3
THE SUNDAY OREGOXIAN. PORTLAND. JTJNE 13, 1913.
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BT WILLIAM P. KENNEDY.
YOUR Uncle Samuel la mighty par
ticular about the sturdiness of
texture, fastness of. color, relia
bility of workmanship and general
wearing qualities of his flags. "When
he hoists his "colors" ho wants to be
sure that they will stand out right
smart to "the breeze, Jauntily and sau
cily, as though there was real life and
substance and enduring quality in -them.
He wants his glorious "Red,
"White and Blue" to proclaim their
great meaning of color undlmmed, un
laded by the elements the white of
pure and noble purpose, the red of dar
ing and patriotic consecration and the
blue of loyalty as enduring as the
heavens.
And with this In view he makes an
nual contracts for the thousands of
. WHY JUJfR 14 IS FLAG DAY.
Flag day was originated In
1889 by Professor George Bolch,
of New Tork, who Introduced Into
his free kindergarten the practice-
of holding special exercise
on this day in celebration of the
adoption of the f laf by ' Con
gress, June 14, 1777.
The flag that was adopted on
that day, which was the first
American flag, had been made
at the suggestion of George
Washington by Mrs. Elizabeth
Ross (Betsy Griscom) at No. 239
Arch" street, Philadelphia.
The celebration of Flag day
soon became popular and was
before long a part of the pro
gramme of many patriotic so
cieties. For many years it has
been universally observed by the
public schools of this country.
flgrl that ftnat Hotlv r. u a avaf.. 17aB,al
building throughout all the United
States and that flutter proudly over
every government-owned vessel that
sails, the rivers, lakes' and seas that
comprise three-fourths of the world's
surface. The specifications in those an
nual contracts are very rigid. For the
current year the flags are. being man
ufactured by William H. Horstmann,
of Philadelphia, and Arthur Copeland,
of Washington. During the last year
more than 3000 flags have been bought
by the Government, at an average price
of about $3.20, making a total expen
diture of something like $10,000.
While the Government buys flags In
all sizes from 20 by 38 to 1.31 by 2.49.
the size most in use is that with the 6.14
hoist. There were 1327 of these bought
last year, and it is estimated that more
thn 1500 are being purchased this
year. There were but 60 of the Union
Jack of the same size purchased last
year.
It should be explained here that
these figures refer only to the United
Statea flags. In addition to these the
Government buys many other kinds of
flags under the same contract such
as the flags of the various secreta
ries and commissions, the international
code flags, coast survey, signalling,
revenue cutter, quarantine, storm
warnftig flags, etc.
Of the man-of-war ensigns of various
nations, which are of standard size,
7V4 by 12 feet, which are displayed by
United States ships when entering a
foreign port and In extending proper
International courtesies, there were but
10 sets purchased last year.
The largest American flags used by
the Government are those with the 20
foot hoist, and but four of these were
bought last year. There is a Union
Jack of the same proportions and the
garrison flag, 20 by 38 feet.
The smallest United States flag
bought "by the Government is 1.39
boUt with a 2.49 fly. These, with
a Union Jack of 'the same size, are
Used on boat tenders and other simi
lar small crafU-
Some idea of the numbers of other
the: flag ix time; of war.
' The flag of the United States
, In the days of the Revolution
bad 13 stars. "
During the War of 1812 it had
' 15 stars.
In the Mexican War. 29 stars
gleamed in its blue field.
In the Civil War there were 35
stars.
The , Spanish-American War
saw 45 stars shining gloriously
and victoriously.
In these days of the greatest
war in history our National
flag bears 48 stars', proclaiming a
union of so many states.
flags bought by the Government can
be gained from the following figures-:
Revenue cutter ensigns, 150; rev
enue cutter pennants, 50; Weather
Bureau flags, 311; quarantine flags, 50.
The proportions of the Government
flags are all regulated from the hoist,
or depth from top to bottom. These
proportions, as prepared by the Navy
Department and established by Ex
ecutive order two years ago, are that
the fly, or length of the flag, shall
bs 1.9 of the hoist. The hoist, or
width, of the union, the blue back
ground for the stars, shall be 7-13 of
the hols 'of the entire flag. The fly,
or length, of the union shall be .76 of
the hoist and the width of each-stripe
in the flag shall be-1-13 of the hoist.
