The Story Of Old Glory

A paper read by Comrade Hi A. S'weet, ome of the membera of Wn'.ch Post Xo. 137, G. A. R. at tluoir hall on tovitation oí the Sons of Veterans, Ín memory of Linco'.n's birth, on Tuesday e veniaig, the 12 th i-nst. He said Ín introducing his subject, that "the hfetoTy of the ñiag ia aa oíd story, Imt ever new nniid interesting to a:i ■wituo lave the oíd b.iittner." A day on Irwo since I receii'ed an taTÍtartlcm from .Toe T. Jacobs' Camp Seras of Veterane, to prepare sometihtag tlint M-oul'd prove eat-ertaining V'O the Sons on theevenin? of the 12t!i in G. A. R. Hall, being tae anniversary of Ijncoín's birtih. At iirst I waa in a quandary what I couM say that -mouM prove oí interest. I fSnally settled upcvii a brief history of cmr flag, lts origin and why June 14 of eacli year Iras been singled out for speoil.il distinctlom, and wby its stars diïfer from those of Eng'Jand'3 ilag, and also to recUte for your informatiion tbat the ftag whicJi we all so liove amd honor te the oldest banner omong nations ; and a few brief words concerning the Bailch liistory of tJie ïlag salute in a large majority of the public schools of the TJnited Stia'tes. I may be altowed in pass mg to state that I have been engaged in picking up this history for sevena] years- a little herré and a llttle there in my perusal of books, magaai'iies and papers ; have put tliis anc tluat together, and. if I ca-n interest yoii a brief period, I shall be vrell paid tor the wftort. To begin tben : In December 1775, on recommenda ttan of a commictee of congress, an emblem knon-n as the "Grand Union' flag, was adopted. Tbis consisted of a field oí 18 red and white s tripes, like the present natianal [lag, but its unáon ot corner, was tihe same as thai o: the Britteh U:ig, alle3ianee to Grta Britam not having yet been renounced. In June, 1776, Washington anc a eommittee of congress substitutei for the Britten ïuuion, a unión con slstiiig of live poimted stars. The Eng-jish star is six poin'ted, a remind er of the rowe-1 spurs of heraldry How many of you can teil me why our flag canta ins five pointed stars' The why amid the wherePore of this happening. I will teil you why and wiho it was that made the sugges tion. Il was a loyal woman, and hier name was Beteey Ro3s, Washing ton's shirt maker, who was also th first ñau maker. At "Washington' suggestion to lner to sew on the üa.'o she was making, a Briitish star, she refused to do so, aiul lDapatiearifl; picikng up a pair of scissors, snipped a five poimted star out oí a piec of paper, just to sliow him how muth prettier it woukl be. Without an (Oontinued on Sth Pa THE STORY OF OLO GLORY. (Continued trom Ist page.) other word 'Washington ádopted the five pointe nul Betsey was happy- we timt sho wae, because mos1 Tomón aro in a very amiali'.i.' irame of ruhiid when they gain a polnt. Ou June 14, 1777, cougi-ess foormBily os-, ■taMsüetl a Held of 13 stripes and a unión of 13 white stare on a Kue grouuid. The last nained dato we celébrate as Üag day. Tliis new flag -n-as used ïor tlie iiret time at the battde of Brandywiiiie, Sept. 11, 1777. Oongress ordered two more stars and Íwo more strLpes to be added to the Hag oa .Tanuary 13, 1794, to typiiy th states of Vermomt aud Kentucky, which had been admitted iu ie meauwliJli. Altliough severa! more states weare admitted after thls, no cbange %va made in the flag until tlie act of April 4, 1818, changed ti aumber of stripes to 13, which number was to remaiii fixed, whi.e Thè muniber of stars was thereafter to equal the jmniaer of status. ■" number oí stam to-diay is 45. The 45tto star was added the 4tli day of liast July ïor the nwly adinitted gtate of Utah. When you relate sbories of Old GiOTy. are you well euougli acquamted with it history, and with the liistory of the flags of other countries to teai the little ones