Maryland independent. [volume] (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1874-current, 1912-04-26
OUR NAvY'S FLAGS
Each Vessel Carries Nearly a Ton
Of Bunting.
EMBLEMs OF ALL NATIONS.
Some Of the Designs Are Cutie Expen-
sive. and. as Rule. the Smaller the
Nation the More Costly Its Banner.
Uncle Sans Flae Emporium.

Nation the More Costly Its Banner.
Uncle Sans Flag Emporium.
On every vessel Of the United States
navy. from the monster battleship to
the tinlest tug. Is slowed away nearly
ton Of Gags. which go 10 make up
the number each vessel Is reqvlred to
carry for use on different occasions.
About half Of this vast pile Of flags
consists Of emblems Of foreign nations.
The making Of the Gag equipment for
the navy costs more than 100000 a
year. Each ship carries forty-threc
foreign flags. which are thirteen feet
wide by twenty-five feet long.
As ships quota Of hags is renewed
every three years It Is no small under
taking to keep them replenlshed. and to
this end Uncle Sam keeps a large flag
making establishment running at full
time the year around at the Brooklyn
navy yard Employed there are some
hundred skilled needlewomen working.
emitting the different colored buntlngs
into the required widths and sewing
them together Making the United
States flag is not difficult job. hut
the making OF some Of the foreign EN-
blems is quite a different matter, and
this is what most Of the work at the
dag establishment consists Of
Take. for example. the flag Of San
Salvador. In the background there Is
beIching volcano pouring forth Its
lava and white smoke. On the sides
OF the mountain is the gree- foliage
and shrubery. willie directly in the
foreground is tranquil sea Of sap
phire blue. Above the volcano is a
rising sun set in design Of overflow
ing cornucopias and a diamond from
which the rays are scintillating in ev-
cry direction. To the left and right OF
the belching mountain are draped in
varied designs banners which bear
similarity to the stars and stripes.
Around the whole concentration is
wreath of cactus branches lovingly
embracing the volcano. while at the
top the date Of the country's lndepend-
ence is inscribed To make a flag of
this description costs the government
$3.50. and when one Of these flags is
placed on each ship Of the navy every
three years II can be readily seen that
the insignificant little republic to the
south Of US Is really costing the tax
payers of the country more than has
ever been thought of.
The flag of Costa Rica. with its seem
ic beauty of mountains and sea. is an
other extravagant emblem, costing
something like $50 to complete. So it
seems that the smaller the nation the
more costly Its flag.
The largest flag made by the United
States is the Ensign No. l. which meas
ures thirty-six feet long and nineteen
feet wide. The cost of this monster
is $40 or thereabouts.
The presidents flag. while not the
largest by any means, takes longest to
make. requiring the labor of one per-
sou for month to complete IT, 1t is
of simple design, being blue field
with the coat Of arms of the United
States in the center. The life sized
eagle with outstretched wings and
other emblems are all hand embroid-
cred and involve the most patient
work. The embroidery silk used on
this Gag. which is fourteen by ten feet.
costs 50 pound.
Uncle Sans flag emporium is in
charge OF his fiagmaster. whose busi-
ness. among other things. is to test all
the bunting bought by the establish
ment. One day a sample lot of bunt-
ing 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 sunlight This Is termed the
color and fading test Another test is
always made for fhe tensile strength.
A strip of the warp two inches wide
is placed in machine and must stand
a pulling strain Of sixty-iive pounds.
while two inches of the filling must
stand forty-Ave pound strain.
All over the floor of the workshop
are arranged chalk lines and metal
markers by the aid Of which the flags
are cut out Large stripes aud GER
tain designs can be more conveniently
stitched this way. The sewing is done
by women on machines run by cleo
trIc motors.
1t is an interesting sight to see the
1ig machine at work cutting out stars
for the United States flags. 1t is the
only machine of its kind in this coun-
try. 1t consists Of a plunger fitted
with steel knives the size Of the star
wanted. and with single downward
stroke 1t lays on table 100 stars.
There are eight different sizes OF stars
used for the different flags. and Of
course the machine is provided with
the eight different dies for the pur-
pose Until recent years these stars
were cut out by hand. which was
long and tedious task. but now days
work Of the machine will supply stars
for a weeks work on iags.-H Harper's
Weekly.