6 BIRTH OF OUR FLAG. IX6ORIGIN WRAPPED IN HISTORICAL MYSTERY. Vuklnßt>:n Was M Member of the Con*- ■aittoe Which Accepted the Design,anri It Is w Curious Coincidence That llis c Shiohl Consisted f the Same Fljjures. The American flag really dates from Jfcn. 2, 1776, though officially only from June 14, 1777, when Congress passed the resolution decreeing that the flag of the United States should be thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white in a field representing a new constellation. This is nearly all that the records tell. Whenever a new state is admitted a new star Is added. The respectable antiquity of our flag Is best realized by comparing it with that of other nations. The Spanish flag was established in 17J5, the French tricolor In 1794, the Italian flag in 1848, and the flag of the German Empire dates from 1870. As for "the meteor flag of England" which an imaginative poet once applied to the present national ensign of the United Kingdom, it is enough to say that there is no such flag in existence. The Brit ish ensign is commonly termed the "Union Jack." This royal standard dates from 1801 when It was first hoist ed over the Tower of London. So that the pretty fancy about "the flag that braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze" is simply gilt-edged gib berygosh. The origin of the flag of the United States Is wrapped in historical mystery, but there is good reason to believe that it was designed and adopted largely out of compliment to Washington. He was a member of the committee which accepted the design, and it is a curious coincidence that his shield consist ed of the same pieces and figures that the flag Is composed of. Washington's crest was an eagle, and the colors and the metal of his coat are also the prin cipal colors in the flag, namely, red and white. Washington's object in this may have been the laudable desire to perpetuate himself seeing that he had no direct posterity. He may have been inspired by the fact that In giving us a free country he was also entitled to in fluence the features of its flag. Accord ingly instead of the stars which in heraldry consist of six or more points the United States have adopted instead the five pointed figures of Washington's shield. These are in heraldry called mullets. The flag thus receives an ad ditional lustre from the silent honors thus paid to the Father of his country by his own contemporaries. The framers of the resolution on June 14, 1777, were probably for these and other reasons designedly silent upon these points. It is considered that they were anxious to have Washington escape the animadversions of the Conway cabal, whose opposition would have been aroused at any open attempt to make a hero of Washington and whom this cabal intended to supplant by General Horatio Gates. Anyhow our official knowledge upon the motives and prin ciples that may have Influenced the framers of the flag Is very limited and gossip has attributed the designing and the arrangement of the flag to a lady with French predilictions who lived in Philadelphia. During the revolution many of the states had their own flags, and Lexing ton was fought under "waving stream ers." Some people also go so far as tc state that Washington copied the Easl India Company's flag which bad alsc thirteen stripes, red and white, but such Is not likely. Paul Jones claimed that he first hoistr ' the flag of Ameri ca on the Alfred. The national em blem was then a rattlesnake which in deed came nearly becoming a national emblem instead of the eagle. The flag of the "Hanger" which was fitted out by Congress for Jones was thirteen stripeß with the rattlesnake undulating over them and with the motto—"Don'l i'read on Me!" However, from out ol all these various devices there was evolved a national standard designed under Washington's supervision and which wbb accepted by Congress. .It was Mrs. Ross who made the banner which Congress approved, from a rough sketch furnished to her and made by the hand of Washington; so that it seems clear, alike from the facts and from the probabilities that the plans and preferences of Washington domi nated the national flag. No story ol the American flag, however, which emitted the vicissitudes—which be3ot ltß birth and early existence would be complete, that failed to state the part that France played in tho matter. This was so vital ft part that Captain A. T. Mahan