STARS AN OFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG. Issued by the Quartermaster-General of the the Arranged, Army-—How Stars Are The Quartermaster General of the Army has been so bothered w ith questions re garding the American flag that he has is sued a bulletin which is intended to meet the numerous and diversified queries that come to his office the patriotic curious. The statements are the result of research on the part of the clerks of the department, and may be accepted as ace- eurate, or at least, The bulle tin bears the stirring title *“The Stars and Stripes,” and is as follows: The American Congre Philadelphia, establi ! resolu tion of June 14, 1 a national flag for the United States of America, The reso- lution was as follows: Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen i , alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, new constellation, Although nearly 4 1776, ti i been decd tion is the relating to a SOVEeT( } The new feature (in alternate w 1 from x 5.3 as official. session at representing a those 3 rea first per le f sented tot by its Captain in and ne I teen unite ton's Headq Q 178 2 173 they Cri ry S a blue satisfacts flag bearis been in po of June, 1 t is not known desig g It is clai upholsterer wi Philadelphia, was fing comb descendants Congress, ington, wl 776, called u her ing w drawn in her back signed was adi Althe the flag { fbi, the Sta za 3% Ohio had beer therefore a seemed to be able discussie union » field iH imission of tats in $i tate int i 100, t Every new be acded that such to the union of the additio take effect on admission The return thirteen stripes of the 1777 in a measure reverence for the standard of the lution, but it was also due to the fact tl a further increase of the number of strips would have made the width of the flag out of proportion to its length unless the stripes were narrowed, and this would have impaired their « when geen from a distance, A the time said: ‘By this regul the flag was due tinctness ation the thirteen stripes valor and resources al stars will mark the increase of States since the present Constitution,” No act has since been passed by Cone gress altering this feature of the flag. and it is the same as originally adopted, ex cept as the number of stars in its union. In the war with Mexico the national flag bore twenty-nine stars in ite union, dur- ing the late civil war thirty-five, and since July 4, 1881, forty-four stars, In none of the acts of Congress relating to the flag lias the manner of arranging the stars been prescribed, and in quence there has been a lack of uniform. fty in the matter, and flags in use of the public generally may be seen with the stars arranged in various ways, The carly custom was tp insert the stars in parallel rows acress the blue field, and this custom has, it ix believed, been observed, in the navy at least since 1818, at which time the President ordered the stars to be arranged in such manner on the national flag used in the navy, In the army, too, it is believed the stars have always been arranged in horizontal rows across the blue field, but not always in vertical rows; the effect, however, be- {ng about the same as in the naval fing, Hereafter there will be no difference in the arrangement between the army and the navy, as ap agreement has been are COnse.- rived at between the War and Navy De- partments on the subject. Since July 4, 1801, the arrangement of stars in the flags of the navy and ensigns in the navy is as follows: The national flags hoisted at camps or forts are made of bunting of American manutacture, three sizes: The storm and recruiting flag, 8 feet in length by 4 feet 2 inches in width; by 10 feet in width; the garrison flag 36 feet length by 20 feet in This flag is hoisted only on holi The union is measuring width. day s and great occasions, one-third of the length of the flag extends to the lower edge of the red stripe from the top. The carried ments of infantry and artillery battalion of mrade or in battle, are feet 6 inches long a feet wide and mounted The field of the colors is 31 inches in length and extends fourth att 1 JA nationn: Colors engineers, on made o , and are © on staffs, to the lower edge fourth he h sizes © + i . > H i if Caunishing a Brutal Prince. RELIABLE RECIPES, R add to brown sugn 1 cup of