CR 113 
 .R65 
 1921 
 Dopy 1 
 
i TRRfiRY OF CONGRESS 
 
 MP 
 
CR 113 
 
 
 
 .R65 
 
 
 1921 
 
 
 Copy 1 
 
 
 
 A Little Flag Book 
 
 
 No. 3 
 
 
 ?>H^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^^^^^ 
 
 
 Compiled by 
 
 
 HOSEA W. ROOD 
 
 
 Department Patriotic Instructor 
 
 
 Grand Army of the Republic 
 
 
 Madison, Wisconsin 
 
 
 March, 1921 
 
 1 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
 APR9-1921 
 
 DOCUWti olON 
 
 
■\ 
 
 
 
 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 In January, 1919, I had printed what I called "A Little Flag 
 Book". I intended it for teachers who felt that they could 
 make good use of it in school. There were a thousand copies 
 of it and during the year nearly all of them were put to the 
 use for which they were intended. In January 1920, I had a 
 second edition of 1,200 copies printed, containing some of the 
 original matter, with much that was new. There has been so 
 much of a call for them that nearly all are now gone, not only 
 into schools but public libraries both in Wisconsin and several 
 other states. And now, as there seems to be a lively interest 
 in our Flag and all it symbolizes, I am about to compile yet 
 another edition, hoping it may serve a good purpose. 
 
 This book will contain what the others have done, in particu- 
 lar the substance of existing flag laws and flag customs. Our 
 boys and girls should know what our flag means, and the laws 
 and customs concerning its use. Therefore it is well to put 
 some of those facts in a convenient form for their instruction. 
 This book will contain, also, some other reprinted matter, for it 
 will go to many people who have not seen the books preceding it. 
 And it will answer many questions that come to me from time to 
 time as patriotic instructor, for Wisconsin, of the Grand Army of 
 the Republic. But the most of the matter in the book is new, 
 especially the story of Old Abe the Wisconsin War Eagle. This 
 will answer many questions about the famous old bird. There 
 are, too. some noble flag poems and flag tributes well worth 
 reading. 
 
 The veterans who wear the little bronze button will soon be 
 only a memory. That by which they wish best to be remembered 
 is their loyal devotion to the Flag and all it means. As we 
 leave it in the care and protection of the coming generation we 
 do exhort them to honor and cherish it, and in due time to 
 bequeath it unsullied to those who will live after them. 
 

REPORT OF DEPARTMENT PATRIOTIC 
 INSTRUCTOR 
 
 TO THE GRAND ARMY ENCAMPMENT 
 BARABOO, WISCONSIN, 
 
 June 15, 1920. 
 
 Comrade Hosea W. Rood, department patriotic instructor, 
 gave a verbal outline of his report, which he said would appear 
 in full in the encampment journal. It is as follows : 
 
 Commander and Comrades : I do not wish that my report to 
 you shall be merely perfunctory — given just because I am ex- 
 pected to say something patriotic — but that I may bring to you 
 some facts, some thoughts and suggestions, well worth while. 
 I am glad in the beginning to say that as time passes I have a 
 growing faith in practical patriotic instruction. What we wish 
 to find an abiding place in the great American heart must be 
 put into the hearts of our children, there to enter into their 
 growth. vVe may in a minute plaster something upon the sur- 
 face of a stone that will soon harden and stick tight, yet will 
 not become a part of the stone. It will not change the nature 
 of the rock. But what is fed to a living thing will in time be 
 transformed into the life of the thing itself. It is a matter 
 of growth, and growth takes time. Education is growth in mind 
 and spirit. It is not for today alone, but tomorrow — next year — 
 twenty-five years — the coming generation. 
 
 Who Educates. 
 
 Everybody living before children has something to do with 
 their education — you and I, Comrades, by being before them 
 what we wish them to become. In no small measure do the church 
 and the Sunday School teach patriotism, for they teach righteous- 
 ness, and "when the righteous rule the people rejoice." The 
 home — the right kind of home — is the very cradle of patriotism. 
 Yet where our little citizens get the most of their education is 
 
— 6 — 
 
 in school. The school should have for one of its objects the 
 training of boys and girls into good citizenship. To do this 
 is worth just as much to the child, is it not, as to be taught how to 
 get the answer to a problem in arithmetic. Is it not worth 
 yet more to his country ? 
 
 From what I have seen in many Wisconsin schools I am satis- 
 fied that the most of our teachers feel the importance of this 
 matter, but I fear that some do not mind much about it. Yet 
 such teaching should be done, for the character of our coming 
 citizenship must determine the future of our republic. The 
 America of our children and their children must depend upon 
 the Americanism taught in these days of unrest — these days of 
 transition after the great World AVar — a war of greater sig- 
 nificance, I fear, than the most of us can understand. 
 
 Americanism and Americanization. 
 
 The word Americanism now coming into so common use with 
 us is rather new to us. It implies the doctrine of American 
 Ideals; and the word Americanization should mean the creat- 
 ing of such ideals in the mind and heart — their elevation as 
 something well worth striving to attain and to practise. And 
 those ideals are the principles of life and government established 
 and bequeathed to us by the Fathers of our Republic. 
 
 On Sunday, the last fourth of July, it was my pleasant privi- 
 lege to listen to an eloquent sermon by the Rev. E. B Earle, 
 Chaplain of the Veterans' Home at Waupaca, from the text 
 "Remove not the ancient land mark, which thy fathers have 
 set." Mr. Earle 's patriotic application of the text to us in 
 these rather critical times was that we should be true to the 
 ideals and form of government established by the founders of 
 our Republic. It was for those ideals that we fought in the 
 Civil War, and which demands our attention and devotion in 
 these later days — especially in the education of our little citi- 
 zens. Americanism is another name for patriotism; and 
 Americanization means patriotic instruction in its best sense. 
 
 A Course of Instruction in Americanism. 
 
 I have been led by the reading of reports and suggestions com- 
 ing to me, as national patriotic instructor, from department 
 patriotic instructors to believe that there should be in every 
 
— 7 — 
 
 school a course of study in Americanism — a course not only 
 instructive but inspirational; and of such character as to be 
 used in the grades. Of course, a real, live teacher may do 
 such work now in connection with civics and history. The 
 right kind of teacher may do this now, and does, yet it is mostly 
 a matter of choice. We do not do that way in Arithmetic 
 and Geography. We put them into the course of study and say 
 they must be taught; and that the teacher must have passed 
 the examination for fitness to give such instruction. Now, is 
 it not just as important to the Young American in school, and 
 to the state, that he or she become imbued with the American 
 spirit as to learn how to extract the cube root or know the area 
 of the island of Terra del Fuegos? 
 
 I have been talking about this matter with some of the prac- 
 tical educators in the office of State Superintendant Cary, and 
 I am disposd to have a bill introduced into the next session of 
 our state legislature requiring the state superintendent to form- 
 ulate a course of instructions in Americanism for use in our 
 schools. If ever there were conditions demanding definite edu- 
 cation in American ideals they exist at the present time. I am 
 speaking in the name of the Grand Army of the Republic, and 
 as a long-time teacher. 
 
 Reports of Post Patriotic Instructors. 
 
 I have received patriotic reports from ninety-six Posts. About 
 half of them were made out by appointed instructors, the others 
 by Commanders or Adjutants. I am afraid that in many cases 
 the position and work of patriotic instructor are not taken 
 seriously enough. There is truly enough to do, and some in- 
 structors are active in every way they can be. In small Posts 
 it is, of course, not easy to find a comrade who feels able and 
 willing to accept the position. But this year some of the larger 
 Posts sent in no reports. I wish hereby heartily to thank those 
 who have responded. Some of the reports are very interesting 
 indeed, showing a good degree of activity. A few of the com- 
 rades have interested themselves in the schools, visiting them 
 from time to time and, when asked to do so, giving short talks, 
 which are greatly appreciated by the boys and girls. Comrades 
 who visit the schools when patriotic programs are presented, 
 especially at the memorial season, are delighted with the recep- 
 
— 8 — 
 
 tion given them. Our own Post, at Madison, has twenty school 
 buildings to visit. We detail every member to visit some school, 
 parochial as well as public, and at our next meeting listen to 
 the reports brought back. As a rule they are enthusiastic, 
 every comrade being glad he went. Such visits do the teachers 
 and pupils a great deal of good. 
 
 Memorial Services Best Ever. 
 
 This is the report from the most of the Posts. It seems as if 
 the public is becoming more and more interested in the signifi- 
 cance of Memorial Day. As our comrades become fewer in 
 number, and feebler, the citizens in a community feel the 
 responsibility resting upon them for the perpetuation of the 
 beautiful custom of strewing flowers upon the last resting places 
 of the defenders of the Union ; and they gladly observe the day 
 with impressive services. And then this year the newly organ- 
 ized American Legion — having made our Memorial Day also 
 their own — have heartily united with us in its observance, for 
 which we thank them. As we are borne one by one out to the 
 silent city we are glad to bequeath to our brave young comrades 
 the sacred traditions of Memorial Day that have been so dear 
 to us. We may be sure that in the years to come, as they think 
 of their dead comrades asleep under the poppies in Flanders 
 Field, they will not forget us. 
 
 There's a Difference in the Reports. 
 
 I asked that there be sent to me with the reports from Posts 
 copies of programs of Memorial Day exercises and newspaper 
 clippings about the manner of its observance. About half of 
 those reporting sent such programs and clippings, and some 
 wrote me good letters telling about the interest manifested by 
 the people and the schools. 
 
 I wish to thank in particular those who sent the programs, 
 clippings and letters. I now have them all attached to the filled- 
 out reports and shall have them bound into a book for our 
 library in Memorial H,all at the Capitol. I wish the people who 
 may look over the book fifty or a hundred years from now to 
 know something of how Memorial Day was observed in the 
 Year of our Lord 1920. 
 
The reports bringing the most clippings came from Fond du 
 Lac. They told about Memorial day in all parts of the connty. 
 A good supply of such material came from De Pere. I have 
 been told that the newspapers of one large city did not print a 
 word about Memorial Day — did not have room for such matter ! 
 Well, there is a difference in newspaper men. 
 
 I feel justified in mentioning the name of our patriotic instruc- 
 tor, Comrade Robert Schmidt, of Sheboygan. He has spoken in 
 several schools of his city, where he seems to be warmly welcomed. 
 I have copies of testimonials of several teachers concerning the 
 interest of the boys and girls in his heartfelt talks upon 
 patriotism and how much our good government has cost us. His 
 is a most commendable spirit. I wish there were more like him. 
 
 Patriotism in the South. 
 
 I am glad to say that in the most of the southern states laws 
 have been passed against the desecration of the flag. They are 
 much the same as those we have in the North, excepting that 
 some of them include also the Confederate flag. In some of 
 those states the law requires that the flag fly from schools while 
 in session. The department patriotic instructor of Louisiana says 
 that nearly every home in New Orleans had Old Glory out on 
 Flag Day. Let me ask how many of you, Comrades, honored our 
 flag by displaying it from your homes on the 14th day of last 
 June ? I suspect we are apt to forget flag days. We should 
 not allow ourselves to bestow less respect upon our nag than 
 the peeople of the South do. 
 
 Comrade Charles R. Haskins of Atlanta, Patriotic Instructor 
 of Georgia, tells me that on Memorial Day the members of his 
 Post went twenty miles up to Marietta, where 11,000 of our 
 Union Soldiers are buried in the national cemetery and there 
 held memorial services, Grand Army men, Confederates, Ameri- 
 can Legionaries and regular army soldiers all having part in 
 the program. The Gettysburg Address was read by a Confeder- 
 ate veteran who surrendered with Lee's Army at Appomattox. 
 Memorial services at Andersonville are in charge of the Grand 
 Army Post at Fitzgerald, who come 135 miles for that purpose. 
 
 Comrade Altenberg of Litle Rock, Arkansas, tells us that this 
 year on Memorial Day Confederates and Yanks united in decorat- 
 ing the graves of 8.000 Union soldiers and 5,000 Confederates. 
 
— 10 — 
 
 The speaker was an ex-Confederate. Here is a quotation from 
 his letter : 
 
 4 ' The Confederates vie with us Yanks in Patriotic movements, 
 and they take part with us in patriotic movements. . . .We are 
 brothers now, those of us who still live. The World War set at 
 rest the Confederate flag day in this Southern country. ' ' Though 
 there is an element in the South that is all the time looking back- 
 ward, there are progressives more interested in the present and 
 future good of our great Republic. The war is over. ' ' 
 
 My Own Work. 
 
 It is much the same as it has been in the years that are past. 
 I have had some part in the preparation of the Memorial Day 
 Annual for schools compiled by 0. S. Rice of the office of State 
 Superintendent C. P. Cary. Mr. Rice asked me to prepare an 
 article upon Wisconsin soldiers ' monuments. Questionnaires were 
 sent to every county clerk, county and city superintendent, and 
 all the Grand Army Posts in the State asking detailed informa- 
 tion about soldiers' memorials in every county, with the hope of 
 receiving prompt response. A few were minded to reply at once ; 
 yet not enough to make anywhere near a comprehensive article 
 possible. And so a preliminary paper was written with the 
 hope that something better may be done next year. I shall wel- 
 come all the information I can get about soldiers' memorials for 
 use in next year's Memorial Day Annual. 
 
 Little Flag Book. — Two years ago I compiled what I called 
 "A Little Flag Book." Many people were writing to me asking 
 various questions about flags, flag customs, etc. As it took no 
 little time to answer all those questions separately by letter, i 
 compiled this little book containing practical information about 
 the flag, so that when such questions came I could send the book 
 in answer to them. I gave it out that all who would like to have 
 this flag book would receive a copy by return mail upon receipt 
 of three cents for postage. I asked for the postage because I 
 thought those who would send it would really make use of the 
 book. I had a thousand copies printed, and there was a large 
 demand for them by Wisconsin teachers, and libraries both in 
 our state and others. This last year "Flag Book No. 2" was 
 printed — 1,200 of them — and now the most of them are gone. I 
 expect to compile this year "Flag Book No. 3," and I am now 
 selecting for it such material as I think will be useful in school 
 
— 11 — 
 
 and for other patriotic purposes. The first book had 57 pages, 
 the second 80. I hope to make the third book the best. 
 
 School Talks.— As I have found time to do so, I have accepted 
 invitations to visit schools here and there, where I have spoken 
 mostly upon the Evolution and Meaning of our Flag. Also I 
 have spoken at public gatherings, and in churches. This year I 
 have in particular visited and spoken in the schools in Madison, 
 at Racine, Platteville, Lake Mills, Chippewa Falls and Cadott— 
 also in a few country districts. I illustrate the evolution of our 
 flag by the use of a series of flags I carry with me. 
 
 School audiences are among the very best, both in attendance 
 and lively interest; and there is where the best patriotic work 
 can be done if one knows just how to speak to boys and girls. 
 When one talks to them to a purpose, he is talking to the future. 
 I have never known the pupils in school to seem more intensely 
 interested in everything of a patriotic nature than during the 
 past year. The talk about Americanism is impressing them. I 
 have asked in some schools that all who were Irish raise their 
 hands, and several would go up ; how many Norwegian, and then 
 several others; how many English, Italian, French, etc. When 
 I have asked how many Germans, some hands have gone up, yet 
 not so freely. But when I have said, "Now, how many Ameri- 
 cans ?" every hand would go up and wave energetically. This 
 means that with them the greatest thing of all is to be American. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Commander and Comrades, I wish that we may, just so long 
 as we live, be every one of us a patriotic instructor. Our exam- 
 ple as comrades of the Grand Army means a great deal. If 
 we are as a nation in any one greater danger than another it is 
 that coming from a disregard of law. We may be helpful in the 
 sight of our boys and girls by commending in every way a 
 strict obedience to law. On Memorial Day this year I saw in a 
 certain village a gambling device put where young boys 
 could try their hick — and they did it; on Memorial Day! Con- 
 trary to law, and demoralizing ! Let us stand for law as loyally 
 as we stood in battle for our country. 
 
 I thank all of you who have done what you could as patriotic 
 instructors, whether appointed as such or not. I thank all who 
 have sent me well prepared reports — especially those with clip- 
 pings and good letters. Cordially and Fraternally Yours, 
 
 Hosea W. Rood. 
 