stated i nis speech at New York, Feb. 7, 1897. that "there would he no flag at all if it weren't for the - " cnch under De Grasse appearing at Hamptcn Roads," vhile 5,000 traiued French soldiers Burgoyne aud Cornwalils on iar.d, fighting side bj aide with Americans. The flag of the fifteen stars and fif teen stripes was carried by Old Iron sides before Tripoli and throughout the war of ISI2. It was the flag worn by the Constellation in her actions with ITnsurgent and 1-a Vengeance; the 2ag that waved ovef Derne, being the first American flag placed upon a fort ress of the Old World; the flag of Lake Erie, Fort McHenry and New Orleans, and of our naval victories on the At lantic, and which, was carried around Cape Horn and the Cape of Good Hope tn the Essex, the first United State, cruiser to show a pennaiit beyond either. The flag worn by the United States fcrig Enterpr'se in bar action with the B-ltish brig Boxer, September 4, 1813 and afterward the pall which covered the body of Capt. Burrows, had fifteoi stripes and fifteen stars; this flag which was old on the day ot the en gagement, and patched with a still old er one, was, after the action, found to bear the marks of fifty-nine shot holes, chiefly musketry. The bear flag, which was raised at Sonoma June 14, 184 C, is now in the possession of the Pioneer Society of San Francisco. It is made of white cotton and red flannel, and has painted on it the semblance of a grizzly bear. The artist was so unfortunate in his efforts that the Spaniards in their de rision culled it the "Bandera colchls." or hog flag. The army which raised this flag and attempted to revolution ize a state consisted of fourteen Ameri cans. CapL Montgomery, of the sloop-of war Portsmouth, then lying in San Francisco Bay, raised the United States flag on the plaza of Yerba Buena, now Portsmouth square, under a salute of twenty-one guns, on the Bth of July, 1846. Since that date the flag of our nation has constantly waved over Cali fornia. The City of Charleston, S. C., present ed a regimental flag to the South Caro lina Volunteer on the 24th of Decem ber, 1846. The Mayor, in his presenta tion speech, said: "The motto that glitters in the sunlight from this ban ner, 'Not for ourselves do we conquer, but for our country,' covers every heart here present." This flag, riddled by bullets, was carried at Contreras and Cherubusco, where Col. Butler was killed carrying it. It was also the first flag borne Inside the City of Mexico by the United States forces. Something: from Scotland. Mrs. Hohmboddie: "What are you reading that absorbs you so?" Mr. Hohmboddie (looking up from his book); "It's a new Scotch novel." Mrs. Hohmboddie (with enthu siasm): "Oh, I am so fond of those dear dialect things! Do read me a lit tle." Mr. Hohmboddie: "Can you under stand it?" Mrs. Hohmboddie (loftily): "Can I understand it? Well, 1 should hope anything you can understand need not be Greek to me!" Mr. Hohmboddie: "No; hut it might be Scotch." Mrs. Hohmboddie: "Go on; read Just where you are at." Mr. Hohmboddie (reading): "'Ye see, Elpsie,' said Duncan, doucely, 'I might hae mair the matter wi" me than ye wad be spierin'. Aiblins ma een is a hit dazzlit, an' am hearin' the poolses thuddin' in ma ears, an' ma toongue is clavin' when it sud be gae in'; an' div ye no' hear the dirlin' o' ma hairt an' feel the shakin' o' ma hond this day gin I gat a glimpse o' ye, sair hirplin like an auld mon? Div ye nae guess what's a' tho steer, hin ney, wi'out me gaein' it mair words?' " Mrs. Hohmboddin: "Stop, for good ness sake! What in the world is the creature trying to say?" Mr. Hohmboddie: "He's making a declaration of love." Mrs. Hohmboddie: "A declaration of love? I thought he was telling a lot of symptoms to his doctor." Nothing Like a Good Dictionary. "Father," said his son, looking up from a book, "what is pride?" "Pride?" returned the father. "Pilde? Why, a—oh, surely you know what pride Is? A sort of being stuck up— a kind of—well, proud, you know. Just get the dictionary. That's the thing tp tell you exactly what it la. There's nothing like a dictionary, Johnny." "Here it is," said the latter, after an exhausting search: " 'Pride—be ing proud." "Cm—yes, that's it," replied the father. "But —well, look at 'proud.' That's the way. You've got to hunt these things out, my lad." "I've got it," answered Johnnie. "Pre pre pro 'proud having pride." "That's it. There