Norwich Bulletin Newspaper, June 12, 1914, Page 10

TIHE STAR :S PANGLED BANNER, WHICH, TLOATT.D. QVER, JoRTTCHENRY \ 74 O 7 \a Flag That Floated Over Fort McHenry and Which Inspired Francis Scott Key to Write “The Star Span- gled Banner” Is Now Being Preserved at Smithsonian Institu- tion — Mrs. Amelia Fowler, a Boston ‘Woman, Intrusted With the Delicate Task — Interesting Sidelights on Her In- tricate Work. Special Correspor4ence IKE afiother Betsy Ross, a gray-halred woman sits today mending an old American flag in the Smithsonian In- stitution. It no longer looks like a proud ban- mer. Its “bright stars” are tattered: its “broad stripes” are faded and yel- lowed with age. Apparently, it is a worth- less ‘‘old rag’'—a bit of cheap, time- stained bunting. But yet the few folks who see it now, stretched out upon a table in the Smith- sonian ‘“chapel,” Instinctively lower their voices as they pass, and none would lay upon it a profaning hand. For the bit of old bunting is sacred. It 18 the flag which gave to the nation its Immortal poem—The Star Spangled Banner!” A hundred years have been swallowed into the maw of history since first tha bit of bunting whipped proudly in the ‘wind above old Fort McHenry—and “‘gave proof through the night” that the old fort still stood undefeated. But when the colors of this flag began to fade from its warp and woof they seemed to become an integral part of the nation's patriotism and love. Its blue— ever the symbol of fidelity—became the keynote of the character of Americans and American soldiery. Its red became symbolic of the sort of blood which not two months ago was shed freely and un- questioningly because of an insult offered to the banner of the ‘‘free and the brave. And so this bit of bunting has grown t0 be a national heritage: a priceless treasure; a national brevet! It was Betsy Ross who gave to the in- filht‘:apubllc its first flag. t Amelia Fowler, another of the sis- terhood of needlewomen, who is preserv- ing to all the gencrations of Americans to_come its most cherished emblem. Betsy Ross made each stitch in her banner a message of love and patriot- ism, a charge upon the soldiers of the new country to go forth, to do their best—if need be, to die. by And this other gray-haired woman, a century later, is putting love and p-trlotgn: into her work, and ‘a_mes- sage. But hers Is a message of peac: “Lest we forget.” % i No matter how carefully cared for, a flag will in time become but a mass of rags and tatters, be it in daily use or a cherished relic. The fate of the real Star Spangled Banner is but the fate of all our priceless old banners—the fate of the priceless banners of the world. * * % For many years this flag has been ex- hibited in the main hall of the old mu- seum of the Smithsonian Institution. There under strong lock, and practical- 1y in view of the watchman kept ever at the door of the butlding during hours when visitors are allowed, this banner has lain. Reverently folded, but a couple of its “bright stars” and a touch of its biue fleld were visible. Tt was too priceless to be displayed entire. Yet the ravages of time did their ‘work. fl“, pite care and love and reverence, literally disintegrated. And so it became apparent that if future generations were to have the heritage of this flag kept for them in- tact it must be preserved and in such a way &s to insure it from further de- cay. gut.huw‘r Gray-haired veterans, who would will- Ingly have offered their lives to save it, were helpless. Scientists knew of naught that would answer the purpose. “The Star Banner lay untouched. lags_have been repaired long before this. The ancient banners of the ‘old world, none the less dear h present gen- erations than our trophles, can be found in the memorial halls of Europe. Usually they have been skillfully sewed between two pieces of new. Some of our own ban- ners were preserved in the same way. But the experiment proved not entirely satisfactory. Neither was the condition of the flag improved, nor its durability guaranteed. Time still wrought decay. And so the Star Spangled Banner has lain torn and faded and untouched. But now it is being preserved! In Boston lives Mrs. Amelia Fowler, first an expert needlewoman, and today the only scientific preserver of flags in the country, perhaps the world. And to her is due the credit for the invention which is making possible the preservation of the Stars and Stripes. * * * Mrs. Fowler's method is simple. Yet it represents sixteen yvears' work. It stands for years of experiment and study, and the evolution of an unknown study to the science of a profession. The Star Spangled Banner, thought