tliat the stal spangteci banner ís the oldest üag in th world of natiious ? OW England, v.he nuatber country, Has a ïlag that was changed to its present form in 1801. Tlws French tri-ooior was adopted ia 1794. The Itali&n and Germán fla&s are ao older than the existimg regimes of those aountries, whtte the Speunish flag was estaWdshed in 1785. Even the Chinese ütejg, ie emblem of a natáon that olaians the oldest cdviaization on earth, is half a ury younger than that of the oldf lag. How nüany oí you are familiar with the fact that f ar 90 years, the Amerir eau flag was made oí Englteli buntifag, impou-ted expressiy for t-he purpose ? That is the only thiing that rfited Beteey- t '.hink tluat she must be compelled to sew her ïive voiiiited stare cm JJugTfeh bunting. Nbt tdM the 23d d,ay of February, 1866, dio a tree America u flag float oa the bi-eeze oL the North American continent. On that day that flag ■was a present froan Benjamin V. Butlier, te. vhe United States senate, and was made fnom buntdng manufactured froiu lus own bunrüig lactories, amd the lirst bunting ever produced In 'lue United otates. It was 21 íeet Fjy by leet nioisi, -"" furled over the Capítol of this naticm on ttot day-the ftret true flagthe füret lwme proiduct. Do my hearere all know that 64 different banners represented tbte young natton on land and sea, up to the time thut the Cuatinental Congress adopted a natilonal design ? Ooxuntïng the prestdent's flag, the whole mu-mber of Amertoan ílags, colonial tund all, num'ber 06. I may be mista ken, but I tWtak tliere are very few in ttois room, or even in Ann Arbor, or the county of AVashtenaw, wto can come amywhere near a deecription of the presidentes flag. I did not know tha.t there was such a fliag im existence until six yea-rs after Jt bad been designed, but I finally picked It up a-ad here is lts deseriptUm : lts grotind ie blue, and almost squiare. On it is the ocrat oi arms of the Undltod States. The coat o! emns is the spread eagle, wisui iurows to one talon and an olive branch In the other, 13 stars above and th6 "E Pluribus Unum" pennon caught In lts beak. lts chief use is found at sea, when that flag ïlying at the mast Uead desigraates the presence of the president of the United States. It was designed by Chester A. Arthur ■when he was president. A few weeks eince I came across the followdiig. It ia ironi the pen oí Isabel "Worrell Ball, ainid may iatereet you as it did me. Bhe says, in speaking of 'uhe flag : There is bo much for Americans to lea'rn about the flag ttMb it ia small wiander that the great multitude o$ our foreign population, whose native flag is to thm nly a symbol oí serfdom, should be heedless of the beauty oí ours, or thiat they should wiantonly descérate it. Men do not treat tenderly a tliing that they do mot venenate, and it is only those who kniow the Juli significance of the ■words 'privilege" aiid "responsibillty," as applLed to citizenship who are posfeessed oi the intelligent patriotism which compreheods the tit ttiat comes of love of country and idealices fchat country' CUg. How should oue love lifoerty, wlio does not understand the meani-ns of the word? How stonOl he become ,-nllmsi-isik' over the free schools, kiiüivs nothtag oï tlieii' purpose uw1, work ? Vhy Sh.ould.he be wills bo flle for the Hag. who knmvs nothtog oï lte histoiy or.slgniilcance ? These qucílíims presentoil tliemselvee bo the mima af Ooi. Oeorge T. BaJoh, ivto was a resiideut of ïiew York city, where the full effect of the mvp trio tic tapeign-born popuiatiiion was feit in the public demonstratiouis on holidays, and on days of public rejoicing, among ie foreign bom when they celebmted theii' national anniversaries, ana he eet lümaeli t o boIto the very difficult problem how t overeóme the un-Anierloaii custom. H!is firet TOrk wa.s ta ttoe free industi-dal schools