The National tribune., 1903-06-04

Flag Day, the 1Hth of June, is one of tn,
ldays that all patriotic schools should OBJ
serve Loyalty. It'was the day on which
Jour young NatiOir severed irremediably its
last connection with England. 1t had de
clared itself free, and Independent near
ly a year before. and had been fighting q
Edesultory sort Ofn war to back up that
declara ton, but up to June IA, HIT, vel
waving over the young Colonies, was the
Union Jack of Great Britain, and various
other emblems in which bugs and bears
and other beasts. reptiles and vegetation
from lilies to palm trees played a part. bu,
there was nothing distinctly National in
the character of any of them.
Suddenly, on June IA, 1777. there was
introduced into the Congress a bill to
lestablish National Flag. The American
Congress that day in session in lndepend-
ence Hall in Philadelphia Resolved. That
the Flag of the 13 United Colonies be 13
stripes. alternate red and white; that the
union be IS stars, white in blue field.
representing Il new constellation"
So much we know, and nothing more
of how the Flag came to be just the beau
tiful thing that it is. Not scrap of writ
ing or print has come down to us to show
who selected the stripes. the stars, or the
combination of red, white and blue.
There has been world of conjecture
Iabout it, but the fact remains that the
less and motherless, so far as its colors
land design go.
/ 1t is not difficult for one who loves the
broad stripes and bright stars of the
Flag" to believe that it really came to us
as Il heavcnborn inspiration!
| A woman's deft fingers made the first
Flag and all the flags of the country for
tdelphia, who made the ruffied shirts that
Washington wore. was selected by the
committee of Congress to work Out the de-
sign of the Flag as prescribed by Con-
gress. George Washington, Robert Nor
ris and a Col. Ross-not the husband of
Betsy, however-were appointed a COM
mittee to have this Flag made. A myth
ical story is told about the refusal of Mrs.
Ross to cut the siX-pointed star. as sug-
4 fgested by Washington, it being, as she is
reputed to have said. ''the English star
4 and the remnant of heraldry" The five
,inted star which she did cut is the regu-
lation star of all heraldry. 1t can be cut
| with one snip of the scissors. so can the
four, six and eight-pointed stars.
PROGRAM FOR FLAG DAY.
Itional Tribune for poems for Flag Day
land outlines of programs fitted for such
observance. As. with Memorial Day
poems and programs. it would be impOsSi-
BILE to send to individuals. but the desire
for some thing of this character has been
so general that the following suggestions
\ are made: F' +'."
1t is always veil to interest the young
| in all such eXertses. The children of the
country are to be the bulwarks of the
Nation, and if they are well grounded in
its history and NE story of its glorious
achievements, the future is assured. If
possible, the PUBLIC schools of every sec
ton of the, county should be interested in
having Flag Day exercises. These need
not be elaborate, yind can take place in
! the assembly room of the school house, or,
| if more desirable, each room of graded
school may have its own program, suited
to its pupils. II will serve a better and
more patriotic purpose, however, if all
| the pupils and students, can meet together.
AS Flag Day comes on Sunday this
year., either Saturday or Monday might be
observed. Get your minister to preach d
Flag Day sermon, on Sunday if possible.
Hang out all your flags in the trees, from
the windows or Bagstaff, and eonx your
neighbors to do the same.
In arranging for such exercises the
Grand Army of the Republic, WOman's
Relief Corps and kindred organization
have an excellent opportunity to do some
good work. When possible, it would be
an excellent idea to have n Grand Army
late 4 little incident of war in which the
saving of the Flag occurred. Or a veteran
could be asked to speak on one of Several
topics. 1.-The Flag in battle" "'"The' SYM
bolism of the Flag" ''The Flag on the
march," ''The Flag and what it means to
the soldier" 1.-The Flag in civil life:' any
one or all Of these topics could be made
extremely interesting.
| Have a Flag drill by the little ones.
| I)rpss tbnr1 n yyhjta and don't forppt
| to mingle with it in some fashion the red
and blue. Give them Flags to carry, and
then invent some pretty little evolutons
ending in a salute to the Fag. The very
simplest of all the Flag salutes is as fol-
lows:
Il give my head and my heart to God
and our Country. One Country, one lam
| guage, one Flag"
Have color-bearer, at whom the little
people can point on the last sentence.
They should also touch the head and lay
the hand over the heart.
Have good, clean, patriotic songs. Not
necessarily war songs, though nothing
finer will ever be written. Chaplain
LOzier, the singing parson," who could
fight as well, has written some beautiful
Flag and Memorial Day songs. "The Vet
erans Last Song" 30 Guard that Banner
While We Sleep" cover the Schoolhouse
That Banner Shall Wave" and My
Fathers Flag and Mine" are the titles of
some of them. Chaplain LOzier's address
| is Mt Vernon, Iowa.
HAVE GOOD REGULATIONS.
Never let anything "cheap" mar the
program. Do not invite any prosy
speakers. All the time remember that the
children must be interested, and no child
will listen with patience to long, prosy
speeches. You may not think it, but the
school children Of to-day are pretty well
up in history, and they are fairly good
critics. So it would be worse than useless
to try to interest them in anything that is
not full of snap and go.
| Little dialogues of a patriotic kind are
interesting if properly presented, but. gen.
orally speaking, the programs should not
be made too long. m .-.-..-
Always have liberal supply Of flags in
the decorations. Ia
| If the exercises can be held out doors in
grove or park so much the better. It
should be a day foy- rejoicing, and you can
have it just as, noisy and full Of fun as
you like. In that respect it is unlike
Memorial Day.,q 81
SOME nnpsFruL FACTS.
Following are some facts which may be
am ia6 in opy, aneach or ad1roSS ,,nnp