Dresden enterprise and Sharon tribune. (Dresden, Tenn.) 1907-1997, 1917-11-02

the flag pledge in unison. and at the
close, half hundred right arms are
thrust forward and upward. the better
to wave half a hundred little American
flags.
That is the scene presented to the
visitor in any public schoolroom iu
America on Washington's birthday or
Gag day or any other occasion Of pa
rriotic program.
America owes it's flag pledge to Kan
sas. 1t was written by Kansas boy
and inspired by Kansas woman
Here is the story:
A little more than twenty years ago
Mrs. Lillian A. Hendricks Of Cherry
vale, Kan, was an untiring worker In
the Women's Relief corps, an auxiliary
Of the G.. A. r., and held the office OF
patriotic instructor in the Cherryvale
organization The mother Of two boys.
she wanted them to grow up with the
spirit Of her ancestry. which led back
to John Cary Of Revolutionary war
fame, and she entered upon her duties
as patriotic instructor with enthusiasm.
She followed the custom of her official
predecessors in visiting the schools
and talking to the pupils about the
glories Of the country and its tradi-
lions. But she went farther. She In
duced the principal Of the high school
to set aside a recitation hour, during
which the sixteen members Of the class
Of 1896 wrote their ideas Of their debt
to their country and their duty to Its
government
One member of the class was Frank
e. Bellamy. His tribute impressed Mrs
Hendricks so much, when it was gath
cred up with the others and sent to her
for inspection, that she preserved 1t.
With 1858 came the Spanish-Ameri-
can war, and one Of the first to vollln-
teer his services to the country was
Frank Belamy, then twenty-one years
old. He joined the Twentieth Kansas
infantry as member Of the regimental
band and went to the Philippines,
where he remained until the Kansas
fighting force returned to the United
States and was mustered out
But in the meantime, in 1899, with
the fervor Of patriotism which the war
with Spain aroused, came the decision
of a conference of representatives OF
the patriotic organizations Of the c0un-
try that pledge Of allegiance was nee
essary to inculcate love Of country
in the generations to come Through
out the states the submission Of suit
able sentiments was invited, and the
W. r. c., through it's state departments
and they through local corps like the
one at Cherryvale, took it up. Mrs.
Hendricks, whose love Of the Stars and
Stripes was something very much like
thought at once of the pledge
of allegiance written by the high school
bow who now was with Uncle Sans
fighting men across the Pacific, and she
submitted it to the national committee
which was to make the selection. Out
Of thousands upon thousands Of manu-
scripts which reached the committee
and were read and passed on the pledge
Of Frank Bellamy was chosen as the
one expressing in fewest words and
strongest phrases the loyalty of an
American to his flag and to the land OF
his birth or adoption. 81 So it came to
pass that the Kansas boy author OF the
flag pledge" is numbered with Francis
Scott Key, author Of "The Star Span
Sled Banner" Joseph R0dman Drake,
author Of "'rhe American Flag" DIR. s.
3. Smith, author Of America" and 9th
srs from whose pens have come undying
expressions Of fealty to Our. country.
Frank Bellamy returned from the
shattered In health by his |
stay in the tropics. 1t is an interesting |
tact that he knew nothing Of the adop- |
ion OF his pledge Of allegiance hr the |
patriotic societies Of America until Mrs.
Hendricks told him when he arrived in |
ais home town.
I'VE are proud OF you, Frank" she
laid, "and the national W. r. c. has |
passed resolution thanking you for |
writing it"
The boy flushed. 1T didn't express
half what tried to write" he said.
The physicians who examined him on |
lis arrival home found that the white
plague already had him in its grip and
ordered him to the mountains He went |
10 Colorado. and. since lie could no long |
sr follow music as a vocation, he took |
Up art. for which he also had talent, |
md, his own mother having died, he
Ooked to Mrs. Hendricks for advice and
with her throughout his
residence in the west
Mr.. Rellamy never recovered his
Sealth. but his last days were made
Easy because of the fact that through
Mrs. Hendricks efforts he obtained a
LIBERAL pension as a Spanish-American
var veteran. He died in Denver March
Il, 1915 His body was taken to Cher
'yvale and rests in Fairvew cemetery
here, not far from the shaft which
marks the grave of Mrs. Hendricks.
Kansas City Star.