.As stated in' the introductory par
agraph. Uncle Sain Is very exacting
about the quality ot- weave, coloring
and workmanship on the flags. To be
more specific, he requires that the
bunting fabric shall be entirely ' of
wool of the best quality, of all colors
required la the international code and
f 'ft
in foreign flags, well woven and fin-
ished and made in the best workman-
like manner. The yarns are to be
well and evenly spun; the count of fill-
lngr and warp must contain not less
than 36 threads to the inch, the warp
to be two-ply atfd the filling one-
ply yarns, properly twisted. The ten-
sile strength is given vigorous test and
must show warp 33 pounds and filling
23 pounds In pieces one inch wide.
The cotton cloth, dark blue and
turkey red, must show fast colors, to
weigh three and one-half ounces to
the square yard, to have a tensile
streigth in the warp of 44
and in the filling 32 pounds,
have 82 threads to the inch
pounds
and to
in the
warp and 72 in the filling.
The canvas for the bands must te
of American cotton, woven in a work
manlike manner, entirely free from
sizing, to weigh not less than seven
and one-half ounces -or more than
eight ounces a lineal yard 29 Inches
wide. The tensile strength in test
pieces one inch wide, of the warp is
to be 105 pounds and of the filling
93.2 pounds. It is to contain not less
than 88 single-ply threads to the warp
end 23 two-ply threads to the filling.
And in the instructions for making,
as well ae in specifications for ma
terial, the Government is very particu
lar. The bands of flags larger than
five feet hoist must be of standard
canvas, four inches wide, doubled to
the flag, making it two inches wide
when finished, and to have run through
their length a rope of nine-thread
mantla with a one and one-half-inch
eye at each end, properly spliced and
secured to the ends of the band by
waxed cotton twine doubled. The band
is to be finished with three rows of
stitching. . f
The bunting at the hoist of the flag
must be turned in one inch' in two
thicknesses and . secured between the
folds of the band by two rows of stitch
ing. The union and stripes are to be
joined with triple-stitched seams three
quarters inch wide. The end of the
flag Is to be turned in two thick
nesses, three-quarters inch wide, with
three rows of stitching.
The upper and lower sides of the
revenue ensign and pennant, and other
flags of all sizes whose stripes are
vertical or where a raw edge Is left,
are turned In two thicknesses one-half
inch wide, and finished with three
nf .tifhirxr
. Flags of all sizes must have at each
..
bunting the width of the stripe in
vhe nag. .
International code flags must have
In place of the eyes galvanized iron
snap hoorfs spliced to- the ends of the
roping.
Flags of five feet hoist and smaller
must have bands of standard canvas
two inches wide when finished and to
be lined with a. etout piece of jute
webbing one and one-half inches wide,
with three rows of stitching, the ends
of the bands to be furnished with
rpecsSyT
same as the large flags, as detailed
above.
The eeams In the flags larger than
4- '
(3-
? I " i
five feet hoist must be not less than
pne-fourth inch wide and in smaller
flags hot less than three-sixteenths
jncn w,de. In joining the etrlpes tho
selvages are sewed together and the
raw edges are sewed together and
finished with double scams. There
mult be at iea8t twelve stitches to the
lncn Th6 canvas bands are to b
BeWed ten stltchea to the Inch with
No- 20 sea ialand cotton thread. The
bunting is to be sewed twelve stitches
to the inch with No. 50, six-cord, un-
bleached sewing cotton. The white
stars are to be sewed with No. 50
thread. All ot this sewing must bo
done In lockstitch. In sewing on stars
on the smaller flags and sewing on
emblems the zig-zag stitch is allowed.
The National tlag.must have 13 hori
zontal stripes of equal breadth, alter--
AGE OF AMERICAN FLAG,
Whether we date from the first
common flag of the 13 orig
inal colonies, first unfurled over
Washington's headquarters at
- Cambridge, Mass., January 2,
1776, or the Stars and Stripes
adopted by an act of Congress
June 4, 1777, the flag of the
United States can justly claim
to be the oldest among the en
signs of the nations of the world.
