Evening Star Newspaper, June 9, 1929, Page 93

THE -SUNDAY - SPAR, WASHINGTON, D. (j., JUNE 9, 1929 —PART 7. — — | clal significance; first, that the jacks from which it was composed were not emblems per- sonal to any feudal lord or sovereign; and, sec- ond, that this union of flags came into being solely through the’ consent of the Parliaments of the several kingdoms represented. Its amal- gamation, thercfore, stands for constitution and law. The union of jacks of the constituent parts of the British Isles may therefore be taken as the first emblem of democracy, representing the will of the people, the insignia of con- stituted liberty. fI‘HE British general marine flag or ensign today is red with the union in the upper left-hand corner, next the staff. ‘The part of a flag adjacent to the staff is called the “hoist,” then comes the “center,” and the outer or end portion is called the “fly.” Flags are divided by two imaginary cross lines into four equal parts called “‘cantons,” one of the lines dividing the flag laterally, the other perpendicularly. The jack i situated in the upper hoist canton. The British have also white and blue ensigns. These are designated for naval use only, the white representing the regular English naval establishment; the blue being flown by ships of the royal naval reserve. The British ensigns are purely maritime flags. The shore flag for private use is the jack, alone. Dating back to 10 years or more before the party of make-believe Indians (the leaders of whom were in reality members of St. Andrews Masonic Lodge of Boston) brewed the world's biggest pot of tea by dumping into Boston Har- bor the cargo of the herb from a British mer- chantman, or the shot was fired at Concord that was heard around the world, the American Colonists began to hold public, patriotic as- semblages, in indignant protest against the growing oppressions of the mother country. At such times, so-called liberty poles were raised on village greens as rallying points. Following the inborn instinct of man, flags of many de- vices symbolic of sentiments of patriotism were boisted upon these poles, and in every com- ‘munity throughout the Colonies, associations calling themselves Sons of Liberty sprang into being. It was these aggregations of indomi- table, liberty-loving yeomen that formed the nuclei from which the Revolutionary forces were Fpecruited. « The various emblems that flew from the tops ©of the liberty poles were finally carried into the Jbattles of the war and served as mighty inspira= tions to spur on the patriots to deeds of valor on many a bloody field, Ome of these flags showed a green pine tree on a white field under the legend, “An Appeal to Heaven.” ‘This was ‘the emblem of Massachusetts. Another, the en- sign of Capt. John Manley, in command of the New England armed privateer schooner, Lee, bore on a white field a blue anchor centrally located, with the word “Hope” inscribed above and having a blue union with 13 white stars. ‘This is remarkable as being the first flag of the Revolution to bear a design of stars, and it is noteworthy that they were of the significant number, 13. This was also the first flag hoisted on an American vessel of war, and (0 it was struck the first British flag on the sea, Novembe; 29, 1775, when Capt. Manley captured the Brii- ish ship Nancy, off Baston, and gained thereby 4,000 stand of badly needed arms, a quantity of military stores and supplies and some brass eannon which aided materially later on in mak- ing Boston too hot for Gen. Gage and what Gen. Putnam called his “Lobsters,” in reference to the red coats of the British uniform. AMONG other designs on Colonial banners were a blue ensign having a white union bearing a St. George's cross and a small pine tree; also a red British ensign with the words “Liberty and Union” across the red field. The pine tree, typical of ruggedness and steadfast- ness, was a favorite symbol in the design of Co- lonial flags, combined with mottoes expressive of varying patriotic sentiments, and the image of the rattlesnake was frequently used, to- gether with the words, “Don’t tread on me.” Sometimes the snake was depicted severed In 13 parts with the motto, “Unite or Die.” The flag that waved above the riddled palm- etto logs of Fort Sullivan's ramparts on that victorious day of June 28, 1776, when the forces of Col. Moultrie crushed the attacking British fleet in Charleston Harbor and put a shot through good old Admiral Sir Peter Parker's white breeches, was a blue flag bearing a white crescent in the upper hoist canton and the motto “Liberty.” A flag, said to be the oldest in the English Colonies, was one of plum color, bearing the device of a mailed arm and fist in silver issu- ing from a silver cloud, probably of smoke, at the side and brandishing a sword. Three balls appear in the field, thought to represent cannon shot, and on a yellow or gold ribbon there is a legend in Latin, “Vince Aut Morire,” meaning “Conquer or Die.” This flag was said to have been used at the battles of Lexington and Con- cord, brought to the fray by the Minutemen of Bedford, and it is a perfectly safe bet that it was well remembered by those present who had the King’s side of the argument that was the business of the day—at least, such of them as may have lingered long enough to get a good Jook at it, and had the good fortune to get back to Boston alive. (I‘HE first official American ensign, called the L Grand Union flag, was but a slight varfa- tion of the British union ensign that obtained for 94 years, from 1707 to 1801. The union of that flag represented the combination of the red cross of St. George on its white field and the white cross of St. Andrew on its blue field. In adapting the British red ensign for their use, the Americans simply broke up the red part of it into 13 alternate red and white trans- verse stripes. of the Thirteen Colonies in & common cause, but the whole design of the flag was intended to convey the thought that the Revolutionists were not at that time striving for independence, but ‘only for a redress of wrongs. Such a radical .change of attitude toward