Evening star., 1933-06-14
ORIGINAL BANNER
AMONG MANY HERE
Observance Day Stirs Inter.
lest in National EmbIems
of Great Variety.
by JAMES WALDO FAWCETT.

Flag Day, set apart in honor to the
national colors, prompts recollection ol
the fact that the Nations Capital has
In its keeping many famous copies OF
the United States flag. They hang in
public and private buildings which are
places of pilgrimage on each recurrent
June IA
Perhaps the most widely celebrated
of all these ensignS is the original OF
the Star-Spangled Banner, the flag
which waved over Fort McHenry, Sep
tember 1914, 1914 and which, "dimly
seen thro' the mists of the deep" stirred
Francis Scott Key to write his beautiful
song. the national anthem.
The story has been told Jmnumbered
times In brief outline, it is this: THE
bombardment began at dawn on Sep
tember 13. The British ships Meteor,
Aetna, Error, Volcano, Devastation and
other vessels, under the command of
Admiral Sir George Cockburn, opened
fire on the fort that morning. Maj.
George Armistead, in charge OF the
chief defense of the Patapsco River
neighborhood, refused to surrender even
when he realized that because Of the
unprotected condition of his powder
magazine a fearful cataclysm might
lnsue
''Cockburn for two full days endeav-
pred to reduce the fort, but in the end
he was obliged to retire without having
accomplished his purpose.
Poem Written on Envelope.
During the battle Francis Scott Key
was detained on board a cartel ship,
the Minden, where he had been trying
to arrange an exchange of prisoners.
He, therefore was in position to OBJ
Ierve the ebb and flow of the struggle
as It developed. When, early on the
third day, he found that the flag was
still there he was moved to write his
celebrated poem The Star-Spangled
Banner" on the back of an old enve-
lope.
THE successful stand of Armistead
and his 1000 regulars and volunteers
had an excellent psychological effect
upon the country, Saddened as it was
at the time by the news of the burning
Of the Capitol at Washington, August
"a, 1814'
For generations after the battle the
hag remained in the possession of the
Armistead family. At last, in 1912,
Eben Appleton, a grandson of the brave
major, presented it to the Government.
1t has been on display at the National
Museum, Smithsonian Institution, ever
since, daily attraction for thousands
OF visitors.
The faded and tattered fabric was
repaired in 1881 by Mrs. Katherine
Fowler Richey, an expert at such work
For six weeks corps of needlewomen
sewing under her direction labored over
the relic. 1t was estimated that a
million and a half stitches were used
IN securing it to heavy linen back
ground, designed to preserve it for pos
terity.
According to tradition, the flag orig
fnally was made by Mrs Mary Pickers-
gill OF Baltimore. assisted by two daugh-
ters and two nieces. 1t was 40 feet
long. but now measures 80 feet (hoist)
by "a feet (fiy). There are Is stars.
"OId Glory" Preserved.
the custody of the Smithsonian Insti-
tuition is that known as "Old Glory"
once the property of Capt. William
Driver, mariner, whose home port
was Salem, Mass. Legend says that it
was presented to him on his twenty
first birthday, the gift of his mother
and group Of Salem girls. He flew it
on two voyages around the world.
When, on retiring, he settled at Nash
vile, Tenn, he regularly displayed it
on patriotic occasions. But with the
opening of the Civil War it disappeared
According to the story, it was retrieved
from hiding in a mattress when the
Union troops entered Nashville Febru-
ary 25, 1852. The old sea-rover raised
1t with his own hands over the State
Capitol. 1t came to the National
Museum in 1922.
At the State, War and Navy Build
Ing, in the care of the War Depart
ment, is the flag which avenged the
murder of President Lincoln. It was
draped over the box he occupied at
Ford's Theater on the evening of April
IA. 1865, when John Wilkes Booth.
half-crazed actor, crept up behind him
and fired fatal shot into his brain.
The deed accomplished, the assassin
leaped to the stage below, but, as he
jumped, his spurs caught in the folds
OF the bunting. He fell in such man
ner as to break small bone in his leg,
and the injury resulted in his capture
and death. The banner was carried In
the Presidents funeral procession.
Another flag shares the fame of this
edition of the Stars and Stripes. 1t is
the colors of the Treasury Guards. now
on exhibition at the Foro's Theater
Lincoln Museum, gift to that insti-
tuition from Mrs. E. Palmer Gavit.
Legend also attributes to it a portion
OF the glory of tripping Booth. but the
matter is unsettled Witnesses testified