you are, as clear as day. I tell you. Johnnie, there is nothing like a good dictionary when you are young." Mimical Criticism. The little daughter of a certain musi cal critic was overheard the other day entertaining a visitor while her mother was out of the room. "And do you like music, too?" asked the visitor politely. "Oh, yes, indeed," replied the child, with as near an approach to her fath er's manner as she could manage. "I'm 'specially fond of opera." "What operas do you like?" asked the visitor. The child hesitated. Then she re covered her grown'.'p air. "Oh," she said carelessly, "my favor ites are 'Lohinduichman' and 'The Flying Grin." " The GihflH Picture Pad. A scheme for using Gibson pictures (and it may be hinted that this fad has been so overdone that it is show ing signs of passing) is to arrange small ones In artistic groups on a square of delicately tinted paper har monizing with the prevailing tint of the room. For a pink room, a sheet of pink glazed paper is used, an edge left that gives the effect of a frame. On this the pictures are pasted, and it is then attached to tho wall by means of tiny gilt thumb-screws, doing away with the tearing or blowing off of these pictures when less securely fastened to the wab. _ A Chinese traveller applying for a passport must have his palm brushed over with fine oil-paint, and then press it on thin, damp uaper, which retains an exact impression of the lines of his hand. Transference of the passport is then impossible, for no two persons have the seme lines on their palms. Cats can smell even during sleep. If a piece of meat be placed immediate ly In front of a sleeping oat's nose, the nostrils wul begin to work as the scent is roceived, and an lnstaut later the cat will -sake up. THE COLUMBIAN. BLOOMSBURG, PA. THE CONNING TOWER. Whrro tlie Adnilml ii stationed Daring an Kngagemeiit. ; The conning tower of the modern ironclad presents the greatest possible contrast between tbe old and new methods of lighting on the soas. The conning tower starts over the forward turret. In this circular chamber, scarcely six feet across and protected by walls of steel twelve inches thick, stood Commodore Dewey. Above his head was a roof of solid steel. The hrst impression of the lay observer as he enters this little inclosed chamber Is that the enemy and all other things are invisible, and that the battle Is to be fought out on the lines of simple guess-work. But stepping forward and bringing his eyes to the level of the armor plat ing between the arched roof above and the steel wulls he becomes aware of a little narrow slit along which he may sweep his eyes and take in the whole range of the horizon. Below and directly in front of him Is the sharp-pointed bow of the boat and the two long white muzzles of the guns protruding many feet from the forward turret. From the moment of the beginning of the battle until the end the com mander Is invisible to his men. His voice Is the only thing present —main- ly through speaking-tubes and tele phones. On that group of speaking-tubes to the right are the words "Bow torpedo tuba" and "Above water torpedo tube." At the left is the voice tube to the en gine-room, and this completes the cir cuit that discharges the giant guns. Bight in the centre of the conning tower is the steam-steering wheel, binnacle and compass. Thus by the directing hand of the commander standing in the centre of the tower, with his hand upon the compass, is the battle fought. • Who of all humanity save the man, himself can realize the immensity of the strain upon the hu man mind placed in control of this mighty engine ou the day of battle? In this littie spot is concentrated the whole power of Ihc mighty machine which we know ia- an Ironclad ship. Never since the world began was such a power concentrated in the hands of one man, and with that power the judgment to direct it, the will to apply it, the knowledge to utilize it Is placed in his hands. The commander in his conning tower has but to press tue button and the great engines will drive the boat through the water. Down In the chambers of the guns are the masses of the powder charges. A touch, a spark, a great flame and a thundering crash, and the steel shot will rush 2,000 feet In a second. The touch of another button will loosen the torpedoes. A word through a third tube will send a storm of steel and lead flying from the machine guns on the