to be the largest American flag ever in ac- tual service, measures 20x32 feet. It has fifteen stripes and the same “humber of stars, the blue fleld occupying more than a fourth of the surface of the flag. One star is entirely gone, and a small por- tion of the stripes, while it is practically riddled with holes, due solely to the nat- ural decay of the bunting. First a_backing. the dimensions of the flag, is being made of the finest Irish linen manufactured. Upon this the ban- ner will be laid. It must, then, be tacked down In the position it will eventually keep. So diffi- cult, so delicate, is this work that only Mrs. Fowler herself will do it. Not a thread must be stretched too tight, else, when the flag is finished, the strain will break it. Not a single one of the raveled ends must remain uncaught, else they will entirely disappear through rot. Then comes the final sewing. This may require the services of fifty girls, each an_ expert in plain sewing. each filled with the responsibility of the work being done. More than 500,000 stitches will_be necessary to preserve the flag. By Mrs. Fowler's method, which requires a special stitch, ry square inch of the flag will have ten stitches in It. That means 360 stitches to every six-inch square. In this way the old flag is lit- erally made a part of the linen, but all the wear and strain comes upon the latter. The work will take about six weelk: Special linen thread is required and this is dved to match exactly the portion of the flag on which it is used. On those portions of the linen left exposed be- cause of holes in the banner, the stitch- inz will still be done. In this way an exact idea will be obtainable of what the flag should have beem—intact, while yet not actually having been repaired with new bunting. = * * It is really the west hall of the Smith- sonian Institution in which the work is being done, but somebody ggve the room the name of “chapel” and it is more popularly known under that title. Nor is it unfitting. A long, high-roofed room, with curved windows at bears, in all truth, to a chapel. At one end, lald out upon a specially | constructed table, lies the real Spangled Banner. And at the other stands the Greenough statue of Washington. Was it, after all, but chance that brought these two together? In classic garb sits the “Father of His Country.” In one hand, extended, is a sword. The other is raised. as if to bid silence in this room, which contains so much of value to the nation. In the midst of this sits Mrs. Fowler, haired, serene, her deep, blue eyes -dimmed as she talks of this flag, her flag, our flag. And over all seems to brood the spirit of Betsy Ross. “We need our flag: her voice vibrating, “not because of the deeds of valor they stand for, as much as for the heritage of inspiration they represent. “We live, sad to say, in an age of little patriotism. Somehow the dear old flag seems to be all rolled up in a tight wad, with a string tied around it. And hidden deep in its folds lie all those thinss Which should be part of our daily life. “The flag is not a thing to fold up and lay away. It is something to keep ever in sight—something to live by and for, as well as to die for. It stands not alone for battle. Its mission today is one of peace, one of inspiration toward progress. . * a * * “Teach the children of today to love the flag, as well as to honor it, and we will teach them inherent patriotism. Do not have a flag tucked away, to bring out on the Fourth of July, Washington's birthday and other such occasions. Keep one hung in the child’s own room. And then when he s disobedient don’t send him to a dark room to repent. Bid him stand_before the flag of his country and be ashamed to be an integral part of it. Ask him is he willing to face it, and et not -be an honor to it. “That {s what our flag should mean! It it has stood for wars in the past, it need not, and, 1 pray, will not, do so in the future. Let it be an emblem of peace. Symbols of glory ‘and sacrifice alone, our old flags are valueless to us today. But as indicative of the inspired elther end, it a close resemblance Mrs. Fowler said, Star | courage and valor which jhave made pos- sible the progress and achievement our nation has #ccomplished they are beyond valuation.” None who hear Mrs. Fowler can doubt the sincerity of her devotion to the flag. Her work, first started through the need of preserving the banners, has grown to De a labor of love. “Nothing of mere ‘ordinary’ quality is used in the preservation of the flags. For instance, a flaw in the linen backing might result in making the whole worth- less. Throughout the work countless points