and the fre kindergartens. In these schools are gathered thTOUgh the aid and influence of philamtiluitipists, the children of every race and oooar, oí school age, who Irom exta-eme poverty, irregular hours caused by working for a living, or beaause oí spcakJinjg only a foreign laiiguage, are lxrt adiniitted to the public schools. There are 20 or more of these iscliools in. New York City ; tiie hjot-bed of, the propogatiing liouse for this pataiotiü movemeiit, aud the alttendance is cl.cxse in the neiah-borttood of 15,000. In Ju, 1891, Col. Bal&li visited every oue of these schools, and by iliut of much talk aud persuasión got eiiougli Aiuericaaiisin Jiammered into them to get theua to properly salute tibe flag after a little formula arranged by hlm. ', Th salute Is simple in its requirenients, amd the tiuiest child eau leara it. There is a colorer-bearer, ordinarily the -'honor" pupil of tlie room, the one wlio lias boen tlie best boy oi tlie week in his etudies and deportment. Tlie oodor-beai'er takes his place upom the teaciier'8 eide, at a giveu signal, and the enildreu all rise. To music, it' poeeltoie, or witdiout, ii not to be liad, the ehildren, suiting fchue acttou to tlie -vord, eay in unisón : '-"We gi've heads and our Uarbs tv (xoú and our eoantry. One country ! One lauguage ! and one fjag !". As vh fi'rat sentence iá uttered, th-c eo'jor-bearer dips the ïlag io salut-e, and liolds i't thiis till the last word is -attorod, and theii restores it to posi'lion. The wwrk lias gone ou and on, gadnrng In effect and influeuce, till now thut siiupje lag salute is used la every state In the uniun and in the terri'toriies. IilJooia was the fi'rst to take up the Mea, after Xew York, and íroni a gathei'iing oí a few thousand in 1891, the 14th ol Jume iís bow a state holir day, anci in every cJty In thie state the schools have theilr patriotic exercises. la Ohieag-o the parks last year were inadequate to licftd the vast Orowda nat swarmed there, the man, woman or oháld withooit a flag or a bit oí red, whilte nud blue being marked for jeers and uuoompaiinentary comment. The report s thiat were Seat to to the nat tonal commltt-ee oí ttoe Woman's Belief Ooi-ps 6how that at the very least calcularon a million and a haH .of school cliiildreB. throughout the whoie Uraited Btates, to eay nothing of the adulto engaged, obeerved "Flag diay" last year with appropriate cereThe Itelch salute iB nt the only orne thiat is vused, though it is preferred atoove all others by the coinmtttee. ' Tinte revival of interest in. the uag anxl ia patrio tic instruction has beeu so generad tliat people have scarcely noticed it, amd yet it haa aiready beoome a tremeiwlous forcé. The work has been fathered by the Grand Army of the Reputóte, and motaered by its auxillary, he Womaa's Beliei Ooi-ps. Stiill, it reoognizes no sectional lines, It has ao creed save its motto, "One coattti-y, one language, one flag," and jolnis hands at aul times wlh those who advocate loyal red, wMte and blue priaiciples. Tlie i-esult Of its work in. the various states has been the raising above the sehiool housee of the ïlag durtog sohooa hours, loth north and south. In the District of Ooluinbia the Avorls nas progressed without hiadrance. The miovemeat lias been taken up wfth reuewed activity by the wmmittee on patriotiü teaching In the "ff. 11. C, and now the ilag iloats ii-om every onc of the 83 School houses in 'the District. There is no provisión no wever, for repliaciiiig the flagSYr&ea tlrey are worn out, so a bÜA was intnoduced In eoiigress by the eommitbeo asking ain appropriatlon ui $1,000 to purohiase fliags ior the sohiools. The item is in. the uundry divil bill, and it is more ttaain probable that tt will beoome a law. ïhe fiag salute is usod in nearly all the graded BcbooJjs, aul a renewed ii terest te evidenced in the study of