upper deck and In the round tops. OLDEST Of AMERICA'S CONSULS. Has the Proud Dlttiixtlon of Over a Half a Oentui'/'c Service. The proud distinction of half a cen tury's service, making him the Nestor of the American consular corps, be 'ongs to Horatio J. Sprague, the United States Consul at Gibraltar. Mr. Sprague was appointed by President James K. Polk May 12, 1848. More over, his father before him, Horatio Sprague, of Boston, Mass., was ap pointed Consul at Gibraltar by Presi dent Andrew Jackson April 30, 1832. Again, the son of the present Consul, Richard Louis Sprague, Is Deputy and Vice Consul, and. If the record of the Sprague family Is kept up, will be serving the United States at Gibraltar when the twentieth century is half gone. Horatio the elder, a native of Bos ton, visited Gibraltar before and after 1812. He subsequently established In Gibraltar the- business of American merchantman and shipowner. An cient records refer to him as "enjoy ing a high standing in the commercial world, of great moral worth and gen eral hospitality, especially to his coun trymen." During the first years of his Gibraltar residence, in 1816, ho was presented by the Humane Society of Massachusetts with a gold medal for aiding in the rescue of Captain James Riley and his crew from slavery. Those worthy New Englanders had been placed in slavery by a horde of wandering Arabs in the African desert. The present Horatio was born in Gib raltar on August 12, 1823. Hie "CIHMIUJ >INU" of Hpuln. Don Francisco Romero y Robledo, former Spanish Minister of Justice, and present leader of the Conserva tive party, is just now an Interesting figure in Spanish politics. It is not unlikely that he is the "coming man." He was born In Antequera Andalu sia, and In appearance is much more like an Englishman than a Spaniard. He is tail, of fair complexion, with light, curly hair, now turning gray, bright, piercing blue eyes, blond mus tache and beard tinged with red, and big white teeth, with two larger ones in front, slightly protruding, without which the caricaturist usually consid ers no Englishman complete. The com ic papers do great things with these teeth, ana put tifem in evidence on ev ery possible occasion. Senor Romero's success as a politi cian has been due in a great measure to his personal magnetism and splen did oratory, which is considered second only to that of the great Castelar; his voice is musical and resonant, and his most bitter opponents In politics are often so carried away by his speech that they applaud almost unconscious ly, even when the words which flow ir. such graceful, telling eloquence from his lips are directly against them and their alum. Sleep I. Only a Hnblt. Mr. Edison has adopted the theory that sleep Is only the force of habit, that If they but try, men can get along without sleep precisely as they get along without stimulants. He ac counts for the sleep habit as follows: "The truth is that this habit of sleeping origiuated when there was no such thing as a good artificial light. People could not read, they had no way of amusing themselves at night, so when darkness came there was nothing left for them to do but lie down and lose themselves In oblivion. "Now that we have the electric light and other means of illumination, the world Is sleeping less and less every year. By-and-bye, gradually, of course, the time will come when an hour or two of rest will be enough. Then peo ple will find that they have been wast ing valuable time. It is all right for a man to change his work or seek some sort of diversion, but that Is very easy to do by changing work and varying the subject of study." This Is precisely In line with the philosophy which holds that men are only what their environment -stakes them. In support of his theory Mr. Edison relates that when the phono graph had to be finished in a certain number of hours In order to be In Don don on a certain day, he worked con tinuously for seventy-two hours with out a minute of sleep, and so did all of his assistants but one or two. His chief assistant says that Mr. Edison has gone on for years, working hard with little rest, merely dropping down occasionally for a rest of an hour, or, perhaps, only for ten minutes, and then coming up again, apparently as fresh as if he had had a long holi day. Jnmt Spoilt It. In a certain class of divinity students there was one member who was gener ally acknowledged