The times., 1898-09-06
CUBAN FLAGS, AT A DISCOUNT.
"id ui"ry fhes0nly Hammer to En-
thuses Americans

~
thuses Americans.
New York. Sept 5-There are others
besides the soldiers of the American ar
my who suffered the pangs of hunger and
even died for Yan9 of medical attention.
VINO nave come to grief because of the
war with Spain. They belong to class
of spectators 2ahS manufacturers who
| remembering the fortunes made during
the civil war in flags and bunting saw
Visions or wealth in the manufacture and
sale OF f1ags or rather a fiag-the Cuban
flag. The lone star emblem. however did
not prove popular and in a very short
while the single star emblem as a fad
went down the toboggan slide with a
rush which there was no resisting and
then there was a slump in the Cuban
| flag market which brought grief and
| great loss to many
| H. e. Bloch. of the American Flag
Company, says that his concern was kept
busy for weeks making millions of these
emblems. Cuban flags" he said, were
worth a good price. We made them In
all sizes, from the wee things that retail
ed in the candy shops for one cent each
| to large, beautiful silk flags. We ship
although we worked two sets of hands
and put as many people to work as our
machines would accommodate we could
not deliver the goods fast enough. Every
day brought dozens of telegraphic orders
| for Cuban flags, and in order TO keep all
our customers satisfied we had to reduce
many large orders so tnat smaller pur-
chasers could be served. But 1t was only
the first orders that our customers made
f,rc- hnt 1a-a hat wit IN
| the exception of the cheapest kind, nine
| tenths OF the Cuban flags are still in the
hands of merchants who would be willing
| to sell them at 80 cents or the dollar.
The merchants who only short time ago
| telegraphed to have their goods rushed
now write asking us to exchange the
| Cuban flags for American colors, and the
average proposition is ten Cuban flags
| for one American.
| But the Cuban flag is less hopeless as
a piece of merchandise than the Ha-
waiian colors. All flag concerns had to
| keep them, because the Hawaiians used
| flags to decorate their houses quite ex-
| tensively. But the annexation of the
| islands made the flags even less valua-
! BILE than the Cuban colors."
| The unpopularity of the Cuban flag was
| demonstrated one day last week in lit
tie saloon on Staten Island, where sailors
/ from the warships gathered to wash the
! Santiago smoke out of their throats. The
| place was crowded with sailors, and cir
! culating abong them were catchpenny
| traders who offered all sorts of articles
! for sale. Among these was a young man
with stock of handkerchief boxes. The
| top box was open, and showed a neatly
| folded silk handkerchief. The salesman
| called attention to his wares, and in true
! huckster style told of the superior quail
| " of the handkerchiefs. And look at
| that he said, holding one up to display
an embroidered corner, "a Cuban flag on
| every one
What" yelled a barefooted sailor,
/ who had evidently washed his throat oft
en- and thoroughly 10 judge by his voice
| and his somewhat unsteady step. What!
a Cuban flag! Not for US. Give US a
! good American flag and Wen go you, but
| none of that" A chorus of voices indors-
| ed the sentiment. some of the remarks
/ being more sailor-like than parliamen-
| tary. The salesman insisted on adver-
| tising his Cuban flag handkerchiefs, and
/ presently a large glass of beer got mix
| ed up with the stock of goods. and the
| salesman gathered up his beer-soaked
| stock of goods and departed, fully con-
| vinced that ali American sailors are not
| enthusiastic admirers of the Cuban flag