— 12 — 
 
 A TALK WITH TEACHERS 
 
 I am speaking to you as Grand Army patriotic instructor for 
 Wisconsin, a position I have now occupied, nearly fifteen years. 
 During that time I have had the pleasure of visiting many 
 schools in most parts of the state and speaking to thousands of 
 pupils all the way from the kindergarten to the high school 
 and normal school. From what I have seen I have come to have 
 all faith in wise patriotic instruction as given to our little citi- 
 zens. I have in mind some teachers in particular who are doing 
 the best kind of such work. I have been delighted with the 
 interest manifested in the history and meaning of our flag, 
 the intelligent answers about the flag, the inspiring singing of 
 patriotic songs, also the apparent good discipline in nearly every 
 school. Nothing is better for the future citizenship of our 
 country than the training of our boys and girls to prompt and 
 willing obedience. I do not mean the obedience coming from 
 forced submission, but as a result of wise training in school. Such 
 training is sensible patriotic instruction — worth more, in fact, 
 than merely singing songs and saluting the flag. 
 
 These Are Critical Times. 
 
 We have never needed good patriotic instruction both in 
 school and out more than we do now, in these days of unrest. 
 The great world war so stirred up economic conditions that 
 many good people are uneasy and uncertain about the future. 
 When in such a state of mind men and women are easily wrought 
 upon by the agitator, who fairly rejoices in such conditions. 
 It is his time to do mischief, and he would like to lead good hon- 
 est folks into the belief that they would be better off with no gov- 
 ernment at all than this of ours, the best under which men ever 
 lived. Bolshevists and every other kind of anarchists are a 
 serious menace to us. It thus becomes the duty of every patri- 
 otic citizen to oppose in every practical way the propaganda of 
 every group of men not wholly American. Patriotism is prac- 
 
— 13 — 
 
 tieally Americanism, for what is good in Americanism is good 
 everywhere on this side of the ocean and on that. What is 
 truly good in Americanism has its sanction in the Golden Rule, 
 and the Golden Rule is world-wide in its application. 
 
 The Teacher's Privilege and Responsibility. 
 
 No high-school teacher is excusable who does not feel it his 
 moral and civic duty to present to his young people the highest 
 ideals of American Citizenship. This means courage to stand 
 against what is wrong and for what is right in all public affairs, 
 as well as in personal relations with those about us ; to keep 
 clean in body, in thought and in word; to be loyal to home, 
 school, church, and country, and to obey the laws of the land. 
 It means a living respect for the Red in our flag, which bids 
 us be brave ; for the White, the symbol of Purity ; and for the 
 Blue, which means Loyalty. The right kind of teacher will in 
 every practical, sensible way exalt these cardinal virtues in the 
 minds of his or her pupils. Especially will he manifest them 
 in his own life. Now and then a pupil speaks regretfully of 
 certain unfortunate habits of his teacher. 
 
 In every grade, from the kindergarten up, our flag may be 
 exalted as the living symbol of everything good in America 
 and not one thing that is bad. Every mean, low, dishonest, 
 unclean performance, whether in public life or private, in 
 school or on the playground, casts a slur upon our flag and 
 degrades citizenship. I said many times during the war to the 
 boys and girls in school that we were, as a republic, in not so 
 great danger from the Hun as from a lack of respect for law 
 right here at home. I knew we could beat the Hun, yet felt, 
 and do now feel, very anxious about the other danger. Our 
 great army of teachers should be just as earnest and faithful 
 in defending law and order here in every community as our 
 brave boys in khaki were when they went over the top, even 
 unto death. If our teachers, while they have the blessed privi- 
 lege and duty of training our little citizens, do not exalt prac- 
 tical patriotism, they are not doing their duty by the heroes 
 who sleep today under the poppies in Flanders Field. Neither 
 are they honoring as they should the memory of the 359,528 
 schoolboys and young men who gave their lives in the Civil 
 War for the preservation of the Union. The best way for our 
 
— 14 — 
 
 into schools but public libraries both in Wiscinsin and several 
 great army of teachers, both in public schools and private, to 
 honor the memory of our heroic dead is to inspire the hearts of 
 our growing boys and girls with the principles for which they 
 gave the last full measure of devotion. 
 
 I am feeling, the more I think of these things, their import- 
 ance, I sincerely wish that all educators may respond heartily 
 to the call for Americanization. It is much easier to cultivate 
 a patriotic spirit in the hearts of our young people than to deal 
 justly with men and women with anarchistic tendencies. 
 
 The Flag in School. 
 
 For the best of reasons our flag should be in sight in school, 
 and should be understood there, for the school is a training 
 camp for good American citizenship. The survivors of the 
 great army of boys and young men who fought for the preserva- 
 tion of our national unity in the civil war have an intense love 
 for the old banner under which they marched and fought — 
 now an almost dying love — for it is the symbol of all that is 
 good in our government. It is their dying desire that our little 
 citizens be trained to respect and love and defend in every way 
 they can the living principles of justice and freedom of which 
 our beautiful flag is the emblem. 
 
15 
 
 AMERICANIZATION IN SCHOOL 
 
 The following is a copy of a paper on this topic read before 
 a meeting in the Capitol of superintendents and school princi- 
 pals of southern Wisconsin. I am putting it here for others 
 to read: — 
 
 I am coming to you in behalf of the Grand Army of the Re- 
 public to speak upon a subject intensly interesting to me, and, 
 I believe, important to all of us. For the reason that I was 
 nearly four years a boy soldier, a long-time teacher after the 
 war, and. for the past fifteen years have been patriotic instruc- 
 tor of the Grand Army in Wisconsin, I am very much concerned 
 in the teaching of patriotism, which is another word for Ameri- 
 canism, in our schools. I presume I think more about this matter 
 than you do. 
 
 I think we may learn something from the Germans. For many 
 years before they entered upon the great World War their gov- 
 ernment made a business of Prussianizing every boy and girl in 
 their schools; and they succeeded so well that every man and 
 woman of them came to be ready to bow down in worship before 
 him who was the very personification of autocracy. This was 
 not done overnight, but by a course of systematic education from 
 childhood up. Germany is indeed systematic — works with a defi- 
 nite purpose — and so in what she undertakes brings about won- 
 derful results. 
 
 Every one of ns who is a real American desires nothing better 
 for our country than that our boys and girls may become in their 
 manhood and womanhood one hundred per cent Americans — 
 intelligent, loyal, upright citizens; men and women who will 
 know what Americanism means, and are inspired with American 
 ideals. We do not wish them to bow down and worship any one 
 but the God of all nations. What we do desire is that they stand 
 erect as free and loyal subjects of our Republic. 
 
 During the last three years we have caught up and are freely 
 using what had not before been with us a very common word- 
 Americanism. It has come to slip glibly off the tongue and from 
 
— 16 — 
 
 the point of the pen. I fear, however, that if I should ask you 
 schoolmasters before me to give offhand a direct definition of the 
 term the most of you would ask for some time in which to think 
 about it before answering. Is there not a chance for the word to 
 become with us mere cant — handy to use, yet not meaning very 
 much ? It is too good a word thus to be taken in vain. 
 
 We may all agree that our boys and girls, especially the for- 
 eign born, should be Americanized ; but is it not best, first of all, 
 to undertake to teach them what Americanism is — what Ameri- 
 can ideals are, or .should be ? Can this be done with no definite 
 plan ? Should it be left to teachers as they may be moved to do 
 so, and in a haphazard manner? Or should there be prepared 
 for all our little citizens in the grades, by a person or persons 
 well qualified in both head and heart to do ,so, a simple, sensible 
 course of instruction to become as much a part of the school cur- 
 riculum as geography and language? Let me ask every one of 
 you whose blood is red and lively, who has a broad view of the 
 demands of the present time and conditions, to think seriously 
 upon this matter. 
 
 As national patriotic instructor of the Grand Army during the 
 past year I wrote to every state superintendent upon this sub- 
 ject- I have received responses from several of them, and am 
 surprised that so many of them favor some such plan. Now I am 
 disposed to have introduced into our legislature the coming win- 
 ter a bill requiring our state superintendent to formulate a 
 course of instruction in Americanism for our schools, such as 
 may be used in the grades, as far down, at least, as the fifth and 
 and sixth. It is after much thought and some advice that I have 
 decided to do this. I shall be glad of the opinion of any of you 
 upon the subject, with suggestions as to what such a course 
 should contain. 
 
 Think of the thousands of children from abroad in our coun- 
 try, whose parents cannot speak a word of our language ; who are 
 entirely ignorant of what it means to be an American. And 
 there are more a-coming. Must they learn from the streets, or 
 may they receive definite training in our schools? Shall their 
 Americanization be of the haphazard sort, or simple, direct and 
 definite ? Can we afford to allow them to become recruits of the 
 disturbing army of isms ? We would better do our best to guard 
 against every such tendency. 
 
— 17 — 
 
 What May be Done, if— 
 
 I have been told by some that all this may be taught in classes 
 in civics and history, if teachers are minded to do so, without its 
 being made a definite part of an overloaded course of study. 
 But pupils as far down as the fifth and sixth grades do not study 
 civics and history. If teachers are disposed to teach it along with 
 civics and history they may do so. To be sure they may if they 
 will, and, I am glad to say, some of them are so minded; yet they 
 have no line of instruction laid out for them — no system. We do 
 not say that concerning Arithmetic and Geography. We say 
 these must be taught and we provide textbooks for that purpose, 
 requiring also that before a person becomes a teacher he or she 
 must be examined as to fitness for the work. Is it any more 
 important for a pupil to know how to extract the cube root or 
 learn the number of square miles in Madagascar than to be 
 taught what it means to be an American, what are and should be 
 the civic ideals of our boys and girls growing up into citizenship ? 
 
 We should not forget for a day in home, church or school that 
 in dealing with our boys and girls we are dealing with the citi- 
 zenship of our country, ten, twenty, fifty years from now. We 
 are indeed standing on holy ground. 
 
 THE FLAG NUMBER OF THE NATIONAL 
 GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 
 
 The October number of this great magazine, in 1917, was a 
 Flag Number. It was wholly devoted to flags of the leading 
 nations of the world. In it there are the pictures and descrip- 
 tions of 1,197 flags in their accurate colors and designs- And 
 there are many pages of interesting flag literature. From those 
 pages I am making the following quotations : 
 
 "Flags symbolize the noble aspirations and glorious achieve- 
 ments of the human race ; they epitomize the romance of history ; 
 they incarnate the chivalry of the ages. 
 
 •'Their origin is divinity itself; for when, at the beginning of 
 recorded time, Jehovah made a covenant with man, promising 
 that never again would he send the waters to cover the face of 
 the earth and destrov all flesh, he unfurled the first flag— the 
 
— 18 
 
 multicolored banner of the rainbow — which he set in the clouds 
 as a symbol of security and an assurance to all future generations 
 of his watchful care. 
 
 "And since that day man has, in his finite way, employed his 
 earthly banners as emblems of faith, of hope and of high resolve. 
 
 "Around the bits of varicolored bunting which the people of 
 each land nominate as a national flag, there cluster thoughts of 
 loyalty, of patriotism, and of personal sacrifice which have 
 enabled the world to move forward, from the days when each 
 individual struggled for himself alone, like other wild animals 
 of plain and mountain side, until, through community of inter- 
 ests and unity of effort, mankind has been enabled to rear the 
 splendid structure of twentieth century civilization. 
 
 ' ' When the savage began to emerge from his isolation and took 
 the first steps toward becoming a social creature, profiting by 
 association and cooperation with his fellow human beings, one of 
 his first needs was a sign or symbol whereby he could distinguish, 
 during primitive battles, between creatures of his own tribe or 
 family and those of enemy tribes. A peculiar type of club, a 
 splotch of colored clay on the body of the warrior, and later some 
 rude devices on his clumsy shield served for the time the, purpose 
 of insignia. Eventually these bits of wood, bodily ornamenta- 
 tion, and shield signs were replaced by the skins of animals 
 attached to poles so that they might be held high in air and recog- 
 nized at a distance. From such crude beginnings it is easy to 
 trace the evolution of the flags of civilized man. 
 
 ' ' Today, while it is true that we are thinking of the flags of 
 our own and of other nations in sanguinary strife, these emblems 
 of armies and navies have a deep and noble significance far 
 removed from their use in leading men to battle. 
 
 An Inspiration to Personal Sacrifice. 
 
 1 ' The flag epitomizes for an army the high principles for which 
 it strives in battle. Were it not for the high ideals which it keeps 
 ever before the soldier he would be bestialized by slaughter. It 
 keeps men's motives lofty even in mortal combat, making them 
 forgetful of personal gain and of personal revenge, but eager for 
 personal sacrifice in the cause of the country they serve. 
 
 ' ' In the present world struggle in which the United States of 
 America is now engaged, we of this land hold to the ideals repre- 
 sented in the history and the promise of the Stars and Stripes— 
 
— 19 — 
 
 the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness safe- 
 guarded for all mankind. 
 
 '"And though many must fall in the achievement of those 
 ideals, a noble and imperishable good must endure as a monu- 
 ment to their sacrifice. History can bestow upon such soldiers no 
 higher encomium than that of Defenders of the Flag. 
 
 The Significance of Our Colors. 
 
 "America's most gifted poets and orators have vied with one 
 another in setting forth the significance of the red, the white and 
 the blue of the Star Spangled Banner. In the words of Henry 
 Ward Beecher : 
 
 ' ' 'A thoughtful mind, when it sees a nation 's flag, sees not the 
 flag, but the nation itself. And whatever may be its symbols, its 
 insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the government, the prin- 
 ciples, the truths, the history, that belong to the nation that sets 
 it forth. The American flag has been a symbol of Liberty, and 
 men have rejoiced in it, 
 
 ' ' ' The stars upon it were like the bright morning stars of God, 
 and the stripes upon it were beams of morning light. As at 
 early dawn the stars shine forth even while it grows light, and 
 then as the sun advances that light breaks into banks and stream- 
 ing lines of color, the glowing red and intense white striving 
 together, and ribbing the horizon with bars effulgent, so, on the 
 American flag, stars and beams of many-colored light shine out 
 together. And wherever this flag comes and men behold it, they 
 see in its sacred emblazonry no embattled castles or insignia of 
 imperial authority ; they see the symbols of light. It is the ban- 
 ner of Dawn.' 
 
 Biblical Origin of the Red, White, and Blue. 
 
 "Charles W. Stewart, superintendent of naval records and 
 library of the United States Navy Department, to whom the Geo- 
 graphic is indebted for helpful advice and criticism in the com- 
 pilation of the data published in this number of the magazine, 
 advances the following theory of the origin of the colors em- 
 ployed in the national ensign : 
 
 " 'The flag may trace its ancestry back to Mount Sinai, whence 
 the Lord gave to Moses the Ten Commandments and the book of 
 the law, which testify of God's will and man's duty; and were 
 deposited in the Ark of the Covenant within the Tabernacle, 
 
— 20 — 
 
 whose curtains were blue, purple, scarlet and fine twined linen. 
 
 ' 'Before the ark stood the table of shew-bread, with its cloth 
 of blue, scarlet and white. These colors of the Jewish Church 
 were taken over by the early Western Church for its own and 
 given to all the nations of western Europe for their flags. When 
 the United States chose their flag it was of the colors of the old, 
 but new in arrangement and design. 
 
 ' 'Our flag is of the colors red, white, and blue. Red is for 
 courage, zeal, fervency ; white is for purity, cleanness of life, 
 and rectitude of conduct; blue is for loyalty, devotion, friend- 
 ship, justice and truth. The star is an ancient symbol of India, 
 Persia, Egypt, and signifies dominion and sovereignty. ' 
 
 The Call of the Flag. 
 
 "Hon. Frederick C. Hicks, in the House of Representatives 
 on Flag Day, June 14, 1917, thus portrayed the meaning of the 
 national ensign." 
 
 ' The flag of America does more than proclaim mere power 
 or acclaim a great and glorious history. Its folds wave a bene- 
 diction to the yesterdays of accomplishment and beckon the 
 tomorrows of progress with hope and confidence ; it heralds the 
 noble purpose of a mighty people and carries a message of hope 
 and inspiration to all mankind. Its glowing splendor appeals to 
 us to demand international arbitration; it commands us to self- 
 sacrifice, which alone can maintain equality of rights and 
 fullness of opportunity in our republic. 
 
 " 'Its stars and stripes voice the spirit of America calling to 
 a nation of indomitable courage and infinite possibilities to live 
 the tenets of Christianity, to teach the gospel of work and useful- 
 ness, to advance education, to demand purity of thought and 
 action in public life, and to protect the liberties of free govern- 
 ment from the aggression of despotic power. This is the call of 
 the flag of the Union in this hour of crisis and turmoil, when 
 civilization and the laws of nations, and of humanity are being 
 engulfed in the maelstrom of death and destruction'. 
 President Wilson, in a Flag Day address said: 
 11 'This flag, which we honor and under which we serve, is 
 the emblem of our unity, our thought and purpose as a nation. 
 It has no other character than that which we give it from gen- 
 eration to generation. The choices are ours. It floats in majes- 
 tic silence above the hosts which execute those choices whether 
 
— 21 — 
 
 in peace or war. And yet, though silent,, it speaks to us — 
 it speaks to us of the past, of the men and women who went 
 before us, and of the records they wrote upon it. 
 