the mother country 28 independence was not conceived at that time, It had to be developed by degrees through fur- ther acts of repression on the part of England. Indeed, many of the Colonists, among them Washington himself, hoped at that period of the struggle that England would perceive the justice of the cause of her Colonial subjects These stripes signified the union’ S The Capt. John Manley flag design. It was the first flag of the Revolution, and it was the first to bear a design of stars. and would finally afford them the relief they prayed. Stripes in flags have not been uncommon, s0 there was nothing really novel in them at the time of the Revolution, excepting their applica- tion. Stripes were employed in European flags as far back as 200 years before the Colonists revolted. The Grand Union flag was the result of the deliberations of a committee of three—the ven- erable Benjamin Franklin, a Mr. Lynch and & Mr. Harrison, and it was first hoisted over Washington's command at Cambridge, Mass., January 2, 1776. When, in six short months thereafter, the American patriots, becoming convinced of the futility of struggling for rg- dress, decided to burn their bridges behind them and once and for all throw off the British yoke, and on July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Inde- pendence was proclaimed to the world as s new charter of human liberty, the Grand Union flag at once became obsolete and passed into history. It was June 14, 1777, about & year later, superseded by the Stars and Stripes, representing a new order of things, a new na- tional ambition, a rainbow of hope for human betterment set in the political firmament. In the interim, the infant nation got along with- out a general emblem. THE first time the Stars and Stripes was flaunted in the face of the foe was at Fort Stanwix, N. Y., August 2, 1777, when the gar- rison, under command of staunch Col. Ganse- voort, was invested by the British. There was no flag in the garrison, but white shirts, odd bits of red goods and Capt. Abrahams Swart- wout's fine blue cloak were given over to the shears in patriotic sacrifice, and, behold, there soon floated on high a flag which was without price, under whose inspiration the enemy was finally beaten off in defeat. It is not recorded how many of the garrison took cold that night. Probably none, since it was Summertime. However, good Capt. Swart- wout was finally reimbursed for his cloak by the Continental Congress.” The starry banner was carried in the Battle of Brandywine, Sep- tember 11, 1777, eight days after it was pro- mulgated at Philadelphia, in the fray where the gallant Lafayette received his baptism of fire 0 nAmerica nsoil, got a shot through the leg, and conclusively proved his capacity for command and his heroic qualities to the whole army. The flag was the inspiration of the Americans at Princeton, October 4, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne at Saratoga, Octo- ber 17. As Rear Admiral George Henry Preble, U, 8. N, says in his outstanding authoritative work on the flag: “It will probably never be known who designed our union of stars, the records of Congress being silent upon the sub- jeet, and there being no mention or suggestion of it in any of the voluminous correspondence or diaries of the time, public or private, which have been published.” The story that Betsy Ross of Philadelphia had anything to do with it or with its initial construction is declared to be a legend, founded only on the unsubstantiated statements of her relatives. Her claim to distinction as co-de- signer of the flag with Washington, and maker of the first flag, was first given public utter- ance by one of her descendants, William J. Canby, in 1870, the claim being based solely on family tradition, unsupported by historical evi- dence. At the time when it was claimed that Betsy Ross designed and made the flag in June, 1776 (before the Declaration of Independence came into existence), and for a year afterward, the country had no national flag of any description, as Revolutionary correspondence clearly shows. Furthermore, Washington evidently knew nothing about the matter. There is no refer- ence to Mrs. Ross as a designer of flags, or to when or by whom the first flag was made, in any of his voluminous private or public papers, and he was not the sort of man to overlook or neglect to make some note of such a mo- mentous circumstance as the creation of a na- tional emblem., When he caused the Declara- tion of Independence to be read to his troops, July 10, 1776, there was no Stars and Stripes in evidence, for the very good reason that no such flag was then in existence. Frederick C. Hicks, who was a Representative in Congress from New York, referred to the merely legendary character of the Betsy Ross story in his speech in the House of Representa- tives on June 14, 1917. INACCURACLES in connection with historic Jincidents seem inevitable. They are by no means uncommon and have, from time to time, found their way into text and illustration throughout the land. For instance, in Leutze's famous picture of Washington crossing the Delaware, the general is represented in a heroic posture standing in a large scow in company with a number of patriots, some of whom are struggling to fend from the boat huge cakes of ice as the craft is propelled across the wintry stream. There is held aloft a flag showing the Stars and Stripes. But this flag did not exist until six months after the Battle of Trenton had been fought and won. The flags carried on that occasion were State flags, and it is said that Washington crossed the Delaware that momentous Christmastide seated muffied in his cloak in the stern of 8 small skiff, while a Mr. Caldwell plied the oars and Gen. Knox, the remaining occupant of the boat, shivered in the bow. ¢ In the interim between the abandonment of the Grand Union flag and the adoption of the Stars and Stripes, when there was no national flag, United States vessels hoisted aloft varia- tions of older flags. The favorite was a design of 13 red and white stripes upon which reposed the effigy of a rattlesnake, and