Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-06-08

and onerated bv one OF the FIVE men
employed to do the heavy work me
Presidents flag takes the longest time
To make of any of the American en-
bIems and is made in two sizes 4Nla
feet and 5X3 feet. 1t consists OF q dark
blue background with the coat OF
arms of the United States in the CEN
ter The eagle must be embroidered by
hand. in silk-the most delicate ana
dainty workmanship being required
Several women are employed. whose
sole duty is To embroider certain parts
of flags The silk used on the presl-
Dental emblem costs the governments
50 per pound The pressing of a flag.
too. requires a skillful hand. for eacE
and every part must be clear OF WfinKies
and the embroidery must be pressed
in such a fashion as 10 make ,me EN-
hroidered figure stand out" This -
no place for unskilled labor. | can as
sure YOU said one of the pressers. VI
course. we use electric irons, Out one
must be exceedingly careful. for Il scorch-
ea flag would not go, and as TINS Is
practically the finishing touch to the
work. lust think of the loss III haNin5 TO
ramake the flag. or at least replace the
Scorched part -
some Of the foreign flags are both diff
cult to make and costly as well, Tor the
material used in them is far more eA-
uensiy, than that used for our own haSS.
In many instances the smaller the couh-
try the more costly the nag rms IS eN-
emnlified i'll tile case OF Doth the ,oSth
Rican and san Salvador emblens- Inc
fay of the former contains Us pieces aud
requires the labor of several women III
its construction. while that of the latter
country is the most expensive OF all Tue
foreign flags manufactured. costing about
$50 per flag Some or the foreign
standards have to be made enurel! py
hand and the lifting of the hSurts IS
tedious work. but no matter how difflcut
the task. Miss Woods and her assistants
manage 10 put out perfect flags Tor all
nations.
4 rather humorous incident IS told by
a naval officer which proves how up-to-
date the tiagmakers really are. as we'll
as how the United States government is
prompt in having flags ready for all &C.
casions AS the story goes. shortly after
the birth of a South American republic
a few years ago one of our battieships
steamed into port OF that country. She
ran IN the flag of the new republic and
salutcd Much IL the surprise Of the Off
GERS the salute was not returned. III
nalIy a small boat was seen approaching
the battleship, and few minutes later
an officer came on board begging the loan
of the flag Of the new republic, for
xer they had none at the fort. The cap
tain ordered the emblem gwen TO the
man and a few minutes after the little
boat reached shore the American salute
was returned with the borrowed flag
waving over the rampartS OF the fort
Before the flag Was returned hundreds of
natives came to view for the first time
the new standard of their country which
had been manufactured in brooklyn.
The Samese flag. which has white
elephant in the center, requires skillful
neealework for in the better class of
flags the elephant must be embroidered in
white silk. The emblem of the new re-
public of Portugal also contains some
rather expensive hand embroidery The
Moorish flag is the cheapest of all for
eign flags and costs about 81.
In making these emblems of other lands
il is sometimes necessary To have the
silks and bunting dyed, for the exact
shadeS are IA rely obta Unable or course
a shade darker or Il shade lighter even
though il would pass unnoticed By the
average person. would not pass. for pv.,-s
flag must he absolutely perfect i'm shad-
ns as wei a. in .wp Nmans.lir 80 nat
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