Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1914-07-11
WARSRIp BUNTING
1t Takes a Lot Of Flags to Fit
Out Uncle Sans Navy.
USE C0LORS OF ALL NATIONS.

w @hoiHHS " VARIOUS
Kinds and Sizes-Severe Tests r.
Which the Material 10 Subjected.
Something like $4,000 a year is re
quired to keep Uncle Sans many naval
vessels properly equipped with flags.
In addition most every other depart.
ment of the government appropriates
various sums for flags for buildings
and ships under its control In all,
it is safe 10 say the United States
spends S125.OO0 a year for flags.
The largest factory belongs to the
navy. In large room. called the flag
loft" at Brooklyn navy yard half a
hundred skilled needlewomen and quite
a few men are kept constantly at work
Officially it is the naval flag making es-
adjustment
Thousands of flags are required TO
supply the hundreds of vessels, from
battleships to launches On entering
the flag loft the visitors first impress.
sion is a blaze of color. Rolls of bright
bunting are heaped everywhere. Long
lines of electrically driven sewing ma.
chimes. with women operators. are reel
ing off and putting the finishing touches
to American and foreign ensigns of
many different hues and sizes. In add.
ton to our own flag, the navy has to
keep a supply of every other nation in
the world which has a coast line.
Each battleshlp. cruiser. gunboat or
scout In the navy requires about 800
/ flags to outfit its flag locker properly
Heaped up, they make a pile shoulder
/ high and twenty or twenty-five feet
/ long. The foreign flags. incased in can.
I vas bags, bear the name of the coun
I try stenciled on the end. The remain
/ der, including flags for ordinary use.
/ signaling. etc, are wrapped without
/ bags and numbered at the end Each
flag has its separate place in the flag
4 locker A quartermaSter would be re
| buked severely If Que became mis-
! placed. Each ship follows the same or
| der in this. so that any one familiar
/ with the flag locker on one ship knows
the location of every dag on any ship
Uncle Sam pays about So 800 to outfit
4 each ship in the service. This mutt
/ piled by the number of ships will show
that flags are not an inconsequentia
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
! cd %
vessels In American ports
The most snowy and expensive flags
In the lot are those of foreign nations
although the United States has two
/ Tags that are close rivals. the flags Of
the president and vice president They
require the longest time TO make of
any tiags. II 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 presi-
dents dag Is the coat OF arms on a
field Of white. Both 6ags are made In
two sizes. 10 by IA feet and by 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. /. which is 80 by 10
feet II costs $40
! The bunting used In flag making is
| put to severe tests before the flag max.
ers use IL 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. If it
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 a ship is al.
lowed a new set OF tags 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 It goes into commits
sion and is never removed. Ii is 4
long. narrow streamer. blue at the
staff, with thirteen stars in the field
arranged in one line. and the flag di
vided into two stripes, red and white,
the red at the top. When ships long
on foreign stations leave for home
new commission pennant is always
hoisted Usually it is one made and
paid for by the crew. In some cases
those ''homeward Founders" stretch
/ ont 800 feet and. made OF silk. cost 5
/ 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 City or
/ hundred lots Eight different sizes Of
stars are used--Kansas City Star.
Il