of that nature must be guarded against. And in order to know just what must be avoided, as well as accomplished, required fourteen years' study. It de- manded an intimate knowledge of linen— a study in itself. Not only the best ob- tainable, the linen used is of special weave.” Characteristic of the predominating fdea with which Mrs. Fowler has done her work is her reason for choosing the linen she has., It is Ulster, Ireland, linen. - * * “I choose it.” she explained, reason that there “for the “he production of the linen is not an industry so much as a work of love. From the time the first sprouts of flax appear the Irish peas- ants love it. They tend it willingly, ten- derly. And when the fax is ready to be washed, it is accomplished by hand, not machinery. Ulster linen is the finest in the world for just that reason. I want love to be the keynote of the en- tire work.” The preservation of the Star Spangled Banner is not the first national flag which Mrs. Fowler has lovingly secured to future generations. But three vears ago, with a corps.of sixty assistants, she performed a similar task at Annapolis, where she preserved nearly 150 banmers, the flags in Trophy Hall at the Naval Academy. As interesting as the work itself, is the way in which Mrs. Fowler came to take it up. It started in Massachusetts, and really dates back to the time when but four years old she showed a decided ability with the needle. This fostered along original. even daring, lines, made her, in later vears, one of the most ex- pert embroidery artists In her state. Enter now the flag. Regimental fi. before Mrs. Fowler's time, were hand- painted. But, even though the finest quality paint was used, the silk would always split. Charles O. Katon of Bos- ton, who for vears made the flags of the Massachusetts regiments, determined to find another way. In Europe, the Japanese method of sible to have both sides perfect. But in the case of our flags there was a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. Eu- ropean flags invariably had the same de- sign on both sides. On our regimental flags each side bears a different embl The Japanese method, therefore, worthless. * * * Mr. Eaton started to find some one who could get around this. One woman took two pieces of silk, embroidered the emblem, and then sewed them together. The result was a banner too welghty to embroidery is used, which malkes it pos- unfurl in the breeze. Another tried ap- TMILE QF THE ORIGINAL DRATT OF ‘THE. SONG« plique. This, too, falled. At his wits' end, Mr. Eaton began a systematic search through the telephone and city directories for women doing embroid- ery. He literally stumbled across Mrs. Fowler. He explained what was wanted. She answered that it had never been done. He replied, he knew that only too well. “Give me ten days, and I will tell you if I can do it,”” she told him. At the end of that time she said she could. He hardiy believed her, but gave her a chance to prove her statement To make a long story short, she suc- ceeded so well that she made all the silken banners carried by the Massachu- N\ R TracG St JATION. TCHED ORX AT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION seets troops during the Spanish-American war. So much for Mrs. tion to working in flags. Ome day she visited Memorial Hall, Boston, Where, Mr. Eaton in charge, ail the trophy ban- ners of the state hung in splendid dis- play. Fowler's introduc- “They are beautiful, wonderful,” Mrs. Fowler exclaimed. “But they can't last. They are falling to pieces now. They should be preserved.” said Mr. “But Eaton, sadly. “The insistence of that question,” says Mrs. Fowler, “‘rung in my ears long after 1 had left the hall. How? I kept saying it over and over. And then it came to me, here was a chance to do something really big. It would be tragic to lose A BulP’s-Eye. “The most abject slaves of a politi- cal boss will revolt if their slavery is flung in thelr faces,” philoso- phized Representa- tive McKellar, who comes from the Memphis (Tenn.) district. “I had a concrete example of that in my first congres- sional campalgn,” he continued. “Ones| day 1 met in the street the political boss of Binghampton, a manufacturing suburb. For years he had voted the men like sheep, and he was proud of his autocratic rule. He had op- posed Gen. Gordon, my predecessor, and was now violently, but good-naturedly, opposing me. *““Mac,’ he sald, ‘you won't get but four votes in Binghampton; there are 852 votes there altogether, and T'll poll the 348. I carry them in my vest pocket.’ “ “We'll see about that, Tom,’ I replied, with a laugh. “‘And thereupon, relying upon that prin- ciple of human nature I have just stated, I planned my attack upon Tom’'s strong- hold, where I was to speak the follow- ing night. “I got my crowd in & good humor that evening with a few preliminary stories, and then electrified them by assuring them that I did not expect their votes; that they could not vote for.me, even if they wished to, for, no longer ago than yesterday, I told them, their fellow- townsman had informed me that he carried all their votes but four in his vest pocket —and they would all be cast against m I called for & show of hands from th whose votes reposed in Tom’s vest pocks | et; not a hand! I then called for the hands of the Independent voters—and every hand went up! “And, on election day I carried Bing- hampton by a handsome majority!” Saved! “Although I'm a long generation this side of Presi- dent Lincoin,” said Repres ontative Farr of Pennsyl- vania, I feel a personal obligation to him for reseuing my maiden speech from disaster and turning it toward success. ““It happened at Mauch Chunk, and when I arose In the theater there, full of zeal, patriotism, inexperience and stage fright, to address the voters the ‘sea of upturned faces' seemed to hyno- tize me. My tongue went dumb; my mind was blank and not a word of that carefully prepared speech could I recall. *‘Suddenly, lke the gleam of sall to a shipwrecked seaman, there flashed across my mind the thought that 1 could recite Lincoln's Gettysburg speech forward, backward, upside-down.. I'a recited it at school a thousand times, I suess. “Slowly and with just enough tremolo in my voice from fright to get the proper stage effect, 1 delivered that famous ora- tion. As I ended, the whole house broke into applause; I really believe some of those folks thought it was my own! “Under cover of this demonstration 1 rallled my scattered wits and readily called my own speech.- Then, taking a drink of water, I sailed Into it and ac- quitted myself creditably—indeed, mar- velousiy, from that omnious beginning, had my audience only known itl Wanted to Hear it. “Speaker Cfark wins not only the regard of his polit- ical enemies by his uprightness and probity, but also their - affection by the gentleness and simplicity of his nature, which brings him close to the heart of his fellow-man,” said Representative Farr, himself a republican. “He is, above everything, a kindly, everyday man, wholly unaffect- ed and unspolled by the greatness of his position—which 1s, itself, a mark of greatness. “One afternoon, recently, there arose a situation on the floor wherein the ten- sion between some of the opposing mem- bers was high to the point of nervous- ness. By some characteristic remarks, re- plete with that homely philosophy of his, Speaker Clark turned the situation and relieved the strain. “Struck both by the timely wisdom and the appositencss of the remark, 1 broke forth into several private but hearty chuckles. They, but not thelr cause, caught they eye of the Speaker. he next day, having occasion to leave the chair, he stopped as he passed my seat and, bending over me, asked, as though in confidence: / “‘Say, Farr, tell me the joke you were laughing 8o heartily about this time yesterday.’ A Fallen Idol. Perhaps the worst of all the petty annoyances that beset a con- gressman’s path is to have some of the swarm of em- ployes about the Capitol fail to recognize him. “And this, irri- tating at all times, becomes a source of extreme mortifi- cation if any of your constituents happen to be observed Representative Kent ornia, commenting on a recent around,” of Cali contact with this briary little thorn along the congressional trail. “Some friends from honfe. to whom I wished to show special attention, dropped on me,” he said, “and I devoted my- i to showing them about the Capitol. They were keenly alive to the distinetion of having thelr representative personally conduct them, and were profuse in thelr expressions of regard for my courtesy hence the situation was ail the more embarrassing when, on seeking to en- ter the members’ gallery, I was incon- tinently halted by a raw and ignorant assistant-something-or-other and curt- 1y forbidden to enter. “Of course, it Was all straightened out and the fellow apologized. But the damage had been done. After that mi erable little episode things were differ- ent in that party. off the doll and I could feel that they felt 1 must be small potatoes if an in- significant little whiffet like that didn’t know who 1 was. You _see, they couldn’t get out of their back-home way of looking at a congressman. Baock there, everybody knows him; even the boy Who brings the groceries knows him by sight—and-to find some one right here under the very dome! “And the worst of it ail is you can- not explain to them that there are 400 of us right here; explaining would only magnify It "’SO. you just have to let them take home the memory of you—with the sawdust leaking out!” the fiags which have stood for so much in the history of this country. I would save them. But how? = * * *“No one can know the love that went into my work, nor fhe‘sacrifice. My life Dbecame dedicated to my work, I gave up everything possible to follow my studies If it had not been for my powerful lov it would have been abject labor. Four- teen years I spent in making my work a profession. 1 studied fags, old and new. Most of all I studied our flag. I learned its meaning. From a mere piece of cheap bunting it came to repre- sent to me the greatest inspiration a country could possess. “Just think what our flag means to us. “It isn’t the actual strips of bunting, nor the fleld of blue. It's what they stand for. What they have stood for all these years. Think of Francis Scott Key, standing upon the deck of that ship, compeiled through circumstance to witness the bombardment of Fort Mc- Henry by the British. Just think what it meant to him. “He knew not whether the ‘red coats’ were victorious or mot—but by a singls token. The Stars and Stripes which floated above the fort. So he watched them—he made them represent the fate of the fort. “Twilight came, and slowly, even they were blotted from sight. What was happening? And then— "AM“:hn"lvciel" red glare, the bomb bursting ar, Gave proof thopugh the might that Jbreot’ thepug sight that our flag wes “Think of the agony of suspense be- tween those loud reports, and the con- ‘glare,’ when, for a single in- perhaps, the banner of his land stood out against the inky sky. ‘And then morning came. “‘Oun_the shore, dimly seen through the mists of tie deep, What is that which the breese o'er the tower- g steep As it Gtfully biows, balf conceals, half dis- closes? Now It catches the gleam of the morning’s frst §f beam.™ ~It was the flag—his flag—trrumphant! McHenry still stood! ‘Can any. American today stand before this flag without feeling something of the suspense, the agony of hope, which was Key’ ‘an any one looking at this faded, ‘priceless piece of bunting, fail to realize what it represents; fail to feel a thrill of deep, sincere love for this—the emblem of his, of her, country. 1 think not! I hope not!™ Strange Balls Found in Horses’ Stomachs BALLS composed of millions of tiny rs from the crimson clover plant are sometimes taken from the alimentary tracts of horses. TLe formation of these strange feit-like balls in the intestines of horses is a singular instance of the some- what rare cases where nature seems to have made no provision to protect her creaturec against their common Instincts. Crimson clover is an excellent forage plant. and all kinds of stock animals graze it greedily, yet If it is eaten in the full ripe stage it almost invariably re- sults in these felt balls, which are near always fatal to horBes and mules. Man, however, can control the trouble by feed- ing the clover before it has become ma- ture, when the small hairs are still soft and digestible. A quite similar example of one of Dame Nature's siips is in the sanding of hors. in Florida and other very sandy regions. Here animals in close grazing swallow considerable quantities of sand, and in horses this sand compacts into balls in the animal’s digestive tract which become cemented and as hard as rock, choking up the intestines and causing the death of the horse, accompanied by great ag- ony. There Is no known remedy Tfor cases of either the crimeon clover feit ball or for sanding. * The Pope’s Triple Crown. IGINALLY the tara, or triple crown, of the Pope was a plain high cap, much Itke those in which doges of Venice are so often represented in oild pictures. It was first introduced by Popé Nicholas I in 860. Just when the first coronet was added is a matter of uncertainty, but the sec- The paint had come |- ond was piaced by Pope Boniface VIIT in 1205 and the third by Pope Urban V. about 1398 It has been held that the three crowns refer to the Holy Trinity, though that evidently could not have been the original idea, for they would certamly have not been added one ofter the other with an intervening period in each case of many years. Some authorities contend that they de- note the three-fold royalty of the Bishop of Rome, one being the symbol of the temporal power over the Roman states; another the spiritual exercised over fthe souls of men, and the third the authority over all the kings and potentates of