 1 ' ' We celebrate the day of its birth ; and from its birth 
 until now it has witnessed a great history, has floated on high 
 the symbol of great events, of a great plan of life worked out 
 by a great people. We are about to carry it into battle, to lift 
 it where it will draw the fire of our enemies. We are about to bid 
 thousands of thousands, it may be millions, of our men — the 
 young, the strong, the capable of the nation — to go forth and 
 die beneath it on fields of blood far away. 
 
 " 'Woe be to the man or group of men, that seek to stand 
 in our way in this day of high resolution, when every principle 
 we hold dearest is to be vindicated and made secure for the 
 salvation of the nations. We are ready to plead at the bar of 
 history, and our flag shall wear a new luster. Once more we 
 shall make good with our lives and our fortunes the great faith 
 to which we were born, and a new glory shall shine in the face 
 of our people' ". 
 
 THE CONCRETE MEANING OF OUR FLAG 
 
 While we are talking so much about our flag and American- 
 ism let us be careful that what we say does not become mere 
 "cant"'. 
 
 My dictionary tells me that this not-very-good word comes 
 from "chant, singing, in allusion to the whining tone of beg- 
 gars". It has come to mean an affected sing-song mode of 
 speaking, and is applied to stock phrases or peculiarities of 
 speech of any sect or class, especially religious phraseology 
 used insincerely. 
 
 Now, may this not mean, also, patriotic talk just for the sake 
 of appearing patriotic, yet without its meaning very much — 
 just as now and then a person uses pious expressions just for 
 the sake of appearing pious? 
 
 When it is the fashion to say patriotic things about the flag 
 and Americanism, there is some danger that such language may 
 degenerate into mere cant. Since all sensible people despise 
 cant, whether religious or patriotic, the use of it tends to bring 
 
— 22 — 
 
 something akin to contempt upon the principles so insincerely 
 professed, however good it may be of itself. 
 
 Above all things let us pray to be delivered from flag cant, 
 for it is flag desecration. In this conection it is well worth 
 while to consider the concrete significance of our flag — its stars, 
 and stripes, and colors. 
 
 The Stripes on Our Flag. 
 
 The Stripes were put upon our flag by the colonists. Just 
 who of them did it we can never know. History tells us that 
 while every colony had its own flag they had none in common. 
 At first, they did not want such a flag, for the colonies were 
 quite separate in origin and purpose. Yet when they found 
 themselves treated unfairly by the country whence the most of 
 them came they found that in order to maintain the liberty 
 they had been in the habit of enjoying they must act together — 
 do team work. And some one, no matter now who, proposed 
 that they have a common banner. Accordingly, a flag came 
 into use with thirteen stripes — a stripe for each colony — easily 
 made by putting six white stripes upon the red merchant-ship 
 flag of England. There was put, also, upon this new flag a rat- 
 tlesnake over the words, "Do not tread on me." It meant, of 
 course, that the thirteen colonies thus symbolized would stand 
 shoulder to shoulder in self-defense and would not be trodden 
 upon. The banner thus flung upon the breeze foretold the for- 
 mation of our Union and its glorious career from then until 
 now. 
 
 These stripes were thus put upon our flag by the colony 
 people before there was a United States. They could not then 
 by any reaching out of prophetic imagination see the greatness 
 to which the union of those thirteen colonies would come. They 
 fought with faith and courage for freedom in their day, and 
 now we are the proud citizens of the great Republic for which 
 they in their courage laid the foundation. Unknowingly they 
 served us, and having done so. passed away with no stone to 
 mark the place of their rest. Yet they left us a memorial more 
 noble, more enduring than marble or granite — the stripes on the 
 flag always waving over us. Every time we look upon them it 
 becomes us to think with gratitude of the colony days, and the 
 colony people who builded for us far better than they knew. 
 
— 23 — 
 
 "We shall do well to honor their memory by doing something 
 worth while for those who are to live after us. It is for us to 
 honor the stripes they put upon our flag. Whatever there may 
 be in well sounding stock phrases, there is no cant in patriotic 
 living. 
 
 The Stars in Our Flag. 
 
 It is rather uncertain to whom belongs the credit for put- 
 ing the first thirteen stars on our flag. Every child in school 
 will tell us it was Betty Ross. The story of the making of our 
 first flag by Mrs. Ross is a pretty one, whether it is history, or 
 tradition, or myth. 
 
 The account given in Preble's History of the Flag of the 
 United States, pages 165-6, makes Betty a historic character, 
 yet the iconoclast is after her, whether we like it or not. The 
 people of Rhode Island claim that the stars were taken from 
 their flag of the Revolution, which had in its canton thirteen 
 stars. No one can tell us for certain whence congress got the 
 idea, from Betty's flag or that of Rhode Island, when, on the 
 14th day of June, 1777, this action was taken: — 
 
 11 Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be 
 thirteen stripes alternate red and white; that the Union be 
 thirteen stars, white, on a blue field, representing a new con- 
 stellation. 
 
 The stars and stripes had been used before. It was this reso- 
 lution that legally adopted them". 
 
 The thirteen states were not very large, and our Nation was, 
 to begin with, rather small; yet it was healthy. Finding itself 
 free it began to grow and grow, until it spread from ocean to 
 ocean and out to the islands of the sea — all this in a century 
 and a third of freedom. A wonderful growth it was — all healthy 
 and natural, no conquest by force of arms. And it not only 
 grew bigger and bigger but better and better in all that makes 
 a nation gre'at and prosperous — economically, commercially, 
 educationally, and. I think I may say, spiritually. It is not 
 necessary here to do more than mention our growth in all that 
 makes for greatness in a nation. Not that we are without faults, 
 but that we recognize them and are doing what we can to get 
 rid of them. 
 
 Our national growth is indicated by the number of stars on 
 our flag — all the way from thirteen to forty-eight — and at 
 
— 24 — 
 
 least two more a-coming. If we are truly patriotic we shall do 
 our best that this growth toward better things — with higher 
 ideals — continues. When we look upon the stars of our flag 
 and think of Betty's thirteen, we shall, if we are truly progres- 
 sive and patriotic, do what we can to promote the growth of our 
 country, if not in bigness, in civic and moral betterment. Our 
 flag says to us through its stars, "Think of the wonderful 
 growth of our country in everything that is worth while, and 
 keep it a-going!" 
 
 The Colors in Our Flag. 
 
 The Red. — From the days of heraldry red has been the color 
 of Courage. In war it urged us into the battle front and bade us 
 be brave. Though we are not now in war, and hope we may not 
 again be drawn into it, there are yet many evil things to fight. 
 Though as a government we have high ideals and are aiming 
 toward civic righteousness, we do have among us bad men, and 
 some women not so good as they should be. Compared with 
 the whole this class of people is small, yet their influence is hard 
 to combat. Our courts are busy every day. Not all of us are 
 called upon thus to deal with wickedness, yet it is incumbent 
 upon all of us to do what we can to overcome what is bad. We 
 should be brave enough to stand all the time and everywhere 
 against what is wrong and for what is right, at the ballot box, 
 in society, and in positions of public or private trust. To do this 
 requires moral courage. The red in our flag bids us be brave. 
 Is it too much to say that our patriotism is measured by our 
 courage ? 
 
 The White. — The white in our flag is the emblem of purity. 
 It stands for all that is clean in motive, in habit and in char- 
 acter. Is it too much to say that it bids us be clean in person 
 and in language? He who is unclean in thought, language or 
 practice and yet speaks, even eloquently, about our glorious 
 flag talks cant, and throws discredit upon the visible token of 
 all that is good and true and pure in both the individual and 
 the government of which he is a part, and for not one thing 
 that is bad. Without clean boys and girls we cannot, when they 
 grow up, have a clean citizenship. It becomes every truly patri- 
 otic man and woman to set a clean example for our little citizens. 
 Men have no business to tell vile stories before boys, thus to cor- 
 rupt them. One of the best tributes I have ever heard to a Grand 
 
— 25 — 
 
 Array comrade was given to him as his flower-covered casket was 
 just about to be consigned to the bosom of mother earth, when it 
 was said that he was never heard to use language that he could 
 not properly use in a lady's parlor. He cannot have much 
 respect for the white in his flag who is in favor of a double stand- 
 ard of morals — an unclean one for men, yet requiring that 
 women be pure. Practical patriotism most certainly means pur- 
 ity, cleanness, of life and character. 
 
 The Blue. — The blue in our national banner means loyalty, 
 truth, justice. He is no patriot, does not honor our flag, who prac- 
 tices double dealing ; who does not undertake to be honest, upright 
 and true. No profiteer may rightly claim to be a patriot. People 
 of this sort were a sad discredit to our country during the world 
 war, and they are always a discredit. They presented a sad con- 
 trast to the brave, loyal young men who put their lives upon the 
 altar of devoted service for the cause of civic righteousness dur- 
 ing that war, thousands of them going over the top to their death, 
 others to come home wrecked in body in token of their cour- 
 ageous loyalty. They are in sad contrast to the brave old boys in 
 blue who by their loyal devotion to our country made possible 
 the present prosperity upon which the greedy profiteer could 
 feed himself fat. 
 
 Loyalty in these days of peace means obedience to law. No 
 man who evades the law of the land for the sake of profit, or 
 what he is pleased to call personal liberty, honors the blue in our 
 flag. Whatever he may say in pretending to do so is cant — hypo- 
 critical. He is anything but true-blue- The patriot does not go 
 a-fishing or hunting contrary to law. He does not gamble in any 
 way. He does not have to watch for the game warden or the 
 policeman. His example in all these things is safe for our little 
 citizens to follow. 
 
 Loyalty begins at home. One who is not loyal to his home — to 
 those of his own household — is not a desirable citizen. One who 
 is not loyal to his own community and its affairs is not at all 
 likely to be loyal to the larger community, the state, the nation. 
 Patriotism begins at home. Boys and girls allowed to be lawless 
 at home and in the community will be lawless everywhere. All 
 this the blue in our flag demands. It is practical patriotism. 
 
 The Voice of Our Flag. 
 
 To him who can hear well our flag floating up yonder, hanging 
 
— 26 — 
 
 on the walls of our homes or schoolrooms, wherever it is, speaks 
 to ns. Its Stripes bid us remember the Colony days, and the brave 
 people who in their love of liberty laid for us the foundations of 
 our great government; and they urge us to maintain honestly, 
 earnestly and fearlessly the principles of liberty, made safe by 
 law, as they bequeathed them to us. 
 
 Its Stars call upon us to consider the wonderful growth of our 
 country from thirteen states and stars to our present forty-eight ; 
 growth in territory rich in resources, and beautiful, withal, yet 
 better still in what is good economically, educationally, fratern- 
 ally and morally. They plead with us to make still greater prog- 
 ress in all that makes for true national greatness- 
 Its Red bids us be brave and courageous, conquering what is 
 bad, strengthening what is good, for * * righteousness exalteth a 
 nation. ' ' 
 
 Its White bids us be clean in motive and manner, pure in 
 thought and purpose, clean in language and behavior. 
 
 Its Blue says to us all the time, "Be loyal, be true, be honest 
 and law abiding, in all your relations with one another and your 
 country. "As ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even 
 so unto them. ' ' 
 
 OLD ABE, THE WISCONSIN WAR EAGLE 
 
 Very closely connected with our Wisconsin battle flags is the 
 story of Old Abe, the Wisconsin war eagle. So many questions 
 are asked about him that I think it worth while to reprint the 
 account of the famous old bird as it has twice been given in the 
 Wisconsin Memorial Day Annual— in 1904 and 1918. Much that 
 has been said about him contains more or less fiction. The story 
 as here told conforms to facts as I have myself heard them from 
 those who personally knew Old Abe himself. 
 
 Mrs. McCann Tells her Story. 
 
 In the early spring of 1861, some Indians, as was their custom, 
 went up the Flambeau river to make maple sugar. While thus 
 engaged in the heavy timber of Price county they found an 
 eagle's nest in a tall pine tree. There is some difference of opinion 
 as to just where that pine tree stood. If Chief Sky, the young 
 
— 27 — 
 
 Indian who got a baby eagle out of that nest, were here I pre- 
 sume he could tell us all about it, but he is now, I trust, in the 
 happy hunting grounds where all good Indians go. I do not 
 suppose it makes much difference, anyhow. One thing, however, 
 is certain : On their way down the river Chief Sky and some of 
 the other Indians stopped one April day at the pioneer home of 
 Daniel McCann at Jim Falls, about ten miles up the river from 
 Chippewa Falls, and wanted to sell the little eagle to Mrs. 
 McCann. One day in June, 1903, I had the pleasure of visiting 
 Mrs. McCann at. her home in Chippewa Falls. Though she was 
 then eighty-three years old, her memory was still good, and she 
 told me this story about the bird that, all unguessed by her, was 
 to become so famous : 
 
 "Yes," said she, "I think it was along in April when Chief 
 Sky and some of his friends stopped at our house at Jim Falls 
 and wanted to sell me a young bird they called an eagle. He was 
 not then old enough to fly. I told them I believed it was a young 
 crow, but they declared it was an eagle. I said I had no use for 
 him, yet they were quite anxious to make a trade. At last I told 
 them I would give them a bag of corn standing by the door — 
 about a bushel of it, I guess. That satisfied them, so they took 
 the corn and left the bird. As he could not yet fly it was not 
 much trouble to keep him. It was not long, though, before he got 
 so he could use his wings a little, and then he'd bother us about 
 getting away. Sometimes he'd get clear down below the Falls, 
 as much as a half a mile from the house ; and the children would 
 have to keep running after him to keep him from getting away 
 for good. He got to be ugly, too, and we had to tie him up. 
 
 "After a while he came to be so much of a plague that we 
 made up our minds to get rid of him in some way. My husband 
 took him down to Chippewa Falls and tried to sell him to some 
 soldiers that were going to the war; but they did not seem to 
 care for him. After that he took him down to Eau Claire, and 
 he was bought for a company of soldiers there. I never saw him 
 again. I have heard that they carried him into battle, and that 
 folks ever since then have made a great fuss over him." 
 
 This is Mrs. McCann 's story. I am glad to have heard her tell 
 it. She was born in Manitoba on New Years day, 1820. After 
 her marriage she came to the Chippewa country to live. She 
 died at Chippewa Falls November 9, 1903. 
 
— 28 — 
 The Young Bird Gets Into the Army. 
 
 At Eau Claire Captain John E. Perkins was raising a company 
 of soldiers for the Civil War. The company had been named the 
 Eau Claire Badgers. When Mr. McCann brought the young 
 eagle there Captain Perkins' boys were greatly interested in the 
 bird. Some of them thought it would be a fine thing to enlist 
 him in the company and carry him with them to war. And so 
 upon payment of five dollars he came to be a member of that 
 company. In his honor the name of the company was changed 
 from the "Eau Claire Badgers" to the "Eau Claire Eagles." 
 
 On the 6th of September Captain Perkins and his company 
 started for Camp Randall, at Madison. They went upon a little 
 steamboat down the Chippewa and Mississippi rivers to La 
 Crosse, and from there by rail to Madison. It is said that at 
 LaCrosse a gentleman offered two hundred dollars for the eagle, 
 but Captain Perkins told him the men would not sell their pet. 
 They had begun to think a great deal of him, and he was rising 
 in value. First, bought for a bushel of corn, then for five dollars, 
 and now worth more than two hundred dollars ! What do you 
 suppose good Mrs. McCann thought when she heard of that? 
 
 When this Eau Claire company arrived at Madison and 
 marched from the station along the streets out to Camp Randall 
 it attracted a great deal of attention, all on account of the young 
 eagle. I have heard it said that when the men passed through 
 the gate into camp he, seeming to feel the importance of the occa- 
 sion, did something that stirred the heart of every man with 
 patriotic pride : with his beak he seized one corner of the flag 
 floating over him, spread wide his wings and kept them flapping, 
 flapping, while the company marched across camp to report at 
 headquarters. 
 
 Named "Old Abe". 
 
 By common consent the eagle, though only about six months 
 old, came to be called "Old Abe," after our good president, 
 Abraham Lincoln. Thousands of people, some of them dis- 
 tinguished men and women, came to camp in those days to see 
 the soldiers, and they found there nothing more attractive and 
 interesting than Old Abe. The Eau Claire Eagles was made to 
 be Company C of the Eighth Wisconsin infantry, which soon 
 came to be known as the Eagle Regiment. 
 