butter, and about A little soda mas soir Mold ore making into biscuits and then bake a a little well, and let it rise bef them rise again, Oddity in An Eggs. Some silkworms lay from 1,000 to eggs, the wasp 3,000, the ant from 5,000 The number of the queen bee has long been in dispute, Burmeister savs from 5,000 to 6,000, but Spence and Kirby both go him several each declaring that the queen of fertility will lay not less than $0,000 and probably 1s high as 30,000 in Termes fatalis, the is possessed of the most extraordin laying propensities of any known she often produ cu RA 400 n a single day! From the time int begins to lay laying season is over—usually eges laid by etter average white One season. ary egg creature | eggs | when the white the egw. reckoned by entomologists as an exact lunar month-—she produces 2,500,000 eggs! In point of fecundity the white ant exceeds all other creatures, — | 8%, Louis Republic, Cn Secrets of Food Adulteration, The Chicago Post is responsible for o story to the effect that one F. H. Brak of that city answered an advertisement offering a “business opportunity” and made some queer discoveries, The man who advertised, and who did not tell his various vegetable sulstances, promising large profit, sale of secret methods of food adultera. Brahe declined to have any business deal- ings with him. The incident came to the, attention of J. B. Hean of Chicago, whoj has made a study of the various Kinds of adulteration, He savs that the city has no analyst, and that the swindlers could be reached only by action on the part of their victims, who themselves must collect the evidence and present it to the courts, He had discovered that tea and coffee were adulterated very gens Coffee sold at out to composed of compressed mahogany saw- I I : erally in Chicago. well- known grocery stores turned be fact the some of ition brought out are saved at pis ty t2 and sold resiauran nnd 8 with cheap te 1 ’ Hean had found marble dust in flour ot els and Mr articles similarly adulterated of food adult ration,” grown matter he * has to be outrageous cheaper the food the more the adultera tion, 1 the poor people who are the heaviest sufferers, Men struggling for life with a family on £8 and £10 a week swindled in n food they ire almost every article and they hav COI ; : Many a protection from the terati that imption, LIC TOW Hels Hr man cons MEMORY AND AGE, Their Close Relationship Shown bY Interesting Experiments, mind prose ntedd mono number greater tl put the general rule number Eig nre *] 1. estimate ore removal fron h they cept th last of a series, in verse order as a sweettining of the series in whi 111 Boston Advertiser Swifter Than the Eye. The rapidit times fur greater than can be d the human est It isa i ment of country boys, whkea they can ono stump in a field, bird at a consider imal moti favorite amuse find to Tria an owl sitting walk around the : to see him, observer « round thi follow him by turning his impression « { his head continuousiy round in tance As the ture frele= a ren seem to d then gives the a matter of fact, however, as soon t+ the ia twisted suffic. atly for comfort, he turns his head sudaesly in another direction, but so quickly that the eve cannot detect the motion. The ie % UWI Ss DOCK The observer will sometimes notice a tond sitting st a distance of two or three inches from a fly The inscet toad taken the fly, but the action has been wo “How old is your coat of arms? asked Mrs, Dimling of Mea, Fresivox, “Old” replied Mrs, Freshrox, with some fecling. Why we had that coat of arms made to order, "| Harper's Bazar, The total sehinol surcliment for the Unitea SA OCEAN SENTINELS. LIGHTHOUSLLS, Lights to Mark Shoals Supplies and Keepers— Deeds of Herolsm, Lightehips are usually employed to mark shoals where the ere tion of light Fifty of them the shores Sams houses is impracticable. guard dangerous points near lakes under Uncle in addition to these there of ocean and ure eight spure light-ships, of When a light for purposes ship is reported out to sent relied off its station, a steamer is look for it and tow it back If it disappeared altogether, un- other light-ship is dispatched ut take its place, The territory by the Light-house Rorvice is di lias Once to Saver d iaed into sixteen districts, es na anced by one euginee me navy