T H E CHEM AW A AM ERICAN
PAGE 4
THE AMERICAN FLAG
Prior to the revolutionary war the British flag stood
as the national emblem of the American colonies.
During the period in which separation from the mother
country was being agitated various emblems—one of
the most notable bearing an inscription “ Join or die”
and another displaying a rattlesnake, with the words
“ Don’t tread on me” —were widely used by the colon
ists.
The stars and stripes were originated in 1777. Con
gress resolved that “ the flag of the United States be
13 stripes, alternate red and white, and that the union
lx* 13 white stars on a blue field.” In 1794 the num
ber of stripes and stars was increased to 15 to include
the two states of Vermont and Kentucky.
After several new states had thus been admitted it
was seen that this plan of increasing the stripes with
the addition of new states would in time cause the
national emblem to appear cumbrous and unlovely.
So in April, 1818—100 years ago—congress restored
the 13 stripes to represent the 13 original states and
make the stars to stand for the states. At that time
there were 20 states in the Union.
No definite arrangement of the stars had been pro
vided for and until 1912, when President Taft ordered
that they should be arranged in six horizontal rows of
eight stars each, many different styles were used.
As now established the stars representing each state
appears in the order of the state’s ratification, begin
ning at the upper lefthand corner and reading the
rows from left to right, the following list shows the
position of each state’s star:
First row—No. 1, Del.; 2, Pa.; 3, N. J.; 4, Ga.; 5,
Conn.; 6, Mass.; 7, Md.; 8. S. C.
Second row—No. 9, N. H.; 10, Va.; 11, N. Y.; 12,
N. C.; 13, R. I.; 14, Vt.; 15, Ky.; 16, Tenn.
Third row—No. 17, O.; 18, La.; 19, Ind.; 20, Miss.;
21, 111.; 22, Ala.; 23, Me.; 24, Mo.
Fourth row—No. 25, Ark.; 26, Mich.; 27, Fla.; 28,
Tex.; 29, la.; 30, Wis.; 31, Calif.; 32, Minn.
Fifth row—No. 33, Ore.; 34, Kans.; 35, W. Va.;
36, Nev.; 37. Nebr.; 38, Col.; 39, N. Dak.; 40, S. Dak.
Sixth row—No.. 41, Mont ; 42, Wash.; 43, Ida.;
44, Wvo.; 45, Utah; 46. Okla.; 47. N. Mex.; 48, Ariz.
It will be seen that the first star in row 5 is Ore
gon’s.
THE MUSKRAT
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Should you chance to be sauntering at dusk on a
bank of the river or the creek at the edge of town
when the noises of the day are gone you may see grace
fully moving in the stream the brown body of the fi
ber zibethicus, remarks the Indianapolis News. You
will perhaps know this little swimmer somewhat
better under his familiar name of muskrat, and he is
also called musk beaver, and by the Indians named
musquash.
He is a native, found all over North America, from
the Atlantic to the Pacific. The body is ratlike, 13 to
15 inches long, and the tail is nine or 10 inches long.
The color is ruddy brown above, darker on the back
and grayish below. The under fur is fine, close and
silky. Once it was much used for hats, but now it is
chiefly used for women’s furs.
The muskrat lives near lakes, ponds and sluggish
streams, in the banks of which it makes its burrows,
with the entrance under water. These animals are
nocturnal by habit. The galleries that form the en
trances to their nests sometimes extend 20 to 30 feet
from the water.
The muskrat is a clean feeder, though rather omni
vorous in his taste, as he eats roots, grasses, vegetables,
fruits, mussels, fish and even flesh, when he can get
it. At times muskrats do much damage by undermining
the embankments of streams. They are prolific, as they
bring forth young as often as three times a year, with
from four to six at a birth.
Some of the earlier residents of Indianapolis pro
claimed that the muskrat was a choice article of food,
having a high gamy flavor that excelled theflesh of any
other animal. It is said that even today the muskrat
is sold in the Baltimore and Detroit markets where it
finds ready and appreciative buyers.
UNUSUAL SNAKE STORIES
W. H. Willis, of Dover, Del., recently shot and
killed a seven-foot blacksnake as it was creeping
toward a bird’s nest in the top of a tree. The man’s
attention was attracted by the excited twittering of
some birds.
Some time ago Mrs. Delmus Young, of Lincoln
county. Kv., missed a china egg from her henhouse.
Recently a snake appeared near her house and was
killed by a party of men. A large protuberance in
its bodv aroused their curiousity; when they cut it
open they found the missing egg.
Stephen Saunderer, a laborer, was walking through
the fields when he stumbled onto the reptile which
he says chased him for a considerable distance. People
living in the ontskirts of the city have been annoyed
bv losing cream from bottles on their porches; they
believe that the snake is responsible for the thefts.
A small snake crawled into a switchbox on a rail
road near Lafayette, Ind., a few days ago and cut off
the electric current by which the switch is operated.
The Hoosier limited coming along a few minutes
after was brought to a stop in obedience to the con
trary signal. When taken out the snake was alive
though paralyzed by the shock.