Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1914-08-07
WARSHIP BUNTING
1t Takes a Lot Of Flags to Fit
Out Uncle Sans Navy.
USE COLORS OF ALL NATIONS.


Five Hundred Ens,sns Of Various
Kinds and Sizes-Severs Tests to
Which the Material 10 Subjected.
Something like $4,000 a year is re-
Quired to Keep Uncle Sans many naval
vessels property equipped with hags
In addition most every other depart
ment Of the government appropriates
various sums for days for buildings
and ships under its control In all.
Il Is safe to say the United States
spends $l2S.D00 year for tiags.
The largest factory belongs to thu;
navy. In large room. called the dag
loft." Ut Brooklyn navy yard bali
hundred skilled needlewomen and quite
. few men are kept constantly At work
Omciaily II 10 the naval dag making -
tablishment
Thousands Of nass are required to
supply the hundreds Of vessels. from
battIeships to launches. On enterins
the nag ioft the VISITORS drst impress
sion In blaze Of color. Rolls Of bright
bunting ars heaped evesywhers. Eons
linen Oe electrically driven SEWING ma
chinea. with women operators. are reel
ing OF and putting the finishing touches
to American and foreign ensigna Of
many different hues and sizes. In addi
ton to our own dag. the navy has t.
keep supply Of every other nation In
the world which has a cOast line.
Each battleship. cruiser. gunboat or
scout In the navy requires about son
days to outfit its lag locker properly.
Heaped up. they make pile shoulder
high and twenty or twenty five feet
long. The foreign Gags. incased In can
vas bags. bear the name Of the cOun.
try stenciltxi on the end. The remain
der. including flags for ordinary use
signaling. etc. are wrapped without
bags and numbered mt the end Each
flag has its separate place in the flat
locker. A quartermaster would be re-
buked severely II one became mis-
placed. Each ship follows the same or
der In this. so that any one famiIn,
with the flag locker on one ship knows
the location Of every flag on any ship.
Uncle Sam pays about $3.5OO to outfit
~
piled by the number Of ships will show
that flags are not an incOnseQuentiai
item Of naval expense. The foreign
ensigns are all made twenty five feet
long and thirteen feet wide. They are
used whenever an American warship
enters a port Of another nation The
flag OF the visited nation Is hoisted at
the top Of the foremost while the
American ship salutes. 1t Is also hoist
ed when returning saIutes Of foreign
vessels In American ports
The most snowy and expensive flags
In the lot are those Of foreign nations
although the United States has two
flags that are close rivals. the flags Of
the president and vice president. They
require the longest time to make Of
any fiugs II takes one woman month
to finish each one. The presidents
flag ia blue ground with the coat Of
arms Of the United States in the cen.
ter The life sized eagle with out
stretched wings and other emblems are
all hand embroidered in silk The silk
used costs 50 pound. The vice presi.
dents flag Is the coat Of arms on q
tield Of white. 10th flags are made In
two sizes. 10 by IA feet and 3 by 3 feet
The larger Is used on ships and the
smaller on launches and similar craft.
The largest Tag made is the United
States ensign No. I, which IS 80 by 10
feet. 1t costs $40
The bunting used in flag making Is
nut to severe tests before the flag max.
ers use 1t. One day sample bundle Is
washed in soap and 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 must be in the bright sun If 1t
doesn't fade In that test the govern
ment experts pass It, Then two inches
wide Of the warp is subject to a pull
ing strain of siXty-fve pounds. Even
with all those precautions IA ship is al
lowed u new set Ut fl;rgs every three
years. while the signal flags and ship
and boat ensigns in frequent use must
be replaced every few weeks.
One flag or pennant. rather. most
used by the navy and least known to
the public is the commission pennant
1t Is hOisted to the masthead Of every
naval vessel when 1t goes into commits
sion and Is never removed 1t Is a
long. narrow streamer. blue at the
stnH With thirtn"n St"~s In tive fold