It antedates England's royal
standard, established in 1801;
the -flag of Spain, adopted in
1785; the French tricolor, de
creed In 1794; the existing flag of
Portugal, selected In 1830; the
fv flag of the Empire of Germany,
which represents the 'sovereignty
of 14 distinct flags and states,
established in 1870; the Italian
tricolor, dating from 1848; the
Swedish-Norwegian ensign, the
recent flags of the old empires of
China and Japan and the colors
of all South American states,
which have been modified gen
erally from our "Star Spangled
Banner."
nately red and white, beginning with
the r&a- In the upper quarter, next to
tno hoist, is the union, composed of 43
stars, equal to the number of states in
the Union, on a blue field extending as
far down as the lower edet of tha
fourth r strlP fr th P-
A special Nationai flag, known as a
DO" the union of which consists
or 13 white stars on a blue field. Is
made In all sizes of less than five feet
hoist.
The National pennant has the union
composed of 13 white stars in a horl-
zontal line on a blue field one-fourth
the length of the pennant, the remaln-
ing three-fourth of the length being
made up of a red and white stripe ot
equal breadth at any part of the taper.
-Ith the uppermost.
The revenue ensign has 16 perpen-
dicular stripes of equal width, alter-
nate red and white, beginning: with the
THE BIRTH
OF THE, FLAG
1X71
1795
s- i .-, t-i- w? v ."'T-iwj
THE- FLAG OT TO-TJAT
red. In the upper quarter, next to the
head, is tho union, composed of the
arms of the United States in dark blue
on a' white field, eight-sixteenths the
entire length of the flag and extending
down the hoist half way. The depth
or hoist of this flag is ten-sixteenths
of Its length. In the escutcheon on the
breast of the eagle are 13 perpendicu-
lar stripes of white and red, beginning
with the white. ,
The revenue cutter ensign is the
same in design as the revenue ensign,
with the addition of the distinctive em.
blem of the service, in blue and white,
which is placed on a line with the
lower edge of the union, and over the
center of the seventh vertical stripe
from the mast of the flag, the em,bl4m
to cover a horizontal space of three
stripes. The stripes In the shield In the
union are seven white and six red, and
in the emblem of the service seven blue
and six white. The emblem of the
service is stamped in fast colors on
standard cotton cloth and sewed on the
flag.
The revenue pennant has the union
W composed of
horizontal line on
13 blue' stars in a
horizontal line on a white field, one-
fourth the length of the pennant. The
remainn three-fourths consists of 16
" " JL,t Z'ZW,
alternate red and white, beginning:-
with the red, and a tailpiece of red.
about one-fifth the entire length of
the pennant, ending in a fork shape.
The flag of the Secretary of the
Treasury, which department has charge
of the purchase of all the flags, con
sists of the seal of th Trennurv T.
partraent. on crossed anchors of white
drew bv 13 whit tr n . hT-
neld
The star pennant triangular in
shape. The length of the fly from the
center of the hoist to the pennant end
is 14 feet, the hoist five feet. It con-
4 --feJ
7i
?' ... . . -"v.
COPYRIGHT BY THE
tains three perpendicular stripes. The
stripe next to the hoist Is blue, four
feet in width, with a white star 21
inches In diameter in the center. The
middle stripe is white, four feet in
width. The end. stripe Is red, six feet
in width.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey pen-
nant has a union or 13 red equilateral
triangles, base down, on a white field,
Submarine Danger Is Lessened
I
T WILXj make submarines valueless
against battleships in warfare, and
will render still greater service in
time of peace by insuring ships against
collisions at sea, either with one an
other or with icebergs. That is the
claim put forward for an Invention
known as the Feesenden electric oscil
lator, which takes Its name from Pro
fessor R. A. Fessenden, whose idea,
after various severe tests, is being
adopted by European powers.
Briefly, the Fessenden oscillator is a and could actually direct their move
submarine sounding apparatus, fixed to ments against enemies' vessels,
vessels that send and receive signals Already several American battleships
through water, not through the air.