American history, and of civil hisUtutions ;verywhei-e. And ïitnv if ie audieneo is still interested, (unless I have exhausted my tinte). I wHl relate another story, tuit ia a somewhat different vein. Ib was wrttteu by Mr. .1. S. Slater, one of the old veterans, relating io nis sccn, the SÏOKY OF THE KLAG. You see it vonder, boy, upon the wall- That tatter'cd, grimy piece of silk- that rag? l'ue stripes are goue. The stars are there ; yes Frora them youraayrroeive''wasorloeafla8 Ah, well do I remeraber that bright aay Iu spring time, when its folds first kissed the bieeze- The day when led by it we marched away While apple-blooras hung heavy on the trees. We most were yonng. Some, books had cast aside To glean for sterner knowledgofrom the page Of war's red volume Others, in their pride, Lefl shop and fleld to meet the foeman's rage We marelied away, our ranks a thousand To stirng music, whlle a tranquil sky looked Smiling down upon the countless throng Óf those w left behind to moan and siKh. We mareh away, onr banner floating free Upon the wiuds that carpeted our path With snowy blossoms- marched to do or die, Where late had flxed the dwelltng-place of wrath. Down to the flelds of destlny we went- Dowu where the southern breezes fauned the ñame Whichstrife had kindled, and where treason blent With brutal torce to brlng our flag to shame. Oh, 'twas a glorious (lag I lts colors brlght Seemed brighter far beneaih tbearchlng blue; While f rom lts azur fleld ils stars of wuite Looked out like eyes to see that we were true. "God and our country." So the legend ran, Emblazoued on itsfolds In threads of gold, Whose slender fibres linked us man to man, As once they ilid our si res in days of old. Ah, if that flag could speak ! Then lt would teil With tongue more eloqiient Ihan mine a tale Of bloody horrors, terrible as heil. At whlch your boyish cheek might well grow pale. 'Twould teil you of Mauassas' fated fleld, W lieie iirst il saw lts brave defenders die- Stricken to earth, and as life's tide congealed (jaze upward to its stars with glazing eye; Of Yorktown, Williamsburg.andSeyen Pines, Where death's darken angel rode war's fearful blast: And as he passed along our living Unes O'er scores of gallant bearts his shadow cast; 'Twould teil lts story of the Seven DaysOf fearful scènes on Malvern's flery crest- And of the twloe louglit field, where, 'mid the maze Of deatli's dread missiles, thousands sank to rest. I bore it then ; and never lld I fail, In all that time, to fllmg it 10 the blat. ï'hough leaden bnllets lell arouud like hail, And shot and shell raiued ou it lüiek and last; I bore it on, and saw the marks of fame Engraveu ou its folds by dealli's right hand; And saw, with grief, how war's dark,lurid flame Withered tüe choicest flow'rs that deckefl our land. ! bore It at Antietara, where we stood For liours and held the slubborn loe at bay, As tiercé Ihey press apon ns from the wood, l'ill succor came, and ihen we gained ihe day. At Fred'ricksburg I held it high aloft To cheer us on, till, stricken in the breast, [ sank into a dreamless slumber solt Justere we gained tlie hot-contested crest. When I awoke the flag was gone. Thegrouud Where on I lay was strewn with silent forms, Wrapped in a long repose- a sleep profound- That heeds not pain nor conflict's wildegt storing. But yet. the flag was saved. They bore It back Across the Rappahanuock's flowiug tlde, Trailing its folds along a ghagtly track, Made crimson by the blood oí those who died. The flag was saved. But I in prison-pen Languished for months.whilefev'rish visions came, Untll I thougli t I bore it onceagain Against the foe 'raid carnage,smoke,and flame. At Gettysburg I grasped its staff once more. And feit hls gentle swaylng to and fro Wliile zephyrK fanned it, as In days of yore, And then I gazed along the line beiow. 