to be slow. His fellow-students called him dumb. For certain reasons, however, tho young man received every favor. Shortly before the final examination those in charge of the class were talk ing the matter over with the Bishop. It was agreed that, in spite of the fel low's singular ineptitude, he would bo permitted to pass if possible. "If he can answer one question," said tho Bishop, "I'll ordain him." The instructor-ln-cfcief accordingly primed the stupid student for the event. "You need answer only one ques tion," said the instructor, "and that one will be easy. But mind you don't say anything else. Promise me—not another word, or you'll be certain to get yourself into trouble." The student promised, and the In structor went upon his way rejoicing. A little later the youth was ushered in to the Bishop's presence. "Who was Saul?" asked the Bishop. "The first King of Israel," answered the student, quickly enough; and amid the congratulatory smiles of the in structors, he prepared to depart. But just as he reached the door, he turned and added. "Subsequently called Saul of Tarsus." A Tartar ronrtnhlp. Among the Tcbu'.iao Tartars a curi ous mode of "popping the. question" is reported: The T. ituiian Coelobs In search of a wife, having filled a brand new pipe, with fVagrant tobacco, stealthily .enters the dwelling of the fair one upon whom he has bestowed his affections, deposits the pipe upon a conspicuous article of furniture, and retires on tip-toe to some convenient hiding place In the neighborhood, local etiquette requiring that he should exe cute this strategic movement apparent ly undetected by the damsel of hlB choice or any member of her family. Presently he returns without further affectation of secrecy, and looks into the apartment In a casual sort of way. A single glance at the pipe he left be hind him enables him to learn the fate of his proposal. If it has been smoked, he goes forth an accepted and exultant bridegroom; If not. the offer of his hand and heart has been irrevocably rejected, as not even worth a pipe of tobacco. By this ingenious expedient the pain and humiliation of verbal re fusal and fruitless pleadings are spared to luckless woors, and Tartar maidens are saved from Importunities justly re garded as peculiarly trying to female sensibility. Severe Itiilew In the Ilu.Mlnn Army. When an officer in the Russian army is Insulted, a military court of honor sits to decide upon the action to bo taken, and ho has to abide by the de cision of the court. Not long ago, two young officers of the Russian army quarrelled while drinking together, and one slapped the other across the cheek with his open band. They were intimate friends, and when In his sober senses the aggressor hunlbly apolo gized for the affront to his brothe. 'of ficer, who cordially accepted it. A regi mental court of honor had to be held, however, and it was decreed that the officers should light, though both were much averse to doing so. A duel was therefore arranged at twenty paces, and the young offi. ei who had received the affront, and foijiven his friend, was hit in the hip and crippled for life! The Elklmo anil Punch and Judy, Some time ago a skipper who visited the Arctic regions presented the head man of an Eskimo community with a Punch and Judy show he had on board, and gave the n?i • instructions as to how to work the figures. The Es kimo's son is now said to be an expert at the business, and, in a hut nightly throughout the long winter, makes the familiar marionettes dance about, to the Intense delight ot his fur-encased friends. The show i* known among the Eskimos by something like its Eng lish name, only tlicy pronounce it "EcotantcoUj\" V _ "A PERFECT TOOD—ma Wholesome aa it la Delicious." Js 0 WALTER BAKER & CO.'S O 1 Jlf BREAKFAST COCOA | V M (WW'! " Has stood the teat of more than 100 years' use among all VY O H classes, and for purity and honest worth is unequalled." V/ A Nj! WM Costs less than ONE CENT a Cup. A V £U I ffit-rn Trade-Mark on Every Package. V WALTER BAKER & CO. LTD., X TRADi-MARK. Established I 780. DORCHEBTER, MASS. /\ ALEXANDER BROTHERS & CO. DEALERS IN Cigars, Tobacco, Candies, Fruits and Nuts SOLE AGENTS FOR Henry Maillard's Fine Candies. Freeh Every Week. GOODS SPECIALTY, SOLE AGENTS FOR F. F. Adams & Co's Fine Cut Chewing Tobacco Sole agents for the following brands of Cigars' Henry Glay, Londres, Normal, Indian Princess, Samson, Silver