These signals travel more swiftly than
they would through the air, since sound
moves through the water at a rate of
4400 feet per second, while through the
air It moves at the rate of only 1100
feet a second.
For some time past submarine bells
have been used with excellent results
on lightships and buoys, and to some
extent on moving vessels, their warn-
ings being transmitted for miles
thrpugh the water, and it was while
trying to extend the usefulness of these
submarine bells that Professor Fes-
senden evolved his present electric
oscillator and solved the problem of
protecting vessels from collision at sea.
, His system of submarine signaling is
WORLD'S LARGEST FLAG,
The largest flag in the world
is 70 feet long and 36 feet eight
inches wide. It hangs in the
court in the center of the Post
office -Department building, in
Washington, where it has a very
appropriate setting on account
of the relatively . proportioned
height of the building. It is
prettily framed against the gran
ite gray masonry.
The flag was paid for by popu
lar subscriptions from employes
in the building, and, besides be
ing a daily patriotic inspiration
to the hundreds who work in the
Postoffice Building, where it can
be seen from the various floors
that surround the courtyard,
balcony-like, . it is one of the
sights for visitors, and the hun
dreds of tourists who see it daily
are amazed at its gigantic pro
portions. . -
Each star in this flag is more
than a foot in diameter. It re
quired 400 yards of bunting.
5-
1
7 i
KKAPt CO. INC. -
one-fourth- the length of the pennant,
the remaining three-fourth being blue.
The Fish Commission flag consists of
a white fish on a red diamond, cen
trally placed on a blue field.
The emblem of the United States
Public Health Service in blue on a yel
low ground Is required in the quaran
tine flags. The emblem stands In the
center of the flag at an angle of 45
degrees.
really a kind of water wireless. A ves
sel fitted with a couple of these oscil
lators, r ears, is able to hear for a
distance of several miles any disturb
ing influence in the water. Further
more, by means of these instruments
it is able to send messages through the
water itself,, just as messages by wire
less are dispatched and received. That
is to say, a battleship equipped with
such Instruments could talk to Its own
submarines miles away and submerged.
have been fitted with these oscillators,
and the tests to which they have been
subjected have proved that they are in
every way to be relied upon. The oscll-
lator makes It possible for a ship's
officer to hear the propeller movements
of an enemy's-submarine. These pro-
peller sounds can be distinguished at a
distance of two miles, while with a
sound-amplifying device the distance
may be extended to five miles or more,
Had the Titanic been fitted with such
an apparatus as the Fessenden oscil-
lator it might have received a definite
signal of the presence of an Iceberg,
for the mechanism of the apparatus, waste is a matter of indifference to
which is placed in the hol-d of the ship us? Consider the fact that we have
one oscillator on each side is so millions of homes in which little child
delicate that it is possible to detect an rem are growing up, unfed, improperly
Iceberg within a radius of a couple of clad, to become, a prey to disease and
miles. often, consequently, to vice and crime.
There is no doubt, according to naval Consider the fact that there is scarce
experts, that the Fessenden oscillator y a great work of public utility in
will revolutionize naval strategy, for the whole country that Is not handi
it is obvious that a battleship which capped or thwarted for want of funds,
can control the movements of sub- And yet we permit two billions and a
merged submarines has an enormous half of economic resources to run to
advantage over the ships of the enemy, waste, even congratulating ourselves
A single cruiser, accompanied by half on the fact that we have them to draw
a dozen deadly craft steaming far be- upon in case of war.
low the surface and able to maneuver i
at the dictation of the mother ship,
which can see what is going on, mighfc
easily wipe out a. whole squadron ot
dreadnoughts unprotected against this
new danger. London Tid Bits.
Little Known of Russia.
"It is remarkable how little Amer
icans know about Russia," observed
D. L. Hough, an American who has
spent the last four years In that coun
try. "It is the least visited of the
European countries, although the num-
ber of tourists hag been considerably
increasing in' recent years. In - fact.
more than 200 self-called 'refugees' as-
sembled in the first .days of the war
in Petrograd in order to be near and
secure tbe protection of the embassy,
"Russia lacks a great middle class,
such as Is the strength of all civilized
countries, but Its upper class is per
haps better instructed, and in its social
relations and in its customs is quite as
exquisite, if not more so, than that
of any other country; its court is the
most stately in the world.
