Saturday news. (Watertown, S.D.) 19??-19??, 1914-06-11

vas bags, bear the name I the c0un-
try stencfled on the end. The remain
der, including flags for ordinary use.
signaling, etc. are wrapped without
bags and numbered at the end Each
nag has it's separate place In the dag
locker. A quartnrmaster would be re-
buked severely If one became mis-
placed. Each ship follows the same or
der in this. SO that any n familiar
with the flag locker on inc ship knows
the location of every flag on any ship.
Uncle Sam pays about $500 to outfit
each ship in the service. This multi
Piled by the number Of ships VIII show
that flags are not an inconsequentiai
item Of naval expense The foreign
enstgns are all made twenty-five feet
long and thirteen feet wide. They are
used whenever an American warship
enters q port of another nation. The
flag Of the visited nation is hoisted at
the top Of the foremost while the
American ship saiutea 1t is also hoist
ed when returning salutes 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
hags that are close rivals, the flags OF
the president and vice president They
require the longest time to make Of
any flags. 1t takes one woman a month
to finish each one. The presidents
flag Is a 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 a pound. The vice pres1-
dents flag Is the coat Of arms on q
field Of white. Both flags are made in
two sizes, 10 by Ia feet and 8 by s feet.
The larger is used on ships and the
smaller on launches and similar craft.
The largest flag made is the United
States ensign No. l, which Is SO by 10
feet. 1t costs $40.
The bunting used In flag making is
put to severe tests before the flag max
ers use it. One day a 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. II Il
doesn't fade in that test the govern
ment experts pass 1t. Then two inches
wide of the warp is subject to a pull
ing strain Of sixty-1ve pounds. Even
with all those precautions a ship is al.
lowed a new set of flags every three
years, while the signal flags and ship
and boat ensigns in frequent use must
be replaced every few weeks.
One flag o. 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 It is q
long, narrow streamer, blue at the
staff. with thirteen stars in the field.
arranged in one line, and the flag d.
vided into two stripes, red and white.
the red at the top. When ships long
Oh foreign stations leave for home q
new commission pennant is always
hoisted Usually it is one made and
paid for by the crew. In some cases
those "homeward Founders" stretch
out 300 feet and, made of silk, cost q
pretty penny.
The thousands OF white stars used In
our own and many other ensigns are
made by an electrically driven ma
chine which cuts them in fifty or a
hundred lots Eight different sizes of
stars are used.-Kansas City Star.