— 29 — 
 
 A handsome perch was made for Old Abe to stand upon. It 
 was in the form of a shield, and fashioned like a slanting plat- 
 form on the top of a six-foot staff. Six inches above the shield 
 there was a cross-piece for the perch. On this shield the stars 
 and stripes were painted, also "8th Regt. W. V." A man was 
 detailed to take special care of the bird and to carry him on the 
 march. He wore a belt to which a socket was attached. Into this 
 socket he set the staff and held it erect with his right hand. In 
 this way Old Abe was lifted into plain sight above the heads of 
 the men. His place in the line of march was in the center of the 
 regiment and alongside the colors. He and his perch made quite 
 a load for the man who carried him. 
 
 The Regiment Goes South. 
 
 On the 12th of October, 1861, the Eagle Regiment left Camp 
 Randall for service in the South. At every stopping place Old 
 Abe was quite a curiosity- When the regiment marched through 
 the streets of Chicago, from one railway station to another, the 
 one Eagle attracted more attention than the thousand Badgers. 
 All the newspapers printed something about the Wisconsin Eagle 
 that was going to the war. 
 
 When the Eighth arrived in St. Louis some of the southern 
 folks there tried to make fun of Old Abe by calling him a crow, 
 a goose, and a turkey buzzard. He seemed to like neither the 
 names nor the people. He stooped, spread his wings, made a 
 spring and broke his cord, flew over the heads of the people, 
 flapping off several caps and bonnets with his wings, then flew to 
 the top of the chimney of an aristocratic mansion, whence he 
 looked down with seeming contempt upon the crowd below — as if 
 he would say. "You see I am neither crow, goose nor buzzard, 
 but the American liberty bird himself!" His sudden dash for 
 freedom created no small stir among the soldiers, especially Com- 
 pany C. They began to fear that he liked liberty too well to stay 
 with them. But after a half hour of sight-seeing he came down 
 and was easily caught by one of the men. 
 
 A gentleman in St. Louis offered five hundred dollars for 
 old Abe. but Captain Perkins gave his ready-made answer, 
 "no money can buy him." It is said that some time after this 
 a man offered a valuable farm for him, yet all to no purpose. 
 He was, you see, all the time rising in value. If Mrs. McCann 
 
— 30 — 
 
 up in her little home at Jim Falls could only have known what 
 a prize bird she had got from Chief Sky for that bushel of 
 corn ! 
 
 Life in Camp. 
 
 From St. Louis the Eagle Regiment marched away to do 
 almost four years of hard service for the Union. It was in 
 thirty-eight battles and skirmishes, and Abe was in nearly 
 every one of them. Wherever the men went, he went. He was 
 their daily companion in camp, on the march, and in the thick 
 of the fight. He came to know personally every man in his 
 own company and many others in the regiment. He knew, also, 
 his regiment and its flag from all others, and came to be strangly 
 attached to the men he was with every day; and they were not 
 only proud of him but loved him. When they were not on 
 duty they spent much time in teaching him all kinds of tricks, 
 until he came to be a pretty well educated bird. I am told 
 that for some men he took a particular liking, while for certain 
 others he would have very little to do. I guess that most ani- 
 mals have a pretty sure way of their own for the study of 
 human nature. Now and then a man with a rather poor notion 
 of good fun would torment Abe until he was angry. The bird 
 would not forget such treatment, and sometimes when he could 
 get at a fellow with so mean a spirit he would pay him off with 
 good interest. His hooked beak and sharp claws more than once 
 taught such a person to respect him. Nearly every man in the 
 regiment would share his ration with Abe. There were times 
 when both he and his comrades had to go hungry. Whenever 
 i he boys went foraging for provisions they took pains to find a 
 bit of fresh meat of some kind for him, as he could not very 
 well feed on hardtack, bacon and coffee. 
 
 Another Pet in the Regiment. 
 
 There was another regimental pet, a dog named Frank that 
 had joined the Eighth at Madison. Old Abe took a liking to 
 Frank — and for a very good reason. Frank was a good hunter. 
 He spent a part of his time scurrying through the woods here 
 and there, and sometimes he brought in a squirrel or a rabbit. 
 This game generally went to Abe. Whenever he heard Frank 
 barking in the woods he showed a lively interest in every sound 
 
— 31 — 
 
 coming from that direction, and was delighted when the hunt 
 had been successful. 
 
 Old Abe's Keepers. 
 
 During the war Old Abe had from time to time six different 
 keepers. However he might regard other men, he was always 
 on good terms with those who cared for him. Comrades who 
 served in the regiment tell me that he had a particular liking 
 for Edward Homiston, his bearer from October,1862, to Sep- 
 tember, 1863. Ed had been reared in the mountains of Vei 
 mont, and had as a boy studied eagles as he saw them wild 
 and free. Ed and Abe were like brothers and understood each 
 other well. John M. Williams, a member of company H. of 
 the Eighth, wrote an interesting history of his regiment. On 
 page 52 he says: 
 
 "Mr. Homiston translates the eagle's idiom into English. He 
 found Abe to vary his tones according to his emotions. When 
 surprised he whistled a wild melody toned to a melancholy soft- 
 ness; when hovering over his food he gave a spiteful chuckle; 
 when pleased to see an old friend he said, in plaintive cooing, 
 'How do you do?' In battle his scream was wild and command- 
 ing five or six notes in succession — with a most startling thrill 
 that was perfectly inspiring to the soldiers \ 
 
 Old Abe and his Cord. 
 
 Old Abe's daily degree of freedom in camp was as much as 
 he could get out of thirty feet of cord, one end of which was tied 
 to a leather ring around his leg, the other fastened to his perch. 
 While on the march or in battle he was allowed only about 
 three feet of this cord. He sometimes longed for larger liberty 
 and, having a spite against the cord that held him, would 
 keep biting at it with his strong, hooked beak until it was nearly 
 cut in two. Then with a sudden spring he would break loose. 
 Comrade Williams, of whom I have spoken, told me that once 
 he thus broke away just as the regiment was starting on a 
 march. He flew up in the air and then around and around — 
 everybody was excited. Many of the men left the ranks, run- 
 ning here and there where they thought he would alight, so as to 
 catch him. Some of them went into the woods a mile away, 
 thinking he might come down among the trees. Ed Homiston, 
 his keeper, persuaded the rest of the men to keep quiet and let 
 
— 32 — 
 
 him manage the capture. He had the regimental flag placed 
 by his perch where Old Abe could see it, and he sat down there 
 and waited. Having enjoyed an hour of free exercise, the run- 
 away — flyaway, perhaps I would better say — quietly dropped 
 down to his perch beside the flag. After Ed had fastened his 
 cord, all was ready for the march to Memphis. 
 
 A Mean Trick. 
 
 Comrade Williams tells me that during the summer of 1862 
 the Eagle needed no rope to keep him from flying away, as 
 some one had secretly clipped his tail feathers and those of 
 one wing. The men were indignant because of this mean 
 trick. Could they have found out who did it they would have 
 made life a burden for him until Old Abe's feathers had grown 
 out to full length again. The glory of the eagle is to fly higher 
 and more boldly into the free air of heaven than any other 
 bird. This, I suspect, is why he is called the "liberty bird". I 
 do not wonder that every true soldier of the Eighth was indig- 
 nant because the bird of which they were so proud had thus 
 been robbed of his glory. Spirit, energy, love of freedom, are 
 all of too great value to destroy in either boy, man or bird of 
 freedom just for the sake of holding him down. 
 
 A Bit of Fiction. 
 
 In some of the published stories about Old Abe he is said 
 to have had his freedom in certain battles, especially at Corinth, 
 and that he would fly above the clouds of smoke, screaming as if 
 to urge the men below him to greater deeds of daring. This 
 sounds well, and is the very part of the story boys like best and 
 are apt to remember longest. Captain Dawes who commanded 
 a company of the Eighth, once wrote a story of Old Abe in which 
 he said that at the battle of Corinth a bullet cut the cord that 
 held him; that he flew high over the battle, and that the men 
 feared he would not come back; yet that before long he came 
 swooping down to his perch again. Captain Dawes said that he 
 himself saw all this. Yet I have heard other members of the 
 regiment say that he never flew higher in battle than the length 
 of his cord, and then he was quickly drawn back to his place. In 
 some ways this is like a few other battle stories I have heard. 
 The man in the thick of the fight, his face to the front, can give 
 
— 33 — 
 
 but little attention to what others are doing. He has all he can 
 attend to just where he is himself. This is why men who are 
 really truthful differ so much in their stories about the same 
 battle. 
 
 In the Thick of the Fight. 
 
 Old Abe was, however, carried right into the thick of many a 
 heavy battle. He seemed as well as the men to understand 
 the danger there. He often trembled — looked anxiously this 
 way and that as the battle raged back and forth. Yet when the 
 combat became fierce he, like the men who were flighting, seemed 
 to forget the danger. As the bullets began to fly thick and fast 
 and shells to burst all around him he would scream terrifically. 
 He would stand by a cannon as it was being fired, and seemed to 
 delight in the rattle of musketry. Army correspondents in those 
 days wrote many things about Old Abe's conduct in battle. It 
 was something everybody, especially Wisconsin folks, delighted 
 to read. Colonel Jefferson, commander of the Eighth at Corinth, 
 said, "In battle he was almost constantly flapping his wings — 
 his mouth wide open — and many a time screamed with wild 
 enthusiasm. ' ' 
 
 Though the Confederates showed so much contempt for Old 
 Abe by calling him Yankee Buzzard and other names that were 
 not nice, they were particularly anxious to capture him. They 
 would rather get him than a whole regiment without him. Their 
 officers gave them orders either to kill the buzzard or catch him. 
 They knew well that the Eighth would fight harder with the 
 eagle and for him than without him. The Confederate General 
 Price told his men that he would rather capture the Eagle than 
 a whole brigade of men or a dozen battle flags. But the boys of 
 the gallant Eighth were determined not to let the enemy get 
 their pet bird. Though they often fought to the death for their 
 colors, they would have battled yet more valiantly for their 
 eagle. He meant to them just as much as their flag — perhaps, 
 more. 
 
 Old Abe Salutes our Flag. 
 
 Though I have heard and read many interesting stories about 
 the war eagle in camp and battle, I cannot take the space for 
 more of them here. I saw him myself but once during the war. 
 One day early in December, 1862, my regiment, the Twelfth 
 
— 34 — 
 
 Wisconsin, was marching toward the front in a skirmish near 
 Waterford, Mississippi. The Eighth was in line alongside the 
 road. As we came near, one of our boys said, "This is the Eighth 
 Wisconsin, and there is their eagle close by the flag.' 7 As we 
 approached Old Abe was standing quietly on his perch, but when 
 our flag came in front of him he arose to his full height, spread 
 his broad wings and flapped them three or four times, after 
 which he settled down and watched us march by. It is a real 
 pleasure to me now, fifty-eight years after, to have seen Old Abe 
 thus salute Old Glory that day down in Mississippi. No school 
 girl in Wisconsin could salute the flag in a more graceful manner 
 than Old Abe did. Both the eagle and our flag came to be cher- 
 ished relics in our state capitol. 
 
 On Veteran Furlough. 
 
 In the early part of January, 1864, a majority of the men of 
 the Eighth reenlisted for another three years of service — if 
 needed that long. Old Abe reenlisted, too. The government 
 granted to every one who thus pledged continued service a fur- 
 lough of thirty days to go home and see his friends. You may 
 think Old Abe had no home folks to visit, yet the reenlisted vet- 
 erans brought him with them to Eau Claire. Everbody there 
 and all along the route he traveled was his friend. He had come 
 to be a veteran and all who saw him gave him as much attention 
 as if he had been a general. 
 
 The Color Guard in Special Danger. 
 
 While these veterans were home the men at the front were in 
 two battles ; and Old Abe missed them. In battle the color bear- 
 ers of a regiment are in greater danger than other men in the 
 line. The enemy is apt to direct his fire upon the flags in front 
 of him, and the men carrying them are in special danger. The 
 sharpest fighting takes place around the battle flags, for he who 
 captures a flag gets great credit for it. Most color-bearers will 
 die before giving up their flags. Old Abe was carried in battle 
 alongside his regimental colors. He knew nothing better than 
 the stars and stripes. They waved above him on the march and 
 in the smoke of battle. The Confederates sent shot and shell at 
 the colors until they were torn and battle-scarred. The sharp- 
 shooters took special aim at the men who bore them, yet they 
 
— 35 — 
 
 tried in particular to hit Old Abe and whoever bore him along- 
 side Old Glory. For all this, however, but one of the six brave 
 fellows who carried him at different times during the war was 
 even wounded. One of them died of disease. Two or three times 
 bullets cut Old Abe's feathers. One of them drew a bit of blood 
 from his right wing, and this little wound so annoyed him that 
 in his own language, he scolded and fretted about it. It seems 
 to me that the God of freedom must have watched with peculiar 
 care over this liberty bird and his gallant bearers. 
 
 Old Abe Comes Home — Given to the State. 
 
 Well, in three years the term of service of the men of the 
 Eighth who had not reenlisted came to an end. and they were 
 discharged and sent home ; and it was thought best to send Old 
 Abe with them. Then there arose the question. "Where in Wis- 
 consin shall be his homer* Some of the men were in favor of 
 giving him to Eau Claire county. Others declared that he had 
 come to belong to all of Wisconsin, and that he should be pre- 
 sented by the regiment to the state. And there were yet others 
 who held that, as his reputation had come to be nation-wide, he 
 should be sent to Washington. A vote was taken and it was 
 decided that Old Abe should be given into the care of the state. 
 And so it came about that on the 26th day of September. 1864, 
 Captain Victor Wolf of Company C. of the Eighth— Captain 
 Perkins had died of wounds — formally presented to the state of 
 Wisconsin its famous war eagle. Old Abe. Captain Wolf said, in 
 addressing the Governor at the Capitol, that Abe had been a 
 good soldier — had never flinched in battle nor shirked duty in 
 camp : that Company C had been proud of him. had taken good 
 care of him. and that he hoped the state would do as well by him. 
 Governor Lewis, in behalf of the state, received Old Abe, assur- 
 ing Captain Wolf that all Wisconsin would ever be proud of 
 the soldier bird and give him the best of care. 
 
 A large room in the basement of the Capitol was fitted up as a 
 home for Old Abe. and a man was appointed to be his keeper 
 and to care for him. Everything was done for his comfort. A 
 pole was fastened to the tops of two posts in the park, and on 
 pleasant days he was kept there in the open air. There he was 
 visited by thousands of people from all parts of the country. 
 Everybody seemed to know about him. Stories and verses were 
 written about him. and some of them got into the school readers 
 
— 36 — 
 
 of those days. In this way the boys and girls in school came to 
 know something of the story of Old Abe, the Wisconsin soldier- 
 bird. 
 
 Old Abe Taken to Great Patriotic Gatherings. 
 
 For some years after the war the famous bird was carried to 
 many great gatherings in the United States. There he was a 
 greater attraction than any other. Men, women and children 
 would gather around him, gaze upon him, and ask all sorts of 
 questions about him. Though a famous bird in the war, he came 
 to be a great deal more so in time of peace. He was taken to 
 celebrations, fairs, monument dedications and reunions in Chi- 
 cago, Milwaukee, Peoria, Philadelphia, Boston and other cities. 
 He was at the Centennial in Philadelphia and at a great fair in 
 Boston nearly three months. I am told that in some cases five 
 dollars were paid for single feathers that had dropped from his 
 wings. One of his keepers said that many a time he could have 
 got ten dollars for a feather if he would pluck it from his wing. 
 But Old Abe's feathers were not for sale for even more than 
 that. Once a wealthy man offered $10,000 for the whole bird, 
 feathers and. all ; and P. T. Barnum, the great showman, went so 
 far as to offer $20,000 for him. But Old Abe had got away above 
 the value of gold- 
 
 Again I must say, I wonder what Mrs. McCann up in her 
 little log cabin could have thought had she heard how the eagle 
 nad risen in value — a bushel of corn, five dollars, two hundred 
 dollars, five hundred dollars, a valuable farm, $10,000, $20,000 ! 
 
 Remembered his Friends. 
 
 Several persons have told me stories about Old Abe when he 
 lived at the Capitol. I will write down two of them. The first 
 was told by an old lady who had lived long in Madison, the wife 
 of a soldier of the Twenty-third Wisconsin. 
 
 ' ' One day about five years after the war I was standing on the 
 street corner over there by the jewelry store when I heard a 
 man say to three or four companions, 'Say, boys, let's go over to 
 the Capitol and see Old Abe, the war eagle. I was in the army 
 with him, and I haven't seen him since the war. Come on, boys!' 
 