officer. former attends to mutters of struction atter hus char of the running of the light-ships legraphic rd army and on light houses, receiv rf aud hav. case! } YOu 3 An figiributed of the Lime When she was 12 vf nother kept the light, her helpless erippie That September of that four men [rom a cap In midwinter of 1866 i a soldier of the Fort Ad garrison who had been similarly and he was restored t« st house, In the fall of three men were swamped in their boat near Lime Rock while trying to § ick up a valuable sheep that had falien from a wharf, She saved them and the sheep also. Not long af. terward she saw a man clinging toa spindle that marked a reef near the lighthouse, In a gale in March, 1869, she rescued two more soldiers from a swamped boat. On February 4, 1880, YOurs « y 115¢ 1867 band broke through the ice between the lighthcuse and the fort, and she pulled them out. Thus far she has saved thir. tesn persons fom drowning. Many a deed of heroism is performed by the light-keepers in | ncle Sam's em- ploy. Scores of people have been saved from wrecks by the hardy mariners of the New South Shoal lightship, who pever hesitate to launch au boatin the midst of the most violent storm for the purpose of a rescue Un one occasion twenty-seven persons were snatched by them from a watery grave, when the City of Newcastle ran upon the Nan- On another day they caught sight of a black object driven bofore the gale, and man on a raft. whom they found seated kis head buried i + his bands, and hope. lees of the aid which came at lust. In February, 1521, the Sharp's Island Chesapeake Bay, The keepers tended the light to the last, and clung to the structure when it was swept from its selves, but a groat part of the velaable apparatus, some of the devices employed by the Lighthouse Board are regarded by resi. dents on shore as extremely objection- able. Worst of ull are the “steam sirens,” which are truly a diabolical in- vention from any other point of view than that of utility, They utter u series of unearthly whoops, which usvend! the | scale note by note until the unwilling lige | tener feels as if, in case they should go a few notes higher, hie would become sud. denly insane, Neurly us bad are the | “whistling buoys,’ the establishment of { one of whicn near any inhabited spot is sure to excite most frantic protests from | dwellers in the neighborhood. Bixty-two of these buoys are emplos ed in the service, the biggest of them costing £1,070 ench, und being audible ut a dis- tance of fifteen miles Fie utter are inexpressibly saddening. They consist shaped the middle and extenaing sounds they mournful ana of un ron pear. bulb, with a tube ronning through tary iter, At the upper end of the tube is adjusted a through the matically COmMpPress qd by ti hori descripiion are two feet downward into the wi locomative which nuto- whistle, air, motion of ble tools. the waves, is liberated in 2 i Buoys of this particular- ] I ly useful in loggy waters The first lighthouse built on this conti- , Florada, Its it, whence the {OH iid seo nent was ot St. Augustine chief use was as a look-o 4 ‘ Spanish people o thie town vessels approaching sith, OF f the run away. the irom dna get notice « Coming af 10Us tower at! tention of Francis Drake as he was sail r the const with his fi i from nome mu MR. DEPEW ON HUMOR, he Value of Wit to Public Men, ment ire 1 above the Yective eloquence weessful mediocrity of his period—the Buchanans and the Polke, the Franklin Yerces, and the Winfield Scotts~like a star of the first magnitude above the milky way But in later vears he thought his failure to reach the supreme recognition to which he was entitled was due to his humor having created the impression in the minds of his countrymen that he was not a serious person hy A witty illustration or an apt story will accomplish more than columns of The old time audience manded a speech of than two § hour's dumtion and « X wx ted three The | audience of to-day grows restive after the first hour, and ix better pleased with for- ty-five minates, It prefers epigrams to arguments, and humor to rhetoric. It is still true, however that the press pre sents tO renders a speakers who indulges des 3 nat | HOLT 108s effort that be is in serious danger of re- ceiving no credit for ability in the dis. cussion of great questions, no