted from the ma
chine. No particular skill, such as is
needed in the other case for making
the copies of Old Glory symmetrical
and perfect, is here required; the ma
chine does it all. The material, how
ever, is the same, and 1t may as well
be explained right here that bunting
is the best stuff for flags, because it
is soft and does not whip in the wind
like a stiff material; besides, it holds
its color well.
lone may pay anything, from cent
to $3.50, for a flag Of the United States.
The latter price will buy a beautiful
silk flag, 12X28 feet in size. The cheap
est flags are stamped on muslin with
the colors red and blue, and are then
tackled or pasted upon sticks; they are
not guaranteed to wash. Of this kind is
THE LITTLE PENNY FLAG,
which the small boy wears on the lapel
of his coat. Such flags are put through
a printing press like calico shirts, and
come out all colored at the rate Of 100
minute. Girls then snip them apart
with sharp shears and glue them to
small sticks hardly bigger than
matches. The best flags have a canvas
band sewn along the pole tackle
Anybody is at liberty to make Unit
ed States flags. Thus it comes about
that all sorts Of patterns of the national
ensign are on the market and in use.
But if any one desires to have the col
ors as they ought to be reference must
be made to the standard adopted by
the army and navy. This standard, al
tered from time to time by the addi-
ton of fresh stars, is preserved, and
will continue to be kept by the secre-
taries Of war and the navy. In the
war department at Washington, close
by Secretary Ayers office, is displayed
In glass case the true regulation flag
of this country. To exhibit it better
it is Illuminated by a brilliant electric
light This is the original; all others
must be limitations or else they are not
correct.
The secretaries of war and the navy
are the custodians of the flag of the
United States. If q new star is to he
added, they determine just where on
the blue field it is to be put. Until quite
recently there was some confusion as
to the arrangement of the stars, no law
governing the matter Indeed, congress
has never adopted any enactment on
the subject, beyond requirement that
one white Spangle should be added for
every new state admitted to the onion
In 1918, however, the president directed
that the stars on the navy flags should
be arranged in
PARALLEL HORIZONTAL ROWS.
''The same method had been adopted
by the army at an earlier period, it ap-
pears, but the stars on the flags of the
war department were not In vertical
rows. The navy having accepted verti-
cal rows, there was a difference in de-
sign which was not corrected until