Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-04-04
ANGLED BANNER
Nv Of Modern Betsy Rosses in
hiladelphis Turning Out
Nations Emblem
DAY AN ANNIVERSARY
>ty-nine Years Ago Congress De-
cided Permanent Design of
' "Old Glory"

Rhetegrsph In Pictorial Section
x0lB 10 the ninety-ninth birthday of tn,
leo and Stripes In the present and perma
- form OF the national emblem. Or
=, 1918, Congress passed bill pro
~ that the symbol should comprise
<0en stripes. white and red alternately
ma blue field set with stars represent
the number of States In the Federal
q. AZ originally designed way back in
o>utionary days, the flag comprised
zen alternate red and white stripes
"a thirteen stars In a blue field. the stars
~senting the thirteen colonies. AS the
non began to expand, an additional stripe
~ star were added to the emblem. With
- entrance OF Vermont and Kentucky the
mensions Of the flag were enlarged by
- addition of two stripes and two stars,
Y NJ nag at one period of the nations history
ontaining fifteen stripes and fifteen stars
|L> When additional States made their
4U8eAls for admission. II was seen by Con-
: 0x4ns that In time the flag would become
p4d1y proportioned and unwieldly. Where
yDon, II was decided to restore the orig
f4U0i design of thirteen stripes and to add
y 1tAr to the field when new state should
~ added to the Union That was just
nety-nine years ago today.
$& To-day, while America is agog with ma
a(o{1al war preparation, seventy-five Betsy
Ncoges in one Philadelphia workroom alone
~ engased In the manufacture of thrills
leeotarred red, white and blue ones--for the
nAtton. The patriotism infnitesimally
etitched into the first fabric of Old Glory
- being shot into million Of its progeny
.1y means Of machinery. efficiency and every
Nnown aid. to the business of speeding up"
:4or this Is speeding up time in the flag
industry.
81 according to Superintendent Rumford, of
f@e William Horstmann Company, whose
f4e9s have been flying from Government
L..
more than hundred years. there has not
been . Red. White and Blue boom such as
tnle since the days of the Civil War. The
rally In Independence Square alone, Mr..
tumrord says. was sufficient to put great
9lg hole In flag stocks. The occasion
3Qdging by the order book, ranked with
Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, and
then some.
. Old Glory is mostly In demand as a six
py Tour. This size. more than any other,
the one seen unfurling from third-story
Uonts and from "twin-house" porches II
= the home flag. The fact is significant
mat the sale of six by four surpasses that
~ any other size flag
Z He'd, white and blue bunting is not
Just goods" even in the aggregate The
moment each color enters the flag factory
it ceases to be anything but a piece of the
tars and Stripes that is in a great big
hurry to take It's rightful place on the
banner of the Flag of the Free There IL
tne sewing of the stripes, the cutting and
tne turning of the stars and the placing
~ them on the navy blue field In the
1tress or the times this work is so quickly
= SSooomplished that the output, away up in
Fne thousands. is almost beyong compute
Tne costliest regulation Gag may be had
~ tIo0. and there is a wee one that fits
.@so tne pudgy hand of the youngest Amer.
ean wholesaling at a third of a penny
kneres silk flag that is made to rest in |
urches and to be flung on high for state
cAsions. and there's a storm flag that 1, |
~ on military posts that can lash brayeIy
lno untattered In face of the heaviest |
efms. The stout old hickory limb, sliced |
Dole. popular
y Last, but not for a moment least come>
- hospital for fags-strpes shattered in
- winds. stars worn with service on Me-
1orial Days and Fourth of Juys are fully
~ .oleo and sent forth to enjoy the glory
6 living and dying for America in the breast
g Americans.