The Elk Mountain pilot., 1918-05-23
o. A. RS PRESENT SERVICE FLAG
By Margaret White o'Lear,

triotism took place on the Court
house lawn last Sunday noon when
the Daughters of the American Revo
luton presented a handsome Service
Flag to Gunnison county in honor of
the young men who are fighting the
cause of their country. 1t was an
ideal day for the occasion. The crowd
of people stood under clear skies in
warm sunshine whose golden rays
foated gently down upon the broad
lawn that surrounds the temple of
Justice, and in few minutes the
procession which had formed at the
Boys club, appeared, led by the fife
and drum corps. The members of
the local D. A. r. chapter and thir
teen of their sons and daughters who
in the capacity of pages carried the
large War Service Flag, took their
places in front of the main entrance
to the building where Mrs. S. G.
Spencer, Chaplain, offered prayer and
after Mr.. M. A. Jencks sounded the
Assembly Bugle call, Mrs. Sprigg
Shackleford, in brief but eloquent
address presented the flag and in an
impressive manner explained the sig
nificance of the loyalty, devotion and
self-sacrifice of the flower of our
country's manhood whose patriotism
is as red, whose souls are as white
and whose Christian loyalty is as true
blue as the Red, White and Blue of
the Flag. The flag was accepted in
behalf of Gunnison county by VIM.
Whalen of Crested Butte, Chairman
of the Board of County Commission
ers, and for the city of Gunnison by
Mayor Comstock, each thanking the
d. A. R.1adies for their splendid gift.
Attorney E. NJ. Nourse, Chairman of
the Home Service committee, then
read the names of the one hundred
sixty-six boys who have entered the
military service from Gunnison coun
ty, and explained that the one hun
dred sixty-four blue stars arranged
in the form of cross upon the white
background of the Service Flag rep
resented those now in the service,
while the one gold star upon the
border bespoke the tender memory of
one of our boys-the first to give
his young life for his country-that
of Clarence Downing of Marble, while
the blue triangle reprehented Dean
Samuel Quigley of the Colorado State
Normal School. who was leaving on
Tuesday for New York enroute for
France to enter the Y. NJ. c. A, work
at the front.
Dean Quigley followed with short
but earnest address that will leave
an indelible impression upon the
minds of those who heard him. He
emphasized the beauty of life of
service. the essence of his message
being that it is not how long we live
but the way we live which counts.
He referred to the cross and the flag
as the twin symbols of Liberty-on
the Cross the Son of Man spilled His
blood in order to give the world NOR
al liberty; under our Flag, our man
hood is spilling its blood in order to
give to the world political liberty
and freedom from the oppressive
burden of Prussian barbarities.
A unique feature Of the ceremony
was that the hoisting of the service
flag to the flag staff beneath the
Stars and Stripes was performed by
Son of the American Revolution,
Mr.. Sprigg Shacltleford, veteran of
the Civil war; Mr.. Henry F. Lake,
veteran of the Spanish American war;
Mr. Frank Anderson and two of our
own soldiers in the present conflict,
home on furloughs, Charlie Miller of
the Marines, in uniform. and Joseph
Partch, who is home on sick leave of
absence,
AS the starry banner with the
cross so clearly outlined fluttered out
upon the gentle breeze to be en-
twined in the folds of the Stars and
Stripes one instinctively felt that
while they belonged side by side in
every crisis, there never was an hour
since our countrys birth when the
flag belonged so near the cross as
now. For this is a war against the
very throne of God. and the funda-
mentais for which the cross stands,
They shall both remind us of the
splendid sacrifices made by the flower
of humanity for our liberties, as the
morning breeze will find the Stars
and Stripes in salutation to it's COM
panion, the Service Flag, represent
ing the highest and holiest gift man
can give to his country, and the set
ting sun will entwine their shadows
in close embrace.