matter how conspicuous that ability may be. The | question is always presented to a frequent | epeaker whether he shall gain the ap- | plause of his audience and lose the flat. tering opiuions of his critics in the press, | of, shall bore his audience and be compli | meated for wisdom,” John Brown celebrated recently his thirty-second year of continuous service in the post-office of Willimantic, Conn, | He commencel as assistant postmaster [ May 19, 1861, served eight years and was { then appointed postmaster, holding the sosition nearly eleven years, and resign. ing Jan. 1st, 1880, He was again assist. ant postmaster for six years, was em ployed under the late Postmaster Wales Prom 1886 to 1800, aud since then has been with present postmaster, C. N. Dan. jele. He is seventy-six years of age, and | hoe been longer in post-office serviee then any other man in the State, (Boston | Transcript. ¥ - PENNSYLVANIA ITEMS EPITOME OF NFWE GILEANED FROM VARIOUS FARTS OF THY STATE. Tne Bociety of the Army of the Potomac met at Scranton, Genersl Horace Porter was elected president and Boston was selected as the next meeting place. The corps’ presidents were justruciedto jusugurate a for the erection of & mor ovement ument to General Sherman. Tue Episcopal Convention on’ Central Pena- syinsnia concluded its sess'ous st Beading adjourned 10 meet ne year at Willinre- snd {ort Very gntifying worts were read, and exciting time was had election puties to the general convention, Guy siguhar was elected secreiary Joux Senorak, a Hungsrian, «tabbed Lis t E 1 y » if . boarding misire-s al Oneida, near Hazleton. He Was pursued yA nol and fterward ound dead, wer of the mob declared A men tint the man had been k lle Rev, Farner priest and physician, ¢ ’ x Moririxgs famous died pesr Pitsburg = lew hours alter undergoing ion for a tnre of ‘ rupture of the siomach. Mollinger i 54 ul g ith vars bad been is t b } § y n months i feeble heal his physicians ordered » extreme LW Lear warnings His illness and death followe Coxe ieges Degen with BuUrentie sermon Coroner commenced of the Oil Cite disaster, pios 1 1 was caused by one of Kevstene refinery, one of 1 ne have had a for EX QUARANTINE tte property. Mast of embeszirment, and was Chesier, pleaded guiay tononths iz jail bry Judge « Farner Mo: LING Mount Jos Pitts ro th ¥ re, the 3 t.physician, of wing to jiloess could not bless the large who visited him in crowds cured, TWEXTY.THRER of the m Ch cores, sn oil town, to be ge in near , were rebuilt a thing destroyed by fire. They wil not be and th.s once prospe: ous piace is sow of the past. OrriciaLs of the Baltimore and Oh road deny that there wes any aliempt up & train near Connellsville James Covin, Michael Seavers, and John H. Rhoads, directors of the Poor of Cumber- land county, convicted of io Rail. to hold mun fessance In the death of Joe Wilson, who was ind-ntured to John laflerty, in Adams county, were sentenced by Judge Sadie. Exercises incidents] to commencement were held at Lehigh, Franklin and Marshal] aud other institutions in the Siete A xuxarr of Hungarians employed at » breaker at Plitston were stoned by workmen, two being badly hurt, The siate.pickers and drivers refuse to work ualess the Huns are discharged, and the shaft and breaker are now idle, Tie news of President Ilarrison’s renom- ination was received with satisiaction in the Nix# more bodies were recovered at Titus wille, and at once buried. The greatest danger appears to be to the public health, but wrecked buildings are being burned and dis infectants freely used. lrvioetown, which was also swept by the flood, kas appealed to Governor Pattison for assistance. Tir Amalgamated Association Convention at Pittsburg considered the suggestion of a two years’ senle and withdrawal from the Amer.can Federation of Labor, Tae Grady Hospital has thrown ite doors 1a Atlanta, Ua, for ths reception of patients, This institation owas its establish mont to a division of seatiment which specu ap at the occasion of Heury W. Grady’s death as to the best means of honor ing his vw Uns dea was 1 erect a shatuo horoks shes, ion Sam 3 aac cessful issne at an expenditurs 1), The tal was under the direction of the city government, which paid #15000 ot 11s cont, remaswder was made up by ow
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