 ' ' I thought I would like to see this man meet his old feathered 
 comrade, so I walked quickly around another way to where the 
 
— 37 — 
 
 bird sat on his perch near the building. As the men came along 
 they got sight of him before he saw them. The soldier gave a 
 peculiar whistle, at which Old Abe, quick as a flash, straightened 
 himself up and listened intently. The man gave the whistle 
 again, and the bird became excited. He looked all about to see 
 where that whistle came from. His eye was bright, his head 
 erect, and he seemed all expectation. Just then the men walked 
 up before him. He recognized at once the man who had whistled 
 and plainly manifested his satisfaction. The soldier too was 
 delighted — glad to find that his feathered comrade had not for- 
 gotten him. When he went up close Old Abe put his head beside 
 his face and seemed as pleased as a young kitten to be fondled 
 and petted. This token of affection touched the soldier's heart. 
 He put his arms around Old Abe, and tears came into his eyes. 
 'Boys,' said he, 'I would not have missed this for a hundred 
 dollars!' " 
 
 John and Mary and Old Abe. 
 
 The other story was told to me by an old veteran of the Eighth. 
 ' ' Old Abe, ' ' said he, "was a bird of no little dignity of character. 
 He did not like to be trifled with. If a person fooled with him in 
 the army he showed displeasure. 
 
 - ' One day while he was yet alive at the Capitol I came to Madi- 
 son, and as usual, went over to call upon him. He was standing 
 on his pole in the park. John and Mary, a young couple from 
 the country, had come in that day with an excursion party. They 
 got a bag of peanuts and a slick of gum and were having a big 
 time. They came along the walk to Old Abe and stopped to take 
 a look at him. He did not pay much attention to them, for he 
 was used to seeing every day such young couples as they. As 
 they stood before him Mary began to strike at his beak with the 
 end of her scarf. Abe stepped quietly along on his pole to get 
 out of her reach. I could see by his eye, however, that he felt 
 annoyed at the liberties she was taking. The pert young miss 
 followed him, still flirting her scarf in his eyes. Abe kept back- 
 ing up. yet began uttering sharp, spiteful notes of warning. 
 This pleased Mary, so she giggled and flirted some more. 
 
 "I could see that trouble was brewing, and so I said to her, 
 'Please pardon me. Miss, but I do not think you'd better trifle 
 any more with Abe ; he may make trouble for you. I was with 
 him in the army three years and know something of his temper. 
 
— 38 — 
 
 I think you have gone about far enough. ' To this John replied, 
 'Never mind us, Uncle, we know enough to take care of our- 
 selves. We wasn 't born last week- ' And then Mary gave another 
 flirt with the end of her scarf. Quicker than a wink Old Abe 
 had his sharp claws deep in her arm just above her wrist. Then 
 the smart young miss showed the folks how she could scream. 
 She easily out-screamed Old Abe in battle. The angry bird was 
 just about to seize her with his sharp, hooked beak, when f 
 caught him by his neck. He was in a terrible passion. He and 
 Mary and I had a time of it. After some scolding, much 
 coaxing and a bit of choking I got his claws out of her arm. It 
 was a fearful wound, and I felt sorry for the smart young miss 
 as she and John went hunting for a doctor. I'll bet she'll 
 remember Old Abe as long as she lives." 
 
 Old Abe's Death. 
 
 And now I must tell of the untimely death of this famous 
 old bird. One day in February of the cold winter of 1881, 
 some paints and oils kept in a room near his in the Capitol 
 got afire no one knows how, yet I suspect by spontaneous combus- 
 tion. Though these are big words, I do not know how to telj 
 it in short ones. Dense clouds of smoke and bad-smell ing 
 gases filled the corridors and the cage room. The people over- 
 head heard Abe give a scream and ran below to see what was 
 the matter. They went through the dense smoke and opened 
 the cage door, when Old Abe flew out and along the corridor. 
 He was not only frightened by the smoke but suffocated because 
 of the gas in his lungs. He was not well after that. All the 
 Eagle had gone out of him. He lived about a month loi.gei\ and 
 on the 28th of March, 1881, with a few of his old friends around 
 him, died in the arms of George Gillies, his keeper. Those who 
 saw him feebly flap his once strong wings and then sink back 
 dead felt sad indeed. Some of those old comrades who sat by 
 him shed tears of manly grief, for a brave spirit had taken 
 its departure. 
 
 General George E. Bryant, at that time Quartermaster Gen- 
 eral of the State, was one of those present at Old Abe's death. 
 He has told me that after they knew he was dead a number of 
 old soldiers gathered in the office of Governor Smith and dis- 
 cussed the question as to what should be done with the body. 
 Some thought there should be a kind of military funeral, and 
 
—39 — 
 
 that he should be buried in beautiful Forest Hill cemetery- 
 near Madison, the final resting place of many Wisconsin soldiers. 
 Major C. G. Mayers, late of the Eleventh Wisconsin, said that 
 he could mount the bird so that he could be kept for many 
 years in honored remembrance of his service. Major Mayers' 
 plan pleased the most of those present, and so Governor Smith 
 gave the body over to him. He soon had the skin so mounted 
 that it looked very much like Old Abe alive. General Bryant 
 had a fine glass case made for him ; and in this he was on exhi- 
 bition nearly a quarter of a century. The perch on which he 
 was mounted was like that on which he was carried in the army, 
 and so every one who saw him during those years got a pretty 
 good idea of his appearance in war times. 
 
 Still Visited by Thousands. 
 
 During that time his glass house stood in various places — 
 in the rotunda of the Capitol, in the state historical rooms of 
 the Capitol, and in the present historical building near the 
 university. In April, 1903, he was placed in the new Grand 
 Army Memorial Hall in the Capitol. Though dead, he was 
 carried in many patriotic processions. Whenever his mounted 
 figure was kept or carried he seemed to attract as much attention 
 as he had done when alive. In fact, interest in him seemed all 
 the time to be increasing. Every year thousands of people 
 came into the Grand Army rooms to look upon him and ask 
 questions about him. I suspect that some of them thought 
 beyond what they could see with their eyes. One day a 
 man, after looking a long time at Old Abe, said to me, "If ever 
 I were led to fight against my country, the sight of that noble 
 bird would make me throw down my weapons and give up the 
 battle; for the eagle is the emblem of my country's freedom, 
 and I could not fight against him and all he stands for;" I 
 heard more than one say something like this. The old survivors 
 of the Eighth Wisconsin, the Eagle regiment, say they fought 
 the hardest for the flag when Old Abe was in sight. 
 
 The Boy from Arizona. 
 
 It mattered little whence Old Abe's visitors came all knew 
 more or less about him. One day a small boy stood before 
 him in big-eyed observation. I asked him if he had ever heard 
 
— 40 — 
 
 of Old Abe. "Oh yes", said he, "I have heard ever-so-much 
 about him". Then I asked how he had come to hear so much. 
 "Well," he replied, I have read in books about him and heard 
 people talk about him". When I asked where he lived he told 
 me that his home was in Phoenix, Arizona. The little fellow 
 studied Old Abe with careful interest. I'll warrant that when 
 he got back to school in far-off Arizona he told his mates and 
 the teacher how the historic bird looked, having seen him with 
 his own eyes. 
 
 The Man from Oyster Bay. 
 
 One day in the spring of 1903 a tall, manly looking gentle- 
 man came into Memorial Hall. Though so manly in appear- 
 ance, he seemed to have retained all the freshness of spirit of 
 a big, wholesome boy. As he fixed his glasses upon the bridge 
 of his nose and looked about he quickly asked, "Say is that Old 
 Abe, the Wisconsin war eagle?" When I told him it was the 
 very bird, he exclaimed with boyish delight, "By George! I 
 am delighted to see him! I learned about him from my reader 
 when I was a boy in school ! " As he said this he bounded like 
 an athlete over to Old Abe's glass house and there took very 
 much such a look at him as the boy from Arizona had done. 
 When I asked him to put his name on our register he wrote 
 "Theodore Roosevelt, Oyster Bay, New York". The little boy 
 from Arizona and the big President of the United States had 
 both read in their schoolbooks about Old Abe, and both came 
 with the same lively interest to see him. And so with thousands 
 of others. 
 
 The Capitol Fire. 
 
 At three o'clock on the morning of February 27, 1904, the 
 Madison fire bells rang out the alarm that the Capitol was on 
 fire. A gas burner too close to an overhead pine ceiling started 
 the blaze in a room just across the corridor from Memorial 
 Hall. The smoke was so dense that no one could come near 
 the door so as to save Old Abe from burning, with everything 
 else in the room. All the pictures, relics and books were 
 destroyed — a total loss — the most serious of which was our War 
 Eagle. While the great building was burning the most fre- 
 quent question asked among the thousands of people standing 
 
— 41 — 
 
 about was, k k Has Old Abe been saved V "In one form or another 
 this sentiment was heard over and over : "I'd rather have had 
 Old Abe saved than anything else in the building. Money 
 can replace almost everything else but cannot bring him back". 
 Some of the boys and girls looking on cried as they talked 
 about him. 
 
 Now Only a Tradition. 
 
 And so Old Abe, the Wisconsin war eagle, became a cherished 
 tradition — truly patriotic — that will live as long as the story 
 of Wisconsin in the Civil War survives. There are now in the 
 beautiful new Memorial Hall in the Capitol at Madison two 
 fine paintings of the famous old bird. One was made by James 
 A. Stewart from life. It shows him in a very natural position — 
 truly life-like. The other was painted by Miss Leila Dow. of 
 Madison. It was made from a sketch drawn of him only two 
 weeks before the Capitol fire. It was presented by Governor 
 LaFollette. The two hang side by side and are highly prized. 
 Not far away are the old battle flags of the Eighth regiment, 
 alongside which he was carried during the war. A half-a-doz- 
 en feathers of him are in a frame near by. 
 
 On the Wisconsin Monument at Vicksburg. 
 
 In the Vicksburg National Military Park there stands a 
 noble and beautiful granite shaft as a memorial of the part 
 Wisconsin soldiers took in the campaign and siege of Vicks- 
 burg in the summer of 1863. It may be seen miles away, and 
 is one of the most graceful memorials in the Park. On the top, 
 more than a hundred feet from the ground, stands a large 
 bronze figure of Old Abe, seeming to look with an eagle eye 
 over the grounds where the young bird more than a half a 
 hundred years ago was with his regiment in the charge and 
 the siege. At the time of the great reunion of the Blue and 
 the Gray at Vicksburg in October, 1917, I visited All Saints 
 College within the old siege lines, and was asked to talk to a 
 class of young ladies there. They requested me in particular 
 to tell them the story of Old Abe, the Wisconsin war eagle. 
 They seemed greatly interested as I told it to them about as 
 I have written it here. 
 
43 
 
 OUR WISCONSIN BATTLE FLAGS. 
 
 I should say in this little flag book something about the old 
 battle-scarred banners our Wisconsin soldiers followed and 
 fought under during the Civil War. After having had for 
 more than fifty years no permanent abiding place, they were 
 put. in the spring of 1918, into their final home in what is 
 known as Memorial Hall in the Capitol. They stand side by 
 side in four panels, about fifty in each. These panels have 
 glass fronts, so that every flag may be seen, each wrapped 
 close around its staff. Nearly every flag, if unrolled, would be 
 badly tattered and torn — many of them riddled by shot and 
 shell. It would not be easy, however, to tell which of the rents 
 in them were made by shot and which by wear and tear. But 
 the staffs of some of them have bullet holes in them, a few in 
 plain sight, others covered by the flags wrapped about them. 
 The staff of the First Infantry was shot into four pieces, and had 
 to be mended by slats nailed along-side, and cords tied around 
 it. The staff of the flag of the Sixth Infantry was also shot 
 through in four places, and the same may be said of that of the 
 Thirty-seventh. Others bear one or more bullet marks. Some 
 of these shots laid low the brave color-bearers. 
 
 The fire of the enemy focused around 
 
 The flags and the brave men who bore them, 
 
 So they were the first in the battle to fall 
 
 And the Column came rushing on o'er them. 
 
 The Flag of the Thirty-seventh and Sergeant Green. 
 
 I must tell the story of one brave color-bearer, as it is 
 recorded in the roster of the hard-fighting Thirty-seventh, regi- 
 ment, William. H. Green of York, Green county. He enlisted 
 March 29. 1864, and was made a sergeant of his company. After 
 his name this statement is printed : 
 
 "Recommended for promotion for gallantry in action at the 
 battle of Petersburg, Virginia, June 17, 1864, where, after 
 having been wounded in both legs, he crawled from the field 
 dragging his colors with his teeth, thus saving the flag. He 
 died from his wounds July 17, just a month after his brave 
 deed". 
 
 His death occurred three and a half months after his enlist- 
 
44 
 
 Battle Fla^ 
 
 of the Fir^t Wisconsin Infantry. Staff shot into four pieces, 
 fastened together with slats and strings. 
 
— 45 — 
 
 ment. It is said that in height he was six feet four inches, the 
 same as President Lincoln. Twice since the flag has been in its 
 present place his son has come to see it. The story of the brave 
 color sergeant's death is told on a card attached to the staff of 
 the flag he thus saved, and is read by hundreds of visitors. 
 
 There were thousands of other color bearers just as brave as 
 Sergeant Green, yet whose heroism has not been recorded. 
 
 If the Flags Could Only Speak. 
 
 If they could only tell of the heroic deeds of the brave boys 
 and young men who fought around them there would indeed be 
 many thrilling stories. Yet, though silent to mortal ears, they 
 are still eloquent to those who listen well. They speak to every 
 one of us whose souls are atune to the language of high ideals and 
 self-sacrificing patriotism. I sometimes think that if one could 
 stand before them in the stillness of the night, with no sound to 
 distract his attention, he could in imagination hear stories of 
 brave deeds, of lives freely given, that those who should live after 
 them might enjoy the many blessings of good government and 
 prosperity that are ours today. The dear old flags are a precious 
 heritage to us, and we should cherish and honor them in our 
 lives as good citizens. 
 
 Though not all may be able to look upon these tattered old 
 flags before me that have been in the thick of the fight, let no 
 one forget that the stars and stripes represent all the time and 
 everywhere the same principles for which they were carried into 
 battle- 
 
 SOME FLAG LAWS 
 
 In my Flag Books of 1919 and 1920, I had printed in full 
 the flag laws requiring most attention. In this book I will tell 
 only briefly what these laws require. 
 
 Flags on Schoolhouses and in Schoolrooms. 
 
 The school flag law, as amended up-to-date, (40.27) (3) 1919, 
 requires the board of education of every school district, city, 
 village or town, also the governing body of every private or 
 parochial school, to furnish and have displayed in the school- 
 room, or on a flagstaff on the school grounds, a United States 
 flag: and they must also supply whatever is needed for the pres- 
 
— 46 — 
 
 ervation or display of such flag. It is the duty of such school 
 board and every principal or teacher to cause such flag to be 
 properly displayed during school hours. The flag is not to be 
 left out in bad weather nor over night. It should be put up in 
 the morning and taken down at close of school. 
 
 This is the substance of the law now in force and should be 
 obeyed. It ought to be the pride of every school, teacher and 
 officer to see that law is respected and obeyed, especially 
 laws concerning our flag, the symbol of law and order. It is 
 flag desecration not to treat it decently. 
 
 University Flag. 
 In obedience to a law passed in 1911, the flag floats all the 
 time over the Main Hall at the university while the school is 
 in session. 
 
 Flags Over Voting Places. 
 
 Chapter 254, laws of 1901, require that the flag be displayed 
 over every voting place during all the hours when the polls are 
 open on election day. It is the business of town and village 
 boards and city councils to see that this is done. 
 
 DESECRATION OF THE FLAG 
 
 There is a positive law against any desecration of Old Glory. 
 No person may lawfully put any figure, mark, picture, drawing 
 or advertisement of any nature upon our flag or upon any 
 standard, color, ensign or shield of the United States, or upon 
 our state flag; and no picture of our flag may be put upon a 
 receptacle having in it articles for sale. To do this was quite 
 common some years ago, but it is not so now- People have come 
 to respect the law. The penalty for doing so is a fine of from 
 ten to one hundred dollars for every offense. 
 
 Whoever shall publicly mutilate, deface, defile or trample 
 upon the flag, or cast any contempt upon it is subject to a fine 
 of from ten to one hundred dollars or imprisonment in the 
 county jail not more than sixty days, or by both fine and im- 
 prisonment. The laws of the United States provide for severe 
 penalties for any manner of contempt or disrespect toward 
 our flag. 
 
— 47 — 
 
 Every patriotic man or woman will do all he or she reason- 
 ably can to see that our flag is treated with all due respect. 
 Disrespect shown for our flag is disrespect shown for our gov- 
 ernment, of which it is the emblem. Nearly every state in the 
 Union has practically the same flag laws as we have in Wis- 
 consin. 
 
 Some Misuse of the Flag. 
 
 The flag may be, and is, desecrated in many ways not speci- 
 fied in the laws of the state. Here are some of them mentioned : 
 
 The school law prescribes that the flag shall float in seasonable 
 weather — be put up when school opens and taken down when it 
 closes. It is a sorry sight to see our national banner, the visible 
 emblem of all that is good in our government, left flying night 
 and day — in all kinds of bad weather— to be whipped into 
 shreds, and so soiled that there is hardly a semblance of our 
 beautiful stars and stripes. One who truly loves the country 
 of which those stars and stripes are the sacred symbol cannot 
 show his love by such apparent disrespect. Our flag should by 
 all means receive decent care, and such care for it should be 
 taught to our boys and girls. Let every patriotic teacher and 
 parent undertake to do this. 
 
 It is not treating the flag well, when it becomes old and unfit 
 for its proper use, to allow it to lie around as rubbish — as a 
 part of cast-off, good-for-nothing stuff. It is a great deal better 
 to give it a decent funeral by privately burning it. 
 
 The custom once thought to be patriotic of using flag napkins, 
 especially in giving dinners to Grand Army men, is, happily, 
 passing. It is certainly not respectful to Old Glory to wipe our 
 mouths and soiled hands with it. Also, we do not see the flag 
 used in these days for pillow covers, though it was quite common 
 a few years ago. 
 
 One cannot specify all the ignoble uses to which our flag is 
 put by persons who lack a proper respect for it, and have little 
 refinement of taste. Those who exercise such respect and good 
 taste will treat our flag in a becoming manner without specific 
 rules. The essential thing is to understand its sacred meaning 
 and to treat it accordingly. These two commands may well go 
 together, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in 
 vain."' and "Thou shalt not profane the emblem of thy coun- 
 try's greatness." 
 
4S 
 
 SOME FLAG CUSTOMS 
 
 There are more flag customs than can be written down here ; 
 and so only a few of what seem the most worth while are men- 
 tioned. None of these have the sanction of the law, but are 
 what have by common consent been adopted by patriotic people. 
 It is indeed well that they should be observed, for proper mani- 
 festation of respect for what is worthy of it is a mark of both 
 culture and character as well as patriotism : — 
 
 1. The flag should be raised at sunrise and lowered at sunset. 
 It should not be left out overnight nor kept up in stormy 
 weather. It should all the time be treated with decent care. 
 
 2. The school flag should be hoisted when school begins in 
 the morning, and lowered when school closes for the day. 
 
 3. On Memorial Day the flag should be at half-mast until 
 noon and then raised to the top of the staff. 
 
 4. In decorations the stripes should be kept in straight lines. 
 When the stripes are horizontal the stars should be at the left, 
 the stripes extending toward the right. When the stripes are 
 perpendicular the stars should be at the right. 
 
 5. When the staff of the American flag is crossed with that 
 of any other, except the church pennant, the stars and stripes 
 must be at the right; also when borne with another flag in pro- 
 cession. 
 
 6. The Church Pennant — a blue cross on a white ground — 
 is the only flag which may at any time be hoisted above the stars 
 and stripes. This is at the time of Sunday divine services in 
 the navy. 
 
 7. The flag must not be used in any kind of advertising. No 
 lettering of any kind may be put upon it. No picture of it may 
 be put upon any receptacle containing articles for sale. It 
 may not be used as a whole or part of a trade mark. 
 
 8. It should not be used as a pillow cover, napkin. or handker- 
 chief. It should be put to no ignoble use. 
 
 9. When the flag is used to cover a table or pulpit, nothing 
 should be placed upon it but the Bible. 
 
 10. When the Star Spangled Banner or America is played or 
 sung all in the audience should rise and stand at attention until 
 the end. Neither should it be made an exit march or a part of 
 a medley. 
 
 11. It is a commendable mark of respect to salute the flag 
 
— 49 — 
 
 when it passes in procession, either by lifting the hat or rais- 
 ing the right hand to the forehead. 
 
 It is well not to have too many and minute rules of flag eti- 
 quette. To do so would tend toward formality. A truly res- 
 pectful and patriotic attitude toward it is apt properly to mani- 
 fest itself. 
 
 The Flag Salute in School. 
 
 It is becoming in all of us to manifest due respect toward 
 both persons and things that are worthy of it. Soldiers are 
 required to salute their officers. Gentlemen lift their hats to 
 ladies as a token of respect. Every good teacher undertakes 
 to cultivate in boys and girls an attitude of respect toward 
 that to which respect is due. If we truly respect our flag we 
 shall at all times be glad to salute it and pledge allegiance to it. 
 To do this in concert is coming to be a custom in school. A 
 beautiful custom it is, too. 
 
 Here are the directions, as proposed by the American Flag 
 Association, for giving the flag salute in school: 
 
 At an appointed time the teacher gives a signal for all to arise 
 in their places, while some one appointed to do so brings the flag 
 to the front. Then all together bring the right hand, open, palm 
 downward, up to the forehead, the thumb just touching the 
 eyebrow, and, when thus standing, repeat slowly and distinctly 
 in concert this pledge : 
 
 "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and to the Republic for 
 which it stands — one Nation, indivisible, with Liberty and 
 Justice for all." 
 
 At the words "to my flag" every one extends the right hand 
 so that it points toward the flag, holding it there until the 
 pledge is completed. Then the hand drops to the side and all 
 sing America, after which the school is seated. 
 
 Some people are now proposing substitutes for the words 
 "my flag" these, "The American flag", for fear that some 
 little foreigner will, while saluting, have in mind some other 
 flag as his. Possibly he might. Yet when he adds, "and to the 
 republic for which it stands", his words cannot well mean any 
 other flag than the American, whatever his thought may be. 
 Anyhow, there is little use in his saying "the American flag" 
 unless he really means it. We should not become so particular 
 concerning" form as to seem fussv. 
 
50 
 
 In primary grades the little folks may, instead of the above 
 pledge, give this : 
 
 "I give my head and my heart to God and my Country; 
 one country, one language, one flag." 
 
 Picture (Flag Salute.) 
 
 This picture is a good illustration of the manner of salut- 
 ing the flag, Marion holds it while Arthur repeats the pledge. 
 
 The Silent Salute. — In some schools the silent salute is 
 given — an act of reverence without repeating the pledge. In 
 this, as the flag is brought before the school every right hand 
 is raised as in the salute and held there while the flag is dipped 
 and returned to its perpendicular position, when the hand is 
 dropped to the side. It is the salute given by our soldiers and 
 sailors. This silent salute may be given every day — the salute 
 and pledge on special occasions, if teachers think best. 
 
 The Salute — Daily or Occasionally ? Should the flag salute 
 be given as a regular daily exercise, or only occasionally? There 
 
— 51 — 
 
 is a difference of opinion. It is, perhaps, best for every teacher 
 to decide. If the boys and girls like to give the salute and 
 pledge every day. and do it with enthusiasm, it may well be 
 made a part of the daily school program; yet it should not 
 come to seem to them as a mere form. Real spirit, and earnest- 
 ness are necessary to every patriotic performance. Every boy 
 and girl should, however, be prepared at any tiime to give the 
 salute upon a second's notice. It depends almost wholly upon 
 the spirit the teacher himself or herself imparts to the pupils. 
 One day two teachers came to the Capitol who belonged to a 
 high school in St. Louis. They told me that every morning at 
 8 :30 a boy goes to the flag pole and gives a bugle call, upon 
 which the school flag goes up to the top. While this is being 
 done every pupil, wherever he or she may be — studying inside, 
 or playing out-of-doors — stands each at salute. When the flag 
 is up all resume their study or play. This is their regular cus- 
 tom and they all like it. Is not this a good suggestion for Wis- 
 consin schools? 
 
 Another Word About the Salute. — In another part of this 
 little flag book there is a chapter upon the Meaning of the Flag. 
 Is it not a fact that when a person, young or old, salutes the 
 flag and repeats the pledge, he thereby pledges allegiance to aL 1 
 the flag means — to be brave, not only when called upon to be 
 a soldier but every day wherever he is, to fight against what is 
 wrong ; to be pure in thought, word and deed ; and to be loyal, 
 law-abiding and true everywhere and all the time? To pledge 
 allegiance to the flag and not to what the flag means is to say 
 over words with no meaning. It is cant. Every true man, 
 woman and child should avoid cant, and thus avoid hypocrisy. 
 
 Flags in Churches and Homes. 
 
 Many church people are coming to feel that their houses of 
 worship are appropriate places for the flag — and why not? It 
 is the visible token of all that is best in our government. It is 
 the emblem of religious freedom in our free and enlightened 
 land. It is a silent, yet eloquent, preacher of righteousness and 
 good citizenship, both of which are essential to Christianity. It 
 is a daily challenge to both old and young everywhere to be 
 loyal to Home and Country. 
 
 And not only the church but every other organization hav- 
 ing for its purpose the social or civic uplift of its member- 
 
— 52 — 
 
 ship may well have as its badge of service the flag of 
 our country. The same may be said concerning schools and 
 homes. Though the law prescribes that every school shall, 
 while in session, display a flag, yet cannot require one in the 
 home, it is surely a credit to the people in any home to put out 
 the flag on patriotic occasions, and to have a little flag always 
 in sight in the living room. 
 
 Flags For Decoration. 
 
 Nothing can be more suitable for decorative purposes than 
 our flag. It is indeed a beautiful emblem ; and more than that, 
 suggestive of noble thought and high ideals. It is a meaning 
 decoration. A community decked out in our national colors is 
 complimental to the people who live there. All visitors are 
 thus put into an attitude of good will toward their hosts. 
 
 Flags for any social or patriotic function make a room bright 
 and attractive. It should, however, be borne in mind that our 
 national colors are not to be used in decoration for any ignoble or 
 unworthy purpose. No one who truly loves our flag and is loyal 
 to all it means will be likely to misuse it. 
 
 Precedence of Our Flag. 
 
 It is a mark of genuine patriotism in our foreign born citi- 
 zens still to cherish the traditions of the land of their birth, 
 and to respect the flag of their fathers. He who has no deep 
 and abiding affection for the best things of his native land does 
 not have it in him to care very much for any other country. 
 Patriotism is an expanded love of home. Yet he who, having 
 become a citizen with us and sworn allegiance to our govern- 
 ment, is not a truly patriotic American if he does not cherish 
 above all others our flag and our free institutions. Though he 
 may bear in procession the flag of his native land, he should 
 understand that our national emblem must be carried along 
 with it and ahead of it. If borne side by side our flag should 
 be at the right. The stars and stripes must plainly be preferred 
 above every other flag. Whoever lives under the protection of 
 Old Glory must show due respect for it. If not, he would bet- 
 ter get out from under it. America is no place for him. It 
 must be understood that the flag of no hostile country may be 
 displayed at all — neither the red flag of anarchy. Public senti- 
 
— 53 — 
 
 merit condemns this yet more positively than statute law does. 
 In the heart of every American citizen, America, American 
 institutions, the American flag, must have the first and highest 
 place — must be supreme- 
 
 Flag at Half-Mast, or Half-Staff. 
 
 When a member of the Grand Army dies it is the custom to 
 fly the Post flag at half-mast from the day of his death till after 
 the funeral. This custom is followed by many other societies 
 — also in case of the death of a public official. Not long ago, 
 when going to the Capitol, I saw the flag over the east wing 
 at half-mast. I soon heard that Chief Justice Winslow of our 
 Supreme Court was dead. The flag in that position is a symbol 
 of mourning. In case of the death of a pupil, teacher or mem- 
 bers of the school board, it is appropriate so to place the school 
 flag. 
 
 In putting the flag at half-mast it should first be raised to 
 the top of the pole, and then be lowered the width of the flag. 
 "When taken down it should be drawn first to full height, and 
 then lowered to the ground. In handling the flag it should not, 
 if it can be avoided, be allowed to touch the ground. All the 
 time and everywhere it should be handled with care and respect. 
 
 The Flag at the Funerals of Old Soldiers. 
 
 It is the custom of the Grand Army men to place the flag 
 upon the casket of a deceased comrade at his funeral. A soldier 
 who has offered his life for the flag and the principles it repre- 
 sents naturally desires that when he lies down to his last rest he 
 be covered with the flag under which he marched and fought. 
 This feeling is expressed in an old war-time song : 
 
 "Oh wrap the flag around me, boys, 
 
 To die were far more sweet 
 With Freedom's starry Banner, boys, 
 
 To be my winding sheet." 
 
 It is a beautiful feature of our Grand Army burial service 
 when some comrade steps forward and, placing a small silk 
 flag upon the casket, repeats impressively these words : 
 
 "In behalf of the Grand Republic for whose integrity and 
 unity our late comrade offered his services in the Civil War, I 
 now desposit the flag upon his burial casket." 
 
— 54 — 
 
 Flags on Soldiers' Graves. 
 
 It has come to be a common custom to place, a day or two before 
 Memorial Day, a small flag about twelve by eighteen inches in 
 size upon every soldier's grave sO that on that day it may be 
 known where to place flowers in his memory. This is a matter of 
 special interest to our little citizens, for it is commonly the 
 boys and girls who strew the flowers. Every living defender 
 of the flag of our country hopes that this beautiful custom may 
 be observed as long as patriotic gratitude dwells in the hearts 
 of those who live in security under the protection of the banner 
 for which he offered his life. 
 
 Children in Procession on Memorial Day. 
 
 It has come to be the custom in nearly every community 
 in all our country for school children, bearing the choicest 
 flowers they can find, to march in procession to the cemetery 
 on Memorial Day, there to strew them over the grassy 
 mounds where our soldier dead are at rest. In most such cases 
 enough small flags have been secured so that every boy and 
 girl in line may have one to carry, and to keep as a souvenir of 
 the memorial service. These little flags seem sacred to them and 
 are preserved with tender care. Every child should have a neat 
 flag for his or her room; and no home should be without its 
 flag to display on patriotic occasions. 
 
 Flag Day, June 14. 
 
 Every boy and girl knows the story of the making of the 
 first flag by Betty Ross. It was on Saturday, the 14th of June, 
 1777, when the American "Congress — 
 
 "Resolved, That the flag of the United States be thirteen 
 stripes, alternate red and white ; and that the Union be thirteen 
 stars, white, in a blue field, representing a new constellation." 
 
 And so it was on that day when our flag came to us in all its 
 glory, flung to the breeze, thus displaying a new constellation 
 among the nations of the earth. 
 
 It is well worth while that June 14 of every year be appro- 
 priately celebrated as the birthday of Old Glory. Patriotic 
 societies, churches, schools, whole communities, do themselves 
 credit when in some impressive manner they honor the day. 
 
— 55 — 
 
 Especially should the Stars and Stripes then be displayed from 
 every flagstaff and placed before, or in the windows of, every 
 home and business place in all the land. 
 
 Let us all in some fit manner honor the birthday of Old 
 Glory. 
 
 Other Flag Days. 
 
 There are other days in the year when the flag should be 
 displayed — lest we forget : 
 Lincoln Day, February 12. 
 Washington Day, February 22. 
 Memorial Day, May 30. 
 Flag Day, June 14. 
 Independence Day, July 4. 
 General Election Day, First Tuesday after First Monday in 
 
 November. 
 Armistice Day, November 11. 
 
 IS BETTY ROSS A MYTH? 
 
 There can be no doubt as to the significance of the stars and 
 stripes on our flag. The stripes were put there by the colony 
 people, standing for a union of effort to gain independence, 
 and the stars have all along told the number of states, indicat- 
 ing the growth of our country from its birthday down to the 
 present time. There can be no doubt as to how the stripes 
 came there, yet there is some question concerning the origin of 
 the stars. The boys and girls in every school say without hesi- 
 tation that Betty Ross put them there. There are some peo- 
 ple, however, who consider the Betsy Ross story as not good- 
 only tradition at best. On page 297 of the Flag Number of 
 the Geographic Magazine, October 1917, there is this para- 
 graph : 
 
 "The well-known story of Betsy Ross, so-called maker of the 
 Stars and Stripes, is one of the picturesque legends which has 
 grown up around the origin of the flag, but it is one to which 
 few unsentimental historians subscribe. There was, however, 
 a Mrs. Ross, who was a flag maker by trade, living in Philadel- 
 phia at the time of the flag's adoption". 
 