below it tha ominous warning, “Don’t tread on me!” as has been stated. It is thought the rattlesnake was chosen as symbolic of the character and spirit of the new nation. For instance, the creature's eyes are exceedingly bright and have no lids, thus suggesting. unsleeping vigilance. The reptile is never knowwr to start a fight and will avoid it it possible; but when once set upon it never sur- renders, It makes no vaunting display of weapons. These, while seemingly insignificant, are in fact deadly. The rattlesnake has never been known to strike without warning. The snake of the flag design had 13 rattles, repre- senting the 13 original States of the Union; each rattle of itself is silent, yet when agitated fn unison they produce a sound of warning sufficlently terrifying to daunt the boldest heart. IN 1794 Congress added a star and a stripe to the flag in honor of the two States next admitted to the Union after its formation. ‘These States were Kentucky and Vermont. This brought the number of stars and stripes, re- spectively, up to 15, and so the national ensign continued for 24 years, or until April 4, 1818, when by legislative enactment the stripes of the filag were again fixed at 13 to represent the original States, and it was provided that a white star should be set in the blue union for every State then existing, and an extra one should be added as each succeeding State should take its place in the great association of commonwealths. So the ensign has continued until, today, 48 stars are assembled in the national emblem But it was beneath the flag of 15 stars and 15 stripes—“Old Glory,” as it was called—that the naval war with France was fought, as well as the War of 1812. And it was the vision of that flag, tattered, but still floating in defiance above the ramparts of stout Fort McHenry, at day- break on Secptember 14, 1814, that stirred the fervor of inspiration in the breast of Francis Scott Key, impelling him to compose the im- mortal poem, “The Star Spangled Banner,” as he anxiously paced the deck, a prisoner on board a ship of the British Admiral Cockburn's fleet, in Baltimore Harbor. That poem and the stirring martial music to which it has been set, like the shot at Concord, have reverberated around the world, proclaiming to all the people the spirit of this great Republic that triumphs over disaster and death and animates its sons to march bravely, steadfastly on to ever-fa= creasing accomplishments in the cause of civilie zation, ]T was John Paul Jones, as a young lieutenant, who was the first commissioned officer to raise an American flag over a commissioned American vessel of war, the Alfred, in the latter part of December, 1775, or around the first days in January, 1776. This was either the Grand Union flag or the stripes and rattle- snake design. History is silent as to which. Capt. John Barry was the first to take the Grand Union flag to sea on his brig, the Lex- ington, and Capt. John Wickes was the first to exhibit an American flag in foreign parts, on his brig, Reprisal, at St. Eustatia on July 27, 1776. His flag had 13 stripes and & union of yellow or white, possibly with a rattle snake in it. It was probably the flag of the brig Andrea Doria, Capt. Robinson, of a des sign not certainly known, but described as the “Congress Colors,” that was the first American emblem to receive a salute from a foreign power, November 16, 1776, at St. Eustatia, from the Dutch fort there located. > The Duich commandant was subsequently dismissed for paying this tribute of recognition to the new nation. The Dutch government was not looking at that time for any fracas with Great Britain, The second salute of record to an American flag was paid by the French to the flag of the General Miffin, Capt. McNeil. This was in August, 1777, and the ensign was undoubtedly the flag of stripes, since the ship had sailed from the United States before the resolution adopting the Stars and Stripes was passed, and the captain must have been ignorant of it. The first American fleet to put to sea was fitted out at Philadelphia and consisted of five sail under command of Commodore Hopkins, flying the Grand Union flag, in the Spring of 1776. One the 17th of April, 1776, the first engagement took place between & regularly commissioned American vessel of war and a British craft, when the Lexington, Capt. Barry; captured the English brig Edward. It is a singular and a very noteworthy coinci= dence that the first shot of the Revolution was fired on land at Lexington, and the first broad- side of an engagement upon the sea was fired from & vessel of that same name just one year later. What vessel first flew the Stars and Stripes is not recorded, although John Paul Jones claimed the honor of having first raised the starry emblem to the masthead of a ware ship. His claim is considered without founda= tion in fact. However, the first salute to the Stars and Stripes in foreign ports was given in the harbor of Quiberon, by the French, whem their guns roared out in honor of the flag borne aloft on the U. S. S. Ranger February 13, 1778, and the Ranger was under the command of John Paul Jones. Old Friends as Offl'l‘l'd/.\‘.' 'l‘HE appointment of Joseph Henry Scattere good as assistant commissioner of Indian affairs has brought about a situation almost unique in the relations betewen the new ase sistant and the Indian commissioner, Charles J. Rhoads. The two officials, both of whom are from Philadelphia and both of whom are Quakers, became fast friends when they were students in Haverford College. Mr. Scattergood later bee came treasurer of that institution and Mr, Rhoads was a member of the board of mane agers. Each at one time headed the Friends® reconstruction unit in France. Both have been prominently identified witt§ various humanitarian undertakings, and have held official posis closely allied. In private life, each has been interested in manufacturing, banking and insurance undere takings in Philadelphia. ‘Their case i8 probably the first in years where two men so closely allied in private litfe have become so closely connected in official Mg in this comi-v s