The New York herald., 1922-07-04

ihoAs' @hoe Hndiiy the stars Will be
mixed and rolled up into nebulae again.
That is progress-the keynote of the
universe. and all progressive people take
a hint from It,"
He handed me an opera glass.
Use this" he said. "and examine the
nebula."
When had looked / said 1T appear
to see some tiny creatures on the edge
OF the nebula. who are walking or
crawling up. like men in treadmin.
but, like those men, they never get any
higher"
Exactly" said the curator. These
represent the most active and uneasy of
our advanced thinkers. men and women.
who are not content with having OBJ
liberated the stars and put a nebula in
their place. Now they are trying to
knead the globular nebula into some
thing else-God knows what!
i presume that specimens Of the old
United States flag must be still In ex-
istence."
"oh. yes" he said. I'VE keep them as
curiosities."
After some trouble he found the key
to a cabinet that stood In dark corner,
opened 1T, and took out sheaf of flags,
which he separated and one by one un-
rolled. First he handed me flag that
had thirteen stripes and thirteen stars.
That" he said. "is the flag OF the
Bon Homme Richard, which Paul Jones
displayed when, amid the roar Of the
guns. he told the commander of the
Scraps that he had not yet begun to
fight"
And what Is this?" asked, desig-
mating enc that bore fifteen stripes and
fifteen stars.
THAT is the flag that Commodore
Perry carried over to the brig Niagara,
in the battle Of Lake Erie. whcn his
flagship. the Lawrence. had been shot
to pieces; after which he sent the ia
nous dispatch We have met the enemy
and they are ours"
The next was similar; This" he re-
marked. is tho flag under which De-
catur conquered the Algerian fleet and
released European commerce. as well as
ours. from paying any more tribute to
The piratical Dey of Algiers."
The next showed thirteen stripes and
twenty-nine stars. This is the flag
that General Winfield Scott carried into
Mexico when he dictated peace in the
halls Of the Montezumas.'"
After that the curator unrolled very
carefully one that had torn and
ragged edge. was begrimed with smoke.
and was pierced with half dozen shot
holes. 1t had thirteen stripes and thir-
ty-flve stars
This flag waved over the defenders
Of Little Round Top at Gettysburg,
when they held that vital keypoint and
made victory possible. Weed. Vincent,
O'Rorke. Hazlett and many Of their men
all died under it there
The next had the same number of
stripes and stars. but was unimpaired
and appeared to be almost new. The
curator lowered his voice to a reverent
tone as he said: This was used to drape
the coffin of Abraham Lincoln"
I felt the tears coming to my eyes,
and could hardly see the next. which had
! thirteen stripes and forty-f1ve stars, and
was without a scar. This was the flag
Of the Olympia when Dewey, in Manila
Bay told the German Admiral that II
he didn't keep out OF his way he would
sink him"
Last Of all was unrolled one that had
thirteen stripes and forty-efght stars
This was the first United States flag to
go into battle in France--at vimy Ridge.
A dying young soldier from Newark,
New Jersey kissed 1t as he said: Il am
glad gave my life for the freedom of
the world"
The tears were on my face and a
lump was In my throat as I said, "Oh.
roll them up and put them away again.
and on the door of the cabinet write.
'Icha habod--the glory has departed"
Z Was It thunderstorm or crash of
artillery that woke me?