— 56 — 
 
 I have seen here in Madison a little old faded flag, with 
 stripes of silk ribbon, said to have been made by grand daugh- 
 ters of Betty Ross who had heard their grandma tell the story 
 of the flag she made. I do not know just how true their story 
 was. I guess that if it be not easy to prove that Betty made the 
 first flag, it would be less easy to prove that she did not. It is 
 a pretty story, anyhow, and I am perfectly willing to have our 
 little citizens believe in Betty. Folks who are short on imag- 
 ination are trying to teach children there is no Santa Claus. 
 There is, nevertheless, a Santa Claus ; and there is, also, a Betty 
 Ross. 
 
 Rhode Island's Claim on the Stars. 
 
 The state of Rhode Island had in the Revolutionary war a 
 brigade of men carrying a flag thus described in the Flag Num- 
 ber of the Geographic Magazine, October, 1917 : 
 
 "Fashioned from white silk with thirteen stars on a canton 
 of blue, and showing a blue anchor surrounded by the motto 
 of the State, Hope, on the center of the field, this regimental 
 banner of Rhode Island easily takes rank as an attractive flag ; 
 nor is it lacking in interesting historic associations. Carried 
 safely through the intense struggle of Brandywine, at Trenton, 
 and at Yorktown, it now rests in the State House at Providence, 
 mute witness to the heroism of those who bore it to final 
 victory. ' ' 
 
 The people of Rhode Island maintain with what seems to 
 them "good reason that the thirteen stars on the canton, or 
 field, of blue in the Rhode Island flag of the Revohrtion sug- 
 gested the constellation of thirteen stars on a canton of blue in 
 Old Glory." We may never know where Betty Ross got her 
 idea of the stars on her flag. She may have known about the 
 flag carried by the Rhode Island soldiers and got the suggestion 
 from that. The Commissioner of Public Schools of Rhode Island 
 has written this to me: 
 
 "Perhaps you know that the Betsy Ross story is not at the 
 present time considered of great repute. Even if this story 
 were accepted, it might be interesting to suggest the origin of 
 the thirteen white stars in the field of blue as Betsy Ross placed 
 them in the flag." 
 
 This is indeed a good idea and worthy of acceptation. 
 
— 57 — 
 
 Whatever of truth this tradition or that may preserve for us, 
 the fact is that we have Old Glory — first thirteen stars, then, 
 through the wonderful vigor and growth of our Republic, star 
 after star up to the present forty-eight. 
 
 And now we may ask, what next — how many and hoiv long? 
 
 Rhode Island's Declaration of Independence. 
 
 It may not generally be known that on the 4th of May, 1776, 
 little Rhode Island adopted for herself a Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence from England, just two months before such action 
 was taken by the Congress of the thirteen colonies. I have 
 before me a copy of this declaration. It is a matter of which 
 the people of that little state feel proud. 
 
 It is due to say that Rhode Island, through its educational 
 department puts out for her schools some of the best of patriotic 
 literature. I have a dozen neat little booklets from there — 
 every one a credit to the state. I wish every educational 
 department would do as well for the patriotic training of our 
 little citizens. 
 
 The Fifteen Stripe Flag. 
 
 It is well to know that after Kentucky and Vermont came 
 into the Union each felt that it should have an added stripe on 
 the flag. And so in 1795 our flag was so changed as to have 
 fifteen stripes — and these it continued to have until April 4, 
 1818 — twenty-three years — when President Monroe signed a 
 bill restoring the thirteen stripes, and providing that when a new 
 state should thereafter be admitted a new star should be put 
 upon the flag — on the following Fourth of July. 
 
 UP WITH THE SCHOOL FLAG 
 
 It is the law in Wisconsin, and in nearly every other state in 
 the Union, even in the South, that our flag must be displayed 
 from a staff at, or in the room of, every school, public, private 
 or parochial. It is made the duty of every school board, or 
 governing body of every school, to furnish a suitable flag for such 
 purpose, also to supply the means for its display. Also, it is 
 
— 58 — 
 
 the duty of the principal or other teacher in charge of the school 
 to cause the flag to be properly displayed while school is in ses- 
 sion, except in unseasonable weather. 
 
 One of the best things a school can do is to teach obedience 
 to law. This obedience cannot be taught without practicing it. 
 But love of the flag itself and what it means should be a yet 
 stronger incentive to us than the legal enactment. The school- 
 house flag afloat is all the time and everywhere a credit to the 
 school and the community where it is seen. 
 
 A Color Guard. 
 
 In the army no man held a more honorary position than that 
 of Color Guard, unless it was the Color Bearer himself. No 
 old army veteran is prouder today than he who can say, "I was 
 Color Sergeant of my regiment, and I carried our flag through 
 some of the hardest fought battles of the war." And he has a 
 still stronger sense of pride if he can say that he was wounded 
 while upholding the flag. Not many members of a Color Guard 
 came through a battle unscarred, for the enemy took special 
 pains to shoot them down. It was a greater honor to be Color 
 Sergeant than captain, for not every captain was brave enough 
 to carry the colors. He who did that must be of heroic mold. 
 
 Why would it not be worth while in school to appoint for 
 Color Guard some boy or girl as a reward of merit of some 
 kind, whose privilege it should be to care for the flag — to hoist 
 it when the first bell rings and lower it when school closes ; also 
 to see that it has all the time the best of care? Two persons 
 might thus be selected to serve for a week or a month, one to be 
 known as Color Sergeant, the other, Color Corporal. 
 
 Some schools have for every day, or on certain days, a short 
 exercise for the raising of the school flag- Well done, such an 
 exercise must be inspiring. In another place in this book I 
 have spoken of a flag raising custom at one high school in St. 
 Louis. The teachers of that school who told me about it said 
 the pupils like their way of doing it very much. The thing to 
 be desired is a lively interest in some manner of flag raising. A 
 patriotic teacher will find some good plan of keeping the boys 
 and girls interested in their flag, and of creating an interest in 
 it among those coming into school from overseas upon the great 
 incoming tide of immigration after the world war. 
 
59 — 
 
 WHAT OUR FLAG SAID 
 
 On a certain patriotic occasion, when Colonel J. A. Watrous 
 carried the flag, and was to make an address, he preferred to 
 let the Flag itself do the talking, which it did, in these words : — 
 
 "I am your national emblem, the flag of this great nation. 
 I was made by a woman who gave me to General George Wash- 
 ington, chief in command during the war of the Revolution. 
 Soldiers of his army carried me into every one of the battles 
 fought under his direction in that war which made possible the 
 American Republic. 
 
 "I was with Perry at the battle of Lake Erie in the war of 
 1812; with Scott in Canada; with Harrison in Ohio; and with 
 General Jackson in Louisiana. 
 
 "I have had a part in all the Indian campaigns since Betsy 
 Ross made me. 
 
 "I went to Mexico with Scott and Taylor and their armies, 
 and was with them in every battle and skirmish, leading the 
 way in triumph to Mexico City. 
 
 ' 'In the great war of the sixties, I played a more or less 
 important part in all of the two thousand battles which resulted 
 in saving the Nation. 
 
 "In that great war it was my honor and pleasure to serve 
 under the direction of The Greatest American, Abraham Lin- 
 coln; under Grant, Meade, Sherman, Sheridan, Thomas, and 
 hundreds of other great commanders. 
 
 "It is something to be remembered that I was with McClellan 
 at Antietam; with Grant at Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Vicksburg, 
 Chattanooga, Mission Ridge; that I was with Meade at Gettys- 
 burg; with Sherman from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and from 
 Atlanta to the sea; that I was with Grant and Meade from 
 Culpepper Courthouse to Appomattox; with Sheridan in the 
 Shenandoah Valley and Five Forks; with Hooker at Lookout 
 Mountain; Warren at Round Top; Hancock at the Bloody 
 Angle ; with white-haired and heroic Wadsworth when he gave 
 his life in the Wilderness; Sedgwick at Laurel Hill; Reynolds 
 on the first day at Gettysburg; Ben Butler at New Orleans — 
 not to mention other generals, their heroic armies and their 
 battles. 
 
— 60 — 
 
 "I went to Cuba in 1898, and also to Porto Rico; and the 
 forces that went with me conferred upon those two islands 
 blessings greater than those people had ever dreamed would 
 be theirs. 
 
 "I went with Dewey to the faraway Philippine Islands, and 
 the army, navy and civil authorities have done for them what 
 no other country ever attempted to do for another people. 
 
 "In 1900 I went with General Chaffee and his forces to China 
 and took a leading part in ending the Boxer war. Since that 
 event, in which the whole civilized world became interested, 
 there has been greater progress in China in religion, education 
 and general improvement than there had been in any previous 
 five hundred years. 
 
 " I do not need to be told that the people in America love me. 
 I know it. I have seen too many hats lifted in my honor and 
 too many salutes given not to know that I have a warm and an 
 abiding place in the hearts of all American citizens, not to 
 mention the hearts of millions in other lands who have heard of 
 my country and who hope to become citizens of it. 
 
 ' ' I know, and there is no power on earth to convince me to the 
 contrary, that I am the only flag that people of the United 
 States want and will recognize. 
 
 "Pardon me, but I must say it, and I say it because I know 
 what is in the hearts of the people of this favored country — 'I 
 am the Inspiration and the Hope of the American Republic. ' 
 
 "I have wept over a million men killed and wounded that we 
 might have this best of all countries for the best people in all 
 the world. 
 
 "I have always cheered and inspired our army and navy in 
 time of war and in time of peace. 
 
 "I have delighted and cheered and inspired all of our mil- 
 lions of people on national and other holidays. 
 
 "lam with General Pershing and the regulars in Mexico, and 
 with General Funston on the Mexican Border, and — well, where 
 they go I shall go. 
 
 "Inasmuch as a woman made me, and the millions of men 
 who have upheld, defended and protected me, and helped save 
 the country from destruction, disgrace and dishonor, were 
 sons of women, I hope that the day is coming — is not far away 
 — when the wives, mothers, sisters, daughters and widows of 
 
— 61 — 
 
 our fair land will have an equal right with the men in choosing 
 our public servants and making our laws. ' ' 
 
 w w w w 
 
 This talk of the Flag was given before it went overseas with 
 our brave boys in khaki, there to strike a death blow to autocracy 
 in government. There it gladdened the hearts of the hard- 
 pressed armies of the Allies, and gave hope and faith to the 
 people of Belgium and France. There it went over the top and 
 carried consternation to the heart of the Hun. In due time it 
 came back to us victorious — more glorious than ever. 
 
 And now its hope is realized in waving over its own free land 
 where all women have, through the choice of men, come into 
 full possession of all civic rights and privileges that men them- 
 selves enjoy. 
 
 Also, our flag has seen another victorious triumph — the traf- 
 fic in intoxicants made, through the fundamental law of the 
 land, criminal. 
 
 "What will be its next great triumph ? 
 
 PATRIOTISM MEANS GOOD CITIZENSHIP 
 
 The Good Citizen Shows His Patriotism by — 
 
 Honoring our Flag as the emblem of all that is good in our 
 government. 
 
 Attending every election and voting for what he honestly be- 
 lieves to be right. 
 
 Meeting the assessor in all good conscience. 
 
 Gladly supporting the best of schools. 
 
 Being truly loyal to his own home, his own schools, his own 
 church, his own community, his own party; and having 
 due respect for all that demands his neighbor's loyalty. 
 
 Helping make the world better and men happier; beginning 
 in his own little part of it. 
 
 Cheerfully bidding his neighbor Good Night and Good Morning. 
 
 Letting the inhabitants of the frog-pond do all the croaking. 
 
 Keeping his own dooryard clean — back yard as well as front — 
 and the snow off the sidewalk. 
 
 Being friendly and helpful to our little citizens, living before 
 them as he would like to have them live. 
 
 Courage, Clean-living, and Respect for Law. 
 
62 
 
 MAKERS OF THE FLAG 
 
 Delivered on Flag Day, 1914, before the employees of the 
 Department of the Interior, Washington, D. C, by Franklin 
 K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior. 
 
 This morning, as I passed into the Land Office, The Flag 
 dropped me a most cordial salutation, and from its rippling 
 folds I heard it say, ' ' Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker. ' ' 
 
 "I beg your pardon, Old Glory," I said, "aren't you mis- 
 taken? I am not the President of the United States, nor a 
 member of Congress, nor even a general in the army. I am only 
 a government clerk." 
 
 "I greet you again, Mr. Flag Maker," replied the gay voice, 
 ' ' I know you well. You are the man who worked in the swelter 
 of yesterday straightening out the tangle of that farmer's 
 homestead in Idaho, or perhaps you found the mistake in that 
 Indian contract in Oklahoma, or helped to clear that patent for 
 the hopeful inventor in New York, or pushed the opening of 
 that new ditch in Colorado, or made that mine in Illinois more 
 safe, or brought relief to the old soldier in Wyoming. No mat- 
 ter ; whichever one of these beneficent individuals you may hap- 
 pen to be, I give you greeting, Mr. Flag Maker. ' ' 
 
 I was about to pass on, when The Flag stopped me with these 
 words: 
 
 "Yesterday the President spoke a word that made happier 
 the future of ten million peons in Mexico ; but that act looms 
 no larger on the flag than the struggle which the boy in Georgia 
 is making to win the Corn Club prize this summer- 
 
 "Yesterday the Congress spoke a word which will open the 
 door of Alaska; but a mother in Michigan worked from sunrise 
 until far into the night, to give her boy an education. She, too, 
 is making the flag. 
 
 "Yesterday we made a new law to prevent financial panics, 
 and yesterday, maybe, a school-teacher in Ohio taught his first 
 letters to a boy who will one day write a song that will give 
 cheer to the millions of our race. We are all making the flag." 
 
 "But," I said impatiently, "these people were only working!" 
 
 Then came a great shout from The Flag. 
 
 ' ' The work that we do is the making of the flag. 
 
 ' ' I am not the flag ; not at all. I am but its shadow. 
 
— 63 — 
 
 ' ' I am whatever you make me, nothing more. 
 
 "I am your belief in yourself, your dream of what a People 
 may become. 
 
 ' ' I live a changing life, a life of moods and passions, of heart 
 breaks and tired muscles. 
 
 "Sometimes I am strong with pride, when men do an honest 
 work, fitting the rails together truly. 
 
 ' ' Sometimes I droop, for then purpose has gone from me, and 
 cynically I play the coward. 
 
 "Sometimes I am loud, garish, and full of that ego that 
 blasts judgment. 
 
 "But always, I am all that you hope to be, and have the 
 courage to try for. 
 
 "I am song and fear, struggle and panic, and ennobling 
 hope. 
 
 "I am the day's work of the weakest man, and the largest 
 dream of the most daring. 
 
 1 ' I am the Constitution and the courts, statutes and the statute 
 makers, soldier and dreadnaught, drayman and street sweep, 
 cook, counselor, and clerk. 
 
 "I am the battle of yesterday, and the mistake of tomorrow. 
 
 "I am the mystery of the men who do without knowing why. 
 
 "I am the clutch of an idea, and the reasoned purpose of 
 resolution. 
 
 "I am no more than what you believe me to be and I am all 
 that you believe I can be. 
 
 "I am what you make me, nothing more. 
 
 ' ' I swing before your eyes as a bright gleam of color, a symbol 
 of yourself, the pictured suggestion of that big thing which 
 makes this nation. My stars and my stripes are your dream and 
 your labors. They are bright with cheer, brilliant with cour- 
 age, firm with faith, because you have made them so out of your 
 hearts. For you are the makers of the flag and it is well that 
 you glory in the making." 
 
64 — 
 
 A CODE OF MORALS FOR BOYS AND GIRLS 
 
 I am glad that some one was good enough to send to me a 
 copy of the following code of morals for Boys and Girls. I wish 
 it might be in use in every school in the land. There is a second 
 part called the Code of Morals for Young People, intended for 
 pupils of high school age, while this for the grades. 
 
 Though this Code does not concern itself directly with the 
 flag, it does teach what our flag symbolizes, Americanism, and 
 does it in a practical way. 
 
 Moral Code for Boys and Girls. 
 
 Boys and girls who are good Americans try to become strong 
 and useful, that our country may become ever greater and bet- 
 ter. Therefore they obey the laws of right living which the 
 best Americans have always obeyed. 
 
 THE LAW OF HEALTH 
 
 The Good American Tries to Gain and to Keep Perfect Health. 
 
 The welfare of our country depends upon those who 
 try to be physically fit for their daily work. There- 
 fore: 
 
 1. I will keep my clothes, my body and my mind clean. 
 
 2. I will avoid those habits which would harm me, and will 
 make and never break those habits which will help me. 
 
 3. I will try to take such food, sleep and exercise as will keep 
 me in perfect health. 
 
 II 
 
 THE LAW OF SELF-CONTROL 
 
 The Good American Controls Himself. 
 
 Those who best control themselves can best serve 
 their country. 
 