"The great lower class might be com
pared to what the English call the
masses. It is more rugged, healthier
and far less vicious than that of any
other country. In the larger cities a
healthy middle class Is fast develop
ing. "The lack of education among tho
masses may be in part responsible for
the scarcity of material out of which
skilled labor may be trained. In these,
daya of automatic machinery, this is
less of an obstacle in the development
of manufactures, while for all physical
labor of the common type the Russian
is equal to and perhaps better than
men of any other race.
"There Is little produced in Russia
that this country needs, but there is
much produced in America that Russia
needs. We want to sell to Russia, and
success in trading with the Russians
will depend upon whether our manu
facturers put on the counters of Rus
sia the things that the Russians want.
It was in accommodating Itself to its
customers' ways of doing business, as
well as to its customers' wants, that
Germany was conquering tho world
commercially. If we are to make any
Impression on Russian commerce, we
must accommodate ourselves to the
Russians' way of doing business."
Washington (D. C.) Post.
Searching of Pockets.
What a strange, dubious, lost sen
sation pervades one's system as ha
fumbles through his pockets, one afte
another, and then over again in fruit
less search of some misplaced object!
It is a sensation that happily Is con
fined to the sex masculine with itss
multiplicity of pockets. Woman, who
can have but one pocket and that
only findabla by herself is immune
from this harrowing search. A great
number of feeble jokes have been man
ufactured in the less lucid moments ot
professional humorists about incursions)
made upon our pockets by our wives.
But thesei ncursions are made when
we are not In our clothes. It must be
different when one is in tHem and tha
search is made, not by a loving and de
voted wife, but by an unsympathetio
policeman.
The other day the writer saw such a
search, such an official search, in broad
daylight, on the sidewalk on the east
side of Illinois street a few steps south
of Washington street. There were but
two characters in the drama, the police
man and the searched one, a colored
youth about 20 years old.
The young man of color, limp as a
long feather bolster, stood with arms
curved like' parentheses, himself be
tween, meek and silent as the search
went on. From one pocket after an
other various objects were withdrawn
by the exploring official fingers. Here
was a necktie with a brass ring from
which in all its glory glowed a glass
ruby. From another pocket came al
most a handful of nickels, among which
nestled two dice. "Craps?" said the po
liecman. "Nope," was the answer,
"been workin" in a shine parlor." "How
long have you been here?" "'Bout five
days." "Where did you come from?"
Memphis." "I've seen you around here
much longer than that.1
No answer
from the subject. The policeman ex
plored another pocket. There was a bit
of pasteboard between his thumb and
forefinger. He smiled a hard, grim
smile. He had evidently struck pay
dirt- "Ah," he said, "thi3 is a pawn
ticket. How did you come by it? Where
did you get it?" No answer. "Well. I
don't think I'll leave you out in the
open any longer.
Come along" and he
put the nippers on him Indianapolis
News.
Peace on a War Basis. ,
New Republic
Two billions and a half represent our
. reserve economic forpes, unutilized,
wasting year by year. If we were at
war we should find a way to put a
great part of these resources to use.
Why can we not find a way of doing
this in time of peace? Are we so well
supplied with all the necessities and
comforts of life that this colossal
Where Great Armaments Fall.
World's Work.
The present war proves that great
armaments are likely to beget enemies
even faster than they develop strength.
This is what has happened to Germany.
No people could be better organized for
war. Germany had the greatest army
in the world. It was bigger than the
French army, more powerful than the
Russian army, superior to any other
army. The rulers of Germany knew
this and they seemed to believe also
that their rights were as wide as their
army was efficient. When France real-
ized it, it began reorganizing Its army,
When England realized it, it prepared
its fleet to meet the situation. Nothing
that Germany could do could enable her
to keep her forces or those of Austria
and Turkey increasing as fast as the
combined forces of her neighbors.