The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1906-08-07
FLAGS ON UNCLE
SANS WARSHIPS
Every Vessel in the Navy Car
rieS $50 Flags
COST 100000 EACH tYEAR
Bundle of Flags is Slowed Away in
Every Boat. Making Of For
eign Flags is a Difficult
Matter.
COST 100000 EACH tYEAR

Washington, d. C.-stowed away on
every ship of the United States navy.
from tugboat to 16,O0O-ton battleshlp. is
a bundle of flags. shoulder high and about
fifteen feet long About half the lot is
composed of foreign flags. which are in
cased in thick paper bags. with the name
of the country stenciled on the end of
the bag The remainder, including those
for ordinary use. are not wrapped. but
tied in round bundles and lettered- The
pile contains $50 fags. the regulation
number each ship must carry.
The making of this number of flags
costs the United States $50. 900 a year. of
which $4,000 is paid for material alone.
Each ship has forty-three foreign flags
on board constantly. These flags are
twenty-five feet long and thirteen feet
wide With these on board the ship is
prepared to meet and show the proper
courtesies which naval etiquette demands
to all nations whose high officials should
come aboard or whose waters the vessel
should endter while on a cruise.
AS a ships quota of flags is renewed
every three years it is no small Job
to keep enough flags on hand, and to this
end Uncle Sam keeps large fiag-maklng
establishment running at full blast the
year round at the Brooklyn navy yard
Here there are nearly 100 skilled needle
women working every day of the year,
except Sundays and holidays, cutting the
vari-eolored bunting into strips and sew
ing and stitching them together in their
proper place.
The most difficult part OF the work is
the making of the foreign flags for some
of them, be 1t known are truly and won
derfully made. Take, for example, the
flag of San Salvador. In the back is
belching volcano pouring forth its lava
and white smoke On the sides of the
mountain is the green foliage and shrub
berry directly in front Is a tranquil sea
of sapphire blue. Above the volcano Is a
rising sun, set in design Of overlooking
cornucopias and a diamond, from which
the rays are scintillating in every direc-
ton To the right and left of the volcano
are draped in varied pettern and design
banners. which laborously try to pattern
the Stars and Stripes, and yet not show
catenation is a wreath of cactus branches
lovingly embracing the volcona, while at
the top the date of the country's indie
pendenee is inscribed.
To make a flag of San Salvador costs
the United States government just $52 so,
and when one of these flags is placed on
each battleship every three years it can
be readily seen that the Insignificant little
republic to the south Of us is really cost
L.. 10 of no
than they would care to admit.
Then, there is the f1ug of China, with
its long. crawling mythical. blood-red
dragon To make that nag costs the gov
eminent something like $40. The flag of
Costa Rica. with its scenic beauty of
mountain and sea- costs $50, nearly as
much as the costliest of them all, that
Of San Salvador.
The largest flag made by Uncle SANS
hagmakers Is the United States ensign.
No l. which is thirty-six feet long and
ninteen feet wide. 1t costs $40 to turn out
a flag of this style.
The Presidents flag, while not the larg
est requires the longest time Of any to
make as It takes one woman whole
month to finish it. 1t is a simple design,
being a blue field, with the coat of arms
of the United States in the center. The
lfe-sized eagle, with outstretched wings,
and other emblems are all hand embroid-
cred. and involve the most patient work.
The embroidery silk useo on this design,
which is 10 by IA feet In size, costs 50
pound.
The flag making shop is under the
supervision of Thomas Maloy, whose
official title Is found in the books as
flag master" 1t is his business, among
other things, to test all the bunting
which comes into tho shop. 1t is ship
ped in from Lowell, Mass, in large
bolts. containing several thousand
yards each. One day a sample lot of
bunting is soaked and washed in soap
and fresh water. The next day the
same process is followed with salt
water. 1t is then exposed to the weather
for ten days. thirty hours of which
time must be in the bright sun This
is called the color and fading test.
Another test is always made for the
tensile strength. A strip OF the warp,
two inches wide. Is placed In a ma
chine and must stand a pulling strain of
sixty-five pounds, while two inches of
the filling must stand forty-ive strain.
All over the floor are arranged chalk
lines and metal markers. by the aid of
which the flags are cut out. Large
stripes and certain designs can be more
conveniently stitched this way. The
sewing Is done on machines by women.
Each machine is run by an electric mo-
tor, and the women get wages running
from $1.20 TO 81 day
IT is a great sight to see the big ma
chine cut out the stars for the United
States flags. 1t was specially made for
this purpose. and is the only machine of
its kind in the United States. 1t con-
sists of plunger fitted with steel knives
the size and shape OF the stroke. the ma
chine lays before you 100 perfect white
ri afoal,4 oil =
stars used which necessitates providing
the machine with eight distinct dies
Until two years ago the stars were all
cut out by hand, but now one hours
work with the machine will furnish
enough stars to last all hands for a