'Twas sadly shortened ; yet in firm array It stood, to meet the foe's on-coming shock, And dash them back upn that fateful day, As waves are dashed by adamanttne rock. You see the shattered wood below the spear? ïhat wound it got when Gordon's Georgians nougbt To drive usfroin the field. Withcheeron cheer We hurled thein back.their effort dearly bought. When Piekett with hls vet'rans gtruck as sore I went to nart li again; and as I feil clutched the (lag and klssed it o'er and o'er Amid Ihe flamiugs of that earthly heil. fliey took it from me moist with tears and blood- Áy eeal of fealty to its dear canse - And left me there to watch it stem the flood Whlch treasou poured from wide distended jaws. Amid the battle's din I saw It gleam, Like glorióos ann-burst, tbrough the murky cloud, To qulckly disappear, like passing dream, Enveloped in the conflict's smoky shroud ; Aud well remember, when the flght was won. Tliey carne and gently bore me from the field To where, beside a captured rebel guo, That ilag- my (lag- stood once again revealed. Three wouuds were mine tlat day. My gooü riíítit arm Lies burled somewhere on the fleld of strlfe. Yet I escapee!, as through som e subtle charm, XhouKli long the balance trerabled with my hfe. Scarce had my hurts all liealedere I returned To bear the grand old ensign; lor my heart With sueh devotiou to lts glories burned That I could brooknocrippled soldier'spart. They ofl'ered me discharge; I cast aside The temptiug parchuaeut,aud resolved tostay Whilejet I might, and guard my flag- my pride- Unlil thedarksome war-cloud rolled away. Yon wonder at it, boy? The anguished pain The niother feels lier offsprius makes more dear; And I had BUffered for the (lag. That stain Upbn its Held is blood. What, child, a tear? I see you take my meaniug- onderstand How feit your latlier on that duy gone by Wlieu unce agam lie took ihe tiag in liuud, Resolved to bear it to the end or die. ThrouRhout the Wilderuess- ucross the JamesAt Petersburg, and Appoiuauox, too, I carried it whlle grew tüe neroli of names Oi those who Ibught and lell as brave men do. Then came the end. I bore lt in review líelure a graielul nation's mynad eyes, In Washington oro yet i dotied the blue To peaoeíuuy enjoy the war's rich prlze. I heard the Bhouts i' multitudes ascend To hcav'n's high dome, and s;tv Lhe banners wav6 O'er hall a ínillion men who helped defend The rsatiou'a honor and that tionor aave. But yet my boj', my heai t waa Bad, Ladeedi As uft 1 Uiou.ütu ol ctmnadoh, lyiug IOW Beneath lhe uod, and uow BOUie beans would bleed, Though ve returned as viccors o'er the foe. Between ií as we niarohed were Bhad'wy lornis- Palé, güostly. all unseen by mortal eye; Our oomradesl who wenl down ueneatli tlie tílornis, Which oveicast for them life's cheerlul sky. We saw them- we who uaarclied- we felt them ,nea i : And in our hearls tlieir sileut footsteps fell. Pressing into uur eyes the ourning te&I That. íalling, stirred our souls uüe iuu'ral kuell. Wereachedour startmgpoint at last. The boom Of frieudiy cannon welcomed our return, And shouts ol joy resouuded ; yet a glooiu Huug Hke a sable pall o'er íuem'ry's uru. We had marched fortli a thousand strong. Our liag, A gorgeouk oanner, bright and pure complete Ín ali us parís. We brought :l Daok a rag. Bui, oh, how proud we bore it up the streef. We uumberedscarce an hundred men; and yet We lelt assured to meet a world in arms Witti cual oíd taltered reiunant oer us sat To lead us on atnlü the war's alarma. We brought lt back a remuant, as you see. But what a history ! Karii suken shred is hollowed iu cause of liberty. And sacreu to the mem'ries ol our dead. We liung it on the wal), and bade farewell To it and cacti. Our íighting days were o'er; Bul, boy, ihat flag, had it it longue, could teil How weü we guarded it in-days of yore. The Ann Arbor Courier.