Ash Bloomsburg Pa. IF YOU ARE IN NEED OF CARPET, MATTING-, or OIL CLOTH, YOU WILL FIND A NICE LINE AT W. M. BM©WEE'S 2nd Door abovo Court House. t A large lot of Window Curtains in stock. ITHAT'S JUST IT ! I VSi i\ You can't always tell by the yfy ' // looks of a garment how it is fixm mm\ l soingto wear *k e WEAR as well as > IvSBLJi Ih' the looks when you can have 1 both at the same flair " lull PRICE. $12.00 is. the starting fU H pl EdwardE - straußS&c °' s I U AJf ;L3l If- Famous Custom Tailored Suits and Overcoats with an ironclad guarantee This settles _ That's the thrown in free. itl Hereafter "B ht id * a I will have all, IT WILL PAY YOU to examine my clothes' jTOf man cannot thls line > and leave your or riADc TO I be too careful der for one of these hand- ORDER BY of kk appear- some garments. EDWARD E. STRAUS?& CO. ' '£ Dft< - - America's Popular Tailors, Chicago. Vh , w Bloomsburg, Pa. WAR PACTS AND GOS3IP. The United States government has ordered 144,000 corn cob pipes for the use of the soldiers. An exchange remarks, "Cervera's father was a wine merchant hence that accounts for the son being so easily bottled up. Blanco says he knows all the war plans of our government. Blanco may be a sharp cuss, but we believe he lies in this particular instance. The E. Keeler Company, of Williamsport, has submitted the low est bid ($11,850) for placing boilers in the Treasury aud others buildings at Washington, D. C. "Whenever you hear a man blowing about his burning desire to go to the front," says the Philosopher, "you may safely bet that he knows he won't pass the examination" Speaking of smokeless powder, smokeless firecrackers would be an improvement. Perhaps we shall yet live to see them ; but not until the millenium may mortals hope for that most perfect of squibs—the noiseless cracker. The flagship New York was over late in getting into the naval fight off Santiago harbor, and thus Admiral Sampson missed the opportunity of a lifetime. The honors this time are for the captains of the battleships, and no mistake. Mexico has had a suspicious in crease in her coal traffic since the outbreak of the war with Spain. Spanish vessels receive this coal, much of which is shipped in the first place from the United Stales. It is a trade that will bear looking into. Among the virtues attributed to Lieut. Hobson of Merrimac fame are these : He graduated at the head of 1 his class,, was the youngest in tfut class, he neither smokes, chews, lies, drinks or swears. He is devoutedly religious and is the best dancer in the American navy. o A BTOHI A. Bears the >The Kind You Have Always Bougf* Bough on Bicyclers. The surgeons, who have been mak ing examinations of the members of. the militia volunteers will make re ports that will be apt to discourage, though it may not extinguish the bicycle habit, and particularly the use of the low handle bars. It is said at the medicine department of the army that a great number of the volunteers who have been rejected for physical disability are bicycle riders, who, by that violent exercise, have developed diseases of the heart and the spine, which unfit them for exposure or en durance. These troubles are said to be confined almost entirely to riders who use low handlebars and lean for ward on their saddle. This position not only induces curvature of the spine and other diseases in that part of the anatomy, but causes the other organs to crowd the heart out of its place and produce irritation which ultimately becomes chronic. As soon as they have an opportunity to do sd the examining surgeons will be called upon for reports on this subject. The future is uncertain, but if you keep your blood pure with Hood's Sarsaparilla you may be sure of good health. July Weather for Ten Years. If precedents go for anything, it is going to be a sizzling July. The average temperature for this month during the past ten years has been 73 degrees, the warmest month being in '94, with an average of 76, and the coolest in '9l, with an average of 70. The average rainfall for the month was 4,47 inches, and the average number of days of rain, n. There were 8.40 inches of rainfall in July, '9l. The average number of clear days was 11 ; partly cloudy, n, and cloudy 9. July Ist, 1898, started in with every indication of a record breaker. oAaToniA. Bean the M You Have Always Boufilt
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers