Sclttciiiltci- i'.O, 11)00.
THE lLLUSTUATlil) 151313.
"Old Glory's" History
Independence Banners
It has become n widespread belief tli.il
the stars ami stripes of the United States
Hag were developed from the Washington
amiH. In the voluminous writing on (lie
subject, both In England ami America, no
notice has been taken of the further fact
that the American eagle, though In a dif
ferent shape, coincides with an early crest
of the Washington family. This crest
was not known to General Washington,
nor does the eagle appear on any seal of
his father, or those of any member of his
family in the eighteenth century. The
Washington crest with the stripes and the
three stars above It live pointed stars, at
that have naturally suggested that It was
Washington himself who originated the star
spangled banner.
More careful and conscientious Inquiry
shows that this cannot be the case. It would
not be at all characteristic of Washington
to parade his family arms, and It Is now
morally certain that he did not originate
the stripes. Stripes had long been known
In America as the standard of the East
India company, which had established Man
hattiin Island as a trading post That par
titular Hag had curiously enough on It
stcllatlon of Lyra, the motto being "Nunc
sldeni dttelt." More than this, It is also
u well established fact that the stripes
were originally vertical, while the bars on
the Washington coat-of-nrms are hoilou
tal. The True I'lnu,
The only national Mag that Washington
really suggested was the banner b.'aring a
tree, probably In honor of the fatuous
Liberty Tree In Hoston, which th Hrlllsh
had cut down. It might pass for an elm as
well as for the Massachusetts pine. At the
time when congress adopted the Mars and
sttipes Washington was by no means the
hero he afterward became.
As a matter of fact the llrst Mag woven b
act of congress was uururled at Hrundy
wlne on September II. 1777. Tills was done
amid disasters which ended in the Hrltlsh
occupation of Philadelphia tlfteen days
later.
Moreover, even had any recognition of
aristocratic dignity in that moment of re
publican fervor been known to congress,
any recognition of the aristocratic dignity
of Washington would have been met with
rage and had the general himself suggested
THE DEVELOPMENT OP "OLD (iLOUY" Photo by Louis It. Hostwick.
thirteen stripes, nlternato red and white,
with the St, George cross on a white can
ton. It is also a tradition that an old Hag
preserved in Philadelphia, which has thir
teen stripes in a corner, was borne by a
troop of light horse which accompanied
Washington to Cambridge in I77.V
Stui-N Were I Ned.
Stars, too, were familiar on the ensigns
of ships In American waters, but at Just
what time they appeared on the United
States Hag Is not known. The making of
the tlvo-cornered star by folding a piece of
white cotton In a certain way Is a matter
of history. The star originally was sl
cornered, but the deft-lingered woman In
Philadelphia who could bo hold the bit of
white bunting that one clip of the shears
made it llvo-polnted lias been immortal-
i.ed by thousands of
have tried the Bamo
less success.
While the thirteen
remained
Hag, the
It
men of our
thing with
day who
more or
stripes have nlwas
aR they were first placed on the
white Btnrs on the blue back
ground In tho Jack have seen many and
varied changes. There Is a probable tradi
tion that It was John Adams who proposed
to substitute for the Ilrltlsh union llrst
used In tho Jack tho constellation of Lyra,
denoting the hnrniony of tho colonies. This
rumor is strengthened by tho fact that tt
was tho son of John Adams who, on bo
coming secretary of state, ordered that
the stamp on American passports should
be the device of thirteen stars surround
ing nn eagle, holding In Its beak the con-
his own emblems for those of the nation
would surely have ruined him.
Nearly two months before this an Im
provised American Hag had been made at
Fort Stanwlx, which on August 2, 1777, was
Invested by tho Dritlsh. This Hag wan
made by the cutting up of old shirts and
scarlet cloth, a blue cloak being used as a
Held. It was a very crude Hag raised by
tho beleaguered and successful garrison.
Despite the claims put out by the ad
mirers of that heroic naval commander,
Paul Jones, in all probability this tempo
rary banner was the llrst impersonation of
Old Glory to be Hung to the breeze. It
lloats as picturesquely in history an the
line Hag under which Hurgoyue present!)
surrendered on October 17. 1777.
Kcviiliidiiiuir.i Flan.
In the accompanying picture will be
found the Hags under which the patriots of
the thirteen colonies fought to make those
thirteen colonies the country of which
Americans aro today so proud. In many of
them there can bo found no suggestion even
of the stars and stripes. They nre mostly
substitute Hags. They were used and made
with the inherent Idea of loyalty to the
foster country. This fact Is amply proved
by the red ground of the British Hag,
which was m often displayed as a basis to
the then feeble Independent sign In the
Jack.
Perhaps the very llrst Intimation that the
colonies chose to Hoat some other Hag than
thai of Great liritaln is shown by the ban
nor at the left hand end of the circle. It Is
simply a white Hag. with the St. George
cross In red, emblazoned with the royal
arms. This was known as the New Eng
land colors ami was llrst put to the breeze
In It'.sti. The suggestion of liberty in this
Hag Is simply a shallow.
The same Is true of the Hag with the blue
background and the red and white English
cross barring It. It was Healed as the
merchant Hag for a large part of the eight
eenth century. It was llown to the breeze
In 1701. It was also a New England Hag
Then came a li.ng period in which no new
banners seem to have been originated b
the colonists. It required the high cilto
nient and the spirit of unrest of the revolt!
lion to bring forth new devices for the
colors. The combination of the crosses of
St. Ge(,rge ami St. Andrew conjoined or
dered to be used by England on atl Hags
banner:!, standards and ensigns, both on
sen and land, had become distasteful
i limit inn.
Tin' Hunker Hill Hag has been various!)
in scribed, 'there Is no absolute assiitanc
of what the Hag exactly showed The be.u
tradition, however, states that one was
hoisted at the redoubt, and that General
Gage and his ulllcers were greatly puzzled
to read Its slguilleatiee with their glassis
It Is said l Inil a whig In Hosti.n told them
that It simply meant "Come II u dare'
Trumbull, In his celebrated ptciuri of the
battle, now in the rotunda of ilie iitpliol at
Washington, has represented it as a r d
Hag, having a white canton ami a led crust,
and a green plnu tree. He Is prolaoly ins
takin In tills, as other authorities, urn h
ii.i re in the majority, assert that the Held
i f the Hag was blue.
At the battle of While Plains the llrst
striped Hag under which the Americans
fought was displayed. The Jack was simply
a modification of the old New England
inlors of a bundled years before, a while
ground with a red cross. At (lie same
battle there was also another Hag displayed
b) u cavaiiy organization. It was a bann r
if conceit, and It has no parttitilar bearing
upon tho evolution of the stars and stripes.
The device consisted only of two crosseit
foils on a white ground.
In the same year Lieutenant Mm trie, an
iiiinliie, but uiiqticstlotiahly an heroic
sohllir, made the Hag which Hoatnl over
I'ort Sullivan Immortal. Why lie should
have suggested such a device is something
that is hardly comprehensible at this later
day It consisted of it blue ground, with n
crescent moon in tho upper lcfth.iud corn.-r,
and in white letters on the lower edge of
tho Hag was boldly Inscribed "Liberty." At
I hat period of tho war the crescent moon
was n particularly favorite emblem of tho
revolutionists In the south.
Tilt I'lne Tree.
The pine tree Hag llrst appeared 111 177,".
It was purely a New England device, and
was used ulloat as well as on laud. Tho
llrst motto known to have been put on
the pine tree Hag was "An Appeal to
Heaven," This was done a year before tlio
colonies declared their Independence. That
emlleni of the pine tree, however, was
used more or less during the entire coultict
between tho colonies and the mother coun
try The northern troops always fought
better under a Hag with a pine tree on It,
wiille the southern soldiers and tho sailors
seemed to have had a weakness for n
banner with a Riinko tlevlci..
While Trumbull may have been mistaken
about the coloring of the Hag in his Hunker
Hill picture, there Is no question but that
a red Hag, with a Pino tree on a white
ground In one corner, was used during the
revolution. The artist, doubtless, made
thorough investigation of the matter boforo
ho substituted red for blue. At any rate,
tlio red-bodltil flag was well known later on.
The llrst appearance of tho snake In thn
American Hag came In a naval way from
South Carolina. It was a yellow Hag, with
a ceiled rattlesnake. It was also the Hag
of Virginia, and, If history tells us right,
was llrst hoisted under smoke.
To show the early spirit of independence
Hint was actuating tho Americans, there Is
the Hag used more or less by the colonies in
1711. It was floated by tlio Ainorlcun
nianiicil wnr vessels, and, whllo In every
particular It was the EugliHi Hag, It had
Inscribed on It theso words: "Liberty and
Union."
Perhaps tho nearest approach to "Old
Glory" that was essayed before tlio Dec
laration of Independence was tho Hag of
the Hoyul Savage, llrst lloated In 1770. It
had the union Jack in the corner and tlio
American stripes for a Hold.
The llrst of tho Grnnd Union Hags, as they
were then called, was the rattlesnake Hag
oi tlio bars. Paul Jones was tho llrst man
Ml ENTUWCE TO THE NEW LIM'DI ( ITY IIHUMM
to throw It to tho breeze. This was nls
In the Independence year of I7M. It waa
simply a Hag of thirteen stripes, with the
rntilcMiako reaching diagonally across It.
and underneath the legend: "Don't Tread
on .Me."
I'nx iiiinu the Snnl.c.
Tlie Virginia miiiut men from Culpeper
imilatid this motto, but used the Carolina
coiled snake on a white Held for their Hag.
They also had an additional Inscription of
"Liberty or Death."
The pine tree persisted in appearing as
an emblem In a number of other Hags that
were made. One with a wiille background
ami blue border was inscribed most de
voutly, "Liberty TreeAn Appeal to God."
