The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-06-29
THE FLAGS Of
The AMERICANS
Uncle Sam las Had MANY of
Them in His Long
Career.
advertiser Correspondence Copyright
by Frederic J. Haskin.)


/, flag OF the thirteen United states ii
thirteen stripes alternate red anC
white; that the union be thirteen stars
white IN blue field. representing q
new constellation" en- that day the
tstars and stripes was first flown as a
| government flag by John Paul Jones
on the Ranger Tie nag had already
been in seniofficlaI use almost a year
thrifty Betsy Ross having supplied
many ensigns to the nation, ensignz
that were they now in existence would
be worth their weight IN gold.
1t was not until September 3, 1T77.
that the action of Congress on the flag
lquestion was made public through the
press, though word of the new law had
reached Colonel GansevoorEs command
at Fort Schuyler and a drummer boy
| had made a flag after the prescribed
pattern. For the white he took two old
ammunition shirts: for the red he re-
QUESTIONED on the wife of a private
for her one red flannel petticoat; for
the blue he used an old coat that had
been captured at Peekslxi1I On August
/ 3, III, the first battle fought under
the legally defined flag was that fought
IN defense Of Fort Schuyler
| This was our first battIefag. To-
! day the nation supplies to its defenders
thousands of flags every year, flags
that are made not of shirts, petticoats
and Jackets sewed by the clumsy fin
gers of patriotic drummer-boy, but of
bunting that has borne stern chemical
and physical tests. that has been cut
and sewed by hundreds of experts.
Last year to the army of the United
States there were furnished 1,207 storm
and recruiting flags, $40 post flags, and
| thirty-one garrison flags, For the pre-
| ceding year there had been Issued 1,076
storm and recruiting flags, 500 post
flags, and forty garrison flags. These
| sewed into a big coverlet would reach
comfortably around the United States
and give her the appearance of a giant
harlequin.
Each battleship of the American
navy is entitled to $50 flags every three
years, though many are renewed often
er than this. The majority of these
are signal flags, though each ship car
ries forty-three foreign flags, measur-
ing thirty-five by thirteen feet. The
about s2.500. no small item in Uncle
Sans Dill for equipments, especially
when it is recalled that he mas twenty
seven first ard second class battle
ships in commission. Beside these there
are cruisers. torpedo boats, torpedo
boat destroyers, submarines. monitors,
gunboats, supply ships, golfers, train
ing and receiving ships. some 265 all
St hoy
of bunting for everyday use and for
dress-up occasions. For these naval
flags Uncle Sam uses up about $4,000
worth of material every year, pays
81 900 in wages and produces an aver
age of $1,000 flags of 40S different pat
terms.
The material of which the flags for
general service are made must stand
severe tests. The navy uses about Is
0G0 yards a year for Old Glory alone
and the goods must be of superior
grade The bunting is American-ma
it must be all wool and nineteen inches
wide It is washed for twenty-four
hours in soap and fresh water, and
next day given a like treatment with
salt water. Then for. ten days it is
exposed to the weather, thirty hours
is not ALL The tensile strength must
be proved. for there are storms to be
weathered and sixty mile gale can
whip average cloth TO ribbons. A
strip of bunting two inches wide must
have a strength of sixty-five pounds
when proved on the testing machine.
Two inches of filing must stand forty
five pounds When the bunting has
-
and sewers who. by rule and line. cut
out and make the flags.
The President flag requires the
most time and money among the
national designs made at the Brooklyn
Navy Yard. 1t takes woman work
ing daily a whole month to make one.
The decign is the United States coat
OF arms on a blue field, and as all the
stitches are set by hand and the en-
broidery done with silk at nine dollars
a pound. each flag cost pretty penny |
when done 1t is the foreign flags that |
take most time and money in the max |
ing, for as each battleship must have !
its quota Uncle Sam must have them |
on hand. The Latin-American repub- |
lies have flags that cost a great deal. /
San Salvador's emblem with its land |
SCdp6S. S0aStdptS. HoIdA NoiAESAiOA
and cabalistic designs keeps one wo-
man busy for sixteen days and costs |
Uncle sam $3.50. Germany's eagle and .
scroll work is next highest in cost, and
whenever the white elephant Of Siam /
is made, Uncle Sam must hand over
S3S, while Mexico's serpent-eagIe design
calls for $3.50. The very largest United
States flag, thirty-six by nineteen feet,
costs the government only $40
As to the rest of Uncle Sans flags.
official and semi-officials. no census
could ever be taken. Every embassy. i
legation and consulate abroad has its
quota. every cust0m-house, postoffice
and mint. every administrat build
ing that in any way touches the nation /
DIT a commonwealth has its symbol of l
liberty Of the more than half mil Il
ion public schools Of the United states 4
the majority fly flags in token OF the i
spirit Of patriotism which they foster +
Other educational institutions, COM il
oanies. of state militia, patriotic or
gan cations. business houses. clubs. I;
private residences. sea-going vessels ]
# every character all displaying flags.
,rfnS the total mum Der in daily use far