This llag was slightly changed by the revo
lutionists in the Carolinas from a pine
tree to a palmetto tree, and the "Appeal to
God" was changed to "Don't Tread on Me,"
as the southern serpent was also I tit re
duced, winding around the roots of the
palmetto.
A Sons of Liberty llag, which was put up
some twelve years before the war, was
it Imply an English naval llag with the palm
tree III one of the corners of the Jack.
Another llag which was really pro-rev. )
lutloiiary was lloated from a ship pulling
.ut from New York in 177."i. It consisted
of a wiille ground, with a beaver in
dustriously at work painted upon It.
Itlliillc iNhuMl'M Oliullllllit.i .
Perhaps the only colony that really dls-tlligillt-hed
Itself by getting up a thor
oughly new Hag was Rhode Island. Rhode
Island may possibly also claim the honor
of llrr.t Introducing the stars. Several
military organizations from that not then
Inslgiiillcant colony bore a llag bearing en
a while ground a fouled blue anchor, with
the word "Hope." In the corner was a
blue Held, with thirteen stars.
The Hag as llrst adopted, In 1777, and
llrst hoisted by Commodore Harry of
llnltimore, is very little dlll'erenl from the
llag which all Americans revere today.
Tlie stars, then thirteen In number, were
set In a circle. Since then, as the stales
have Increased in number, keeping even
pace Willi tlie strides toward power of the
nation, the arrangement of tlie s'tars has
necessarily been nltered.
It was In 17!!.") that the stars representing
the states were llrst put In rows and live
in a row. In ISIS there was an endeavor
to make the Hag a foiir-t ornered emblem.
Tho stars were to remain in the upper left
hand corner. Tho upper rlglithand corner
was In be devoted to the eagle, holding In
a
us mouth i be Hying hi roll mm i tln il r.
PltirihUB I mini " On the lower lefthand
corner was to lie a pbii re of a sealed
goddess of liberty. The lower lighthaiiil
corner was to be given to the thirteen
at lilies. This design was never accepted
in- t Ii.i L'ovcrnmcnt. although (hole was
strong light for It. The compromise was
made by the arraiigeineiil of tlie stars In
the form of a llvo-polnted star. In tlie
following year, however, the stars were
put In rows, and have remained so ever
since, except thai they have Increased In
number.
Rewards of Lawyers
A distinguished lawyer published In a
recent number of the New York Law Jour
nal some Interesting statistics of tlie prac
tice of law In New York, where from 8,000
to l(l,(M)l) lawyers either seek cllenlH or
wait lo bo sought by them. Tlio latter
class of lawyers Is of course small. The
practice of criminal law Is not considered
In his statistics.
Taking the last July calendar of the bii
prenie court in the I'Mrst depart incut this
Investigator lllids that there worn 11,230
cases on It, which were divided among li.l'.H)
lawyers or linns. Nearly 1,000 of these law-
yers had only one case and more than IJ.OOO
of them did not have as many as six cases
to try In a year. Ills llgiires show thai only
live law linns In tills city hud more than
KM) cases ami among these live were found
only one of the great law linns of twenty
live years ago. Of these live llrnis three
lepren'iit large corporations which, from
tho naliiri) of their business, necessarily
have many cases in court. The great law
linns of oilier days have not held their own
In this branch of (he profession. Tlie bulk
of court work has passed Into oilier hands
and they are fast becoming lliius of solic
itors.
Kiom the statistics published it is shown
Unit iwenty-ono lawyers had upward of llfty
cases, Bixty lawyers had upward of twenty
cases and 101 lawyers had from ten to
twenty cases. X. Y. '.. suggests that time
Is sure to bring about a moje marked divi
sion than now between lawyers who try
cases and those who do not and ho be
lieves that the fonDer will ultimately bo
lecognlzcd as a class of advocates. Ho says.
"The average Income of men of our profes
sion does not equal $.1,000 a year. An advo
cate who could earn $100 a week trying
cases would earn the average Income of
the profession." He suggests a proposed
teale of advocates' fees ill minor cases run,
iiiug fioin ?.r to $'o In Jury cases Involving
00 to $1,1100.
The practice of- criminal law appeals
cblelly lo men who are good advocates, hut
its letnins are Bimill. The best known
lawyers III this lily thirty years ago were
tin men who frequently appeared in 1m
poilant criminal cases. Now, however, the
men who practice In the criminal courts
He a class by themselves.
THE COlNTItY CLlil HOUSE.
An Kxplanation
Chicago Post: "Why, sir," exclaimed the
man who sayn what ho chooses, "these Il
literate voters whom you control are noth
ing but a lot of ciphers."
"And you yourself aro not no much."
'I I. now thai, too. Hill you take a nier"
Hgure I ami put it at the head of a pro
cession of ciphers and the llrst thing you
know you've got all tho mathematics you
can handle."