— 65 — 
 
 1. I will control my tongue, and will not allow it to speak 
 mean, vulgar or profane words. 
 
 2. I will control my temper, and will not get angry when peo- 
 ple or things displease me. 
 
 3. I will control my thoughts, and will not allow a foolish wish 
 to spoil a wise purpose. 
 
 Ill 
 
 THE LAW OF SELF-RELIANCE 
 
 The Good American is Self-Reliant. 
 
 Self-conceit is silly, but self-reliance is necessary to 
 boys and girls who would be strong and useful. 
 
 1- I will gladly listen to the advice of older and wiser people, 
 but I will learn to think for myself, choose for myself, act 
 for myself. 
 
 2. I will not be afraid of being laughed at. 
 
 3. I will not be afraid of doing right when the crowd does 
 wrong. 
 
 IV 
 THE LAW OF RELIABILITY 
 
 The Good American is Reliable. 
 
 Our country grows great and good as her citizens 
 are able more fully to trust each other. Therefore: 
 
 1. I will be honest, in word and in act. I will not lie, sneak, 
 or pretend, nor will I keep the truth from those who have a 
 right to it. 
 
 2. I will not do wrong in the hope of not being found out. I 
 cannot hide the truth from myself and cannot often hide it 
 from others. 
 
 3. I will not take without permission what does not belong 
 to me. 
 
 4. I will do promptly what I have promised to do. If I have 
 made a foolish promise, I will at once confess my mistake, 
 and I will try to make good any harm which my mistake 
 may have caused. I will so speak and act that people will 
 find it easier to trust each other. 
 
— 66 — 
 
 V 
 
 THE LAW OF CLEAN PLAY 
 
 The Good American Plays Fair. 
 
 Clean play increases and trains one's strength, and 
 helps one to be more useful to one's country. There- 
 fore: 
 
 1. I will not cheat, nor will I play for keeps or for money. 
 If I should not play fair, the loser would lose the fun 
 of the game, the winner would lose his self-respect and 
 the game itself would become a mean and often cruel busi- 
 ness. 
 
 2. I will treat my opponent with politeness. 
 
 3. If I play in a group game, I will play, not for my own 
 glory, but for the success of my team and the fun of the 
 game. 
 
 4. I will be a good loser or a generous winner. 
 
 VI 
 
 THE LAW OF DUTY 
 
 The Good American Does His Duty. 
 
 The shirker or the willing idler lives upon the labor 
 of others, burdens others with the work which he 
 ought to do himself. He harms his fellows citizens, 
 and so harms his country. 
 
 I will try to find out what my duty is, what I ought to do, and 
 my duty I will do, whether it is easy or hard. What I 
 ought to do I can do. 
 
 VII 
 
 THE LAW OF GOOD WORKMANSHIP 
 
 The Good American Tries to do the Right Thing 
 in the Right Way. 
 
 The welfare of our country depends upon those who 
 have learned to do in the right way the things that 
 ought to be done. Therefore : 
 
 1. I will get the best possible education, and learn all that I 
 
— 67 — 
 
 can from those who have learned to do the right thing in 
 the right way. 
 
 2. I will take an interest in my work, and will not be satisfied 
 with slip-shod and merely passable work. A wheel or a rail 
 or a nail carelessly made may cause the death of hundreds. 
 
 3- I will try to do the right thing in the right way, even when 
 no one else sees or praises me. But when I have done my 
 best, I will not envy those who have done better, or have 
 received larger reward. Envy spoils the work and the worker. 
 
 VIII 
 
 THE LAW OF TEAM-WORK 
 
 The Good American Works in Friendly Co-operation 
 with His Fellow Workers. 
 
 One man alone could not build a city or a great rail- 
 road. One man alone would find it hard to build a 
 house or a bridge. That I may have bread, men have 
 sowed and reaped, men have made plows and thresh- 
 ers, men have built mills and mined coal, men have 
 made stoves and kept stores. As we learn better 
 how to work together, the welfare of our country is 
 advanced. 
 
 1. In whatever work I do with others, I will do my ^part and 
 will help others do their part. 
 
 2. I will keep in order the things which I use in my work. 
 When things are out of place, they are often in the way, 
 and sometimes they are hard to find. Disorder means con- 
 fusion, and the waste of time and patience. 
 
 3. In all my work with others, I will be cheerful. Cheerlessness 
 depresses all the workers and injures all the work. 
 
 4. When I have received money for my work, I will be neither 
 a miser nor a spendthrift. I will save or spend as one of the 
 friendly workers of America. 
 
 IX 
 
 THE LAW OF KINDNESS 
 
 The Good American is Kind. 
 
 In America those who are of different races, colors 
 and conditions must live together. We are of many 
 
— 68 — 
 
 different sorts, but we are one great people. Every 
 unkindness hurts the common life, every kindness 
 helps the common life. Therefore: 
 
 1. I will be kind in all my thoughts. I will bear no spites or 
 grudges. I will not think myself above any other boy or 
 girl just because I am of a different race or color or con- 
 dition. I will never despise anybody. 
 
 2. I will be kind in all my speech. I will not gossip nor will I 
 speak unkindly of anyone. Words may wound or heal. 
 
 3. I will be kind in all my acts. I will not selfishly insist on 
 having my own way. I will always be polite. Rude peo- 
 ple are not good Americans. I will not trouble unneces- 
 sarily those who do work for me. I will do my best to pre- 
 vent cruelty, and will give my best help to those who need 
 it most. 
 
 X 
 
 THE LAW OF LOYALTY 
 
 The Good American is Loyal. 
 
 If our America is to become ever greater and better 
 her citizens must be loyal, devotedly faithful, in 
 every relation of life. 
 
 1. I will be loyal to my family. In loyalty I will gladly obey 
 my parents or those who are in their place. I will do my 
 best to help each member of my family to strength and 
 usefulness. 
 
 2. I will be loyal to my school. In loyalty I will obey and help 
 other pupils to obey those rules which further the good 
 of all. 
 
 3- I will be loyal to my town, my state, my country. In loyalty 
 I will respect and help others to respect their laws and their 
 courts of justice. 
 
 4. I will be loyal to humanity. In loyalty I will do my best 
 to help the friendly relations of our country with every 
 other country, and to give to everyone in every land the 
 best possible chance. 
 
 If I try simply to be loyal to my family, I may be disloyal 
 to my school. If I try simply to be loyal to my school, I 
 may be disloyal to my town, my state and my country. If 
 I try simply to be loyal to my town, my state and country, 
 
— 69 — 
 
 I may be disloyal to humanity. I will try above all things 
 else to be loyal to humanity; then I shall surely be loyal 
 to my country, my state and my town, to my school and to 
 my family. 
 
 And he ivho obeys the law of loyalty obeys all of the other 
 nine laws of The Good American. 
 
 w w w w 
 
 The above Code was written by William J. Hutchins, president 
 of Berea College, Kentucky, in a contest in which fifty-two 
 writers took part, having a year — February 22, 1916, to Feb- 
 ruary 22, 1917. There had been a prize of $5,000 offered for the 
 best, and it went to him. An old educator has asked me if this 
 Code would not make a boy a molly-coddle. Would it? Copies 
 of this Code may be had from Berea College at 75 cents a 
 hundred. 
 
 SOME TRIBUTES TO THE FLAG 
 
 I have asked several well-known Wisconsin people to write 
 for this little book short tributes to the Flag. I am sure that 
 they will be of real interest especially so, perhaps, because they 
 are "home grown." 
 
 From Bishop Samuel Fallows. 
 
 "The American flag, with its marvelous blending of Red, 
 White and Blue, is the glorious symbol of national unity, of 
 political purity, of commercial honesty, of industrial justice, 
 of civic righteousness, of manhood and womanhood equality, 
 of childhood conservation, of international brotherhood, and a 
 world-wide humanity. 
 
 "May it ever wave in increasing splendor o'er the land of 
 the free and the home of the brave." 
 
 Bishop Fallows now lives in Chicago, yet he was a Wisconsin soldier. 
 Chaplain, of the 32nd Wisconsin, Lieutenant Colonel of the 40th and 
 Colonel of the 49th. He is truly loyal to Wisconsin. 
 
 From the Rev. E. B. Earle. 
 
 To look upon Old Glory, to have in my possession the Stars 
 and Stripes, to hold in my hand the Star Spangled Banner, 
 has a wonderful effect upon me. It is the flag of my country. 
 
— 70 — 
 
 I love it. Its White calls to me for purity of life in purpose 
 and in effort. Its Blue says, be true— true to God, true to the 
 principles for which the flag stands, true to my fellow men. Its 
 Red bids me have courage — courage to stand for the right, even 
 though I stand alone; courage to fight to the last ditch, and 
 there if required, to pour out the last drop of my heart's blood 
 for the glory of God, the honor of my country, the preservation 
 of my country 's flag. ' ' 
 
 Mr. Earle has been for the past eight years Chaplain of the Wiscon- 
 sin Veterans' Home, at Waupaca. 
 
 From John A. Hazelwood. 
 
 "The 'Stars and Stripes' has no equal. It represents life, 
 liberty, and prosperity; it symbolizes truth, purity, and cour- 
 age ; it is the boast and pride of free men. No other flag is so 
 beautiful. It inspires people to think holy thoughts and to 
 do noble deeds. It has led Americans to success on many a 
 battle field. On every sea and in every land it stands for truth 
 against error, for right against wrong, for God against evil. 
 It is the grandest, most glorious of all flags. 
 
 Yes, to Old Glory we ascribe our undying love and loyalty. 
 May she ever float on high o'er this land of the free and the 
 home of the brave." 
 
 Mr. Hazelwood is a son of a veteran, a former county superintendent 
 — now secretary of the Civil Service Commission in the Capitol. 
 
 From Colonel Jerome A. Watrous. 
 
 Dear Flag of the free, a great nation's beautiful emblem; 
 flag of great deeds as well as dazzling beauty; "Inspiration 
 and Hope of our Country;" I gracefully salute thee, and 
 lovingly press my lips to thy folded stripes and stars, and 
 proudly exclaim, ' ' I love thee, Stars and Stripes, blessed Old 
 Glory. I love thee, thou boundless source of inspiration in all 
 worthy walks of life in peace, and source of boundless strength, 
 as well as inspiration, in times of war and in battle." 
 
 Memory carries me back to the battlefield, its deafening 
 thunder of cannon, incessant rattling of musketry, spiteful 
 zip-zipping of bullets, shouted orders of officers and the excit- 
 ing and anxious moments of close and uncertain contest, when 
 an ugly and defiant "yell" was answered by an equally defiant 
 
— 71 — 
 
 "cheer" in which there was scant hope; when hope and joy 
 were aroused by the hurried approach of helping or relieving 
 reinforcements, with waving, smiling, inspiring, defiant flags 
 that brought welcoming cheers telling of renewed hope, con- 
 fidence, and readiness for redoubled efforts for victory. 
 
 Those were occasions when our Nation's emblem — waving, 
 smiling, defiant Old Glory — appeared supremely lovely; and 
 tired men with powder-blackened faces could have kissed it 
 and sprinkled it with grateful tears. 
 
 May our Nation and its proud emblem ever possess the un- 
 questioned love of the most favored people in the world — the 
 people of the United States. 
 
 Colonel Watrous has lately retired, at a good old age, from the posi- 
 tion of Governor of the Wisconsin Veterans' Home at Waupaca. His 
 has been a long life of patriotic activity and most useful citizenship. 
 
 From John J. Blaine, Governor of Wisconsin. 
 
 Our Flag is symbolical, emblematical ; and the arrangement of 
 colors visualizes the things for which the flag stands. 
 
 It symbolizes courage, purity, truth and honor; yet the idol- 
 atrous worship of the symbol itself is not devotio to the flag. 
 Our flag has been bathed in blood on the greatest battlefields of 
 the world, and that baptism has meant the rededication of 
 the spirit of America in devotion to the things for which the 
 flag stands. Courage in civil life, purity of mind, of action, of 
 adherence to truth and honor in all things — these constitute 
 devotion to the flag. All things it symbolizes are so necessary 
 to an orderly government that to use the flag to cloak intoler- 
 ance, to suppress freedom, to deny rights or to impose the will 
 of individuals or groups upon the masses are acts of disloyalty, 
 and to flaunt the flag for personal gain is to desecrate it. 
 
 Within its folds there is no place for those who are not de- 
 voted to the cause of maintaining the rights of life, liberty, and 
 the pursuit of happiness. Government has no justification for 
 existence among men except as an instrument to secure those 
 rights ; and our flag is the emblem floating from every flag pole 
 as a challenge to those who would deny them. 
 
— 72 — 
 
 From Walter O. Pietzsch, Department Commander of the 
 Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 Our first look at the stars and stripes after release from Con- 
 federate prison was a glorious sight to us, and the happiest day 
 we ever knew. We had been confined in Salisbury prison four 
 months, where five thousand out of ten thousand of us had died 
 of hardship, and starvation, and disease, when we were paroled 
 and taken to Wilmington, North Carolina, there to be turned 
 over to the United States government for exchange. When we 
 arrived on the banks of the Nuese river, some 1,500 of us, there 
 we beheld Old Glory floating from a tall staff. You should 
 have seen those released 1,500 men stand — not cheering — but 
 in silence, glad and thankful tears streaming down their cheeks, 
 tears of joy and happiness. You may be sure that the stars 
 and stripes meant something to us that day. We were once 
 more in God's country. God's country is wherever our flag 
 floats — the best flag ever known. 
 
 W. J. McKay, Assistant Adjutant General for Wisconsin, 
 Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
 Our flag is indeed a thing of beauty — so beautiful in form and 
 color as to attract especial attention among the banners of all 
 nations. But its ethical significance of goodness and civic right 
 eousness is what makes it most beautiful to us who proudly 
 call it our Flag. Its thirteen stripes tell of the beginning of our 
 Union ; it stars speak of our vigorous growth as a Nation ; while 
 its colors of Red, White and Blue symbolize the cardinal vir- 
 tues of Courage, Purity and Truth — principles in harmony with 
 the mission of the Master, who spoke as never man spake when 
 he brought to earth the message of "Peace on Earth, Good Will 
 Toward Men." 
 
 Last Sunday I saw our flag upon the flower-covered casket 
 of a brave boy whose body had just come back from overseas, 
 where he had fallen in battle, to his home church filled with 
 his old friends for a memorial service. The flowers were of 
 themselves beautiful, yet their sweet beauty was enhanced by 
 the flag for which Howard had freely given his young life. 
 Our flag never seemed more touchingly beautiful. 
 
 The inauguration last Monday under the great dome of our 
 noble Capitol, so inspiring all through, reached its climax when, 
 
— 73 — 
 
 at its close, the vast audience sang our Nationl, Anthem and as 
 these words — "Tis the Star Spangled Banner, O Long may it 
 wave 'er the land of the free and the home of the brave ! ' ' Arose 
 in a grand chorus echoing and re-echoing along the corridors, 
 the great silk flag high up under the dome was unfurled in all 
 its beauty. The effect was thrilling, electrifying every heart. 
 Beautiful indeed it was, like a benediction from heaven. 
 
 From C. P. Cary, State Superintendent. 
 
 Our flag symbolizes our nation. Love of the flag is love of 
 our country. To honor the flag is to show our profound respect 
 for the government under which we live, and our allegiance to 
 it. To fight for our flag and risk our lives in its defense is proof 
 to the world that we count no sacrifice too great to make in 
 defense of our country. 
 
 The flag stands not only for what we as a nation are but it 
 stands for our ideals and our hopes for the future ; it stands 
 for liberty, democracy, and the equal rights of all our citizens. 
 Our flag stands for law and order. Thus we are defending 
 the flag and putting meaning into it when we obey law, enforce 
 law. and stand firmly for the things that make for human lib- 
 erty and the equal rights of man. We do not have to wait till 
 called to arms to defend the flag; we can honor and defend it 
 every day. All honor to the defenders of the nation's flag 
 whether in school, in home, in workshop, or on the field of 
 battle. Honor to the nation that now is and to the high ideals 
 for which the nation stands! 
 
 SOME FLAG POEMS 
 
 The Greater Flag. 
 
 The following noble flag poem was read by the Rev. E. B. Earle, 
 Chaplain of the Wisconsin Veterans' Home, at Waupaca, in his sermon 
 on Sunday, July 4, 1920. At my request he let me have a copy of it 
 for use in this flag book. The author is unknown : 
 
 Fling out its folds to the winds of earth from every crest and crag, 
 Roll a strong salute from a million throats to honor this greater flag: 
 The flag of a larger freedom, the flag of a wider trust, 
 From the arctic snow-peaks waving to the gray-flung desert dust; 
 Flower of the New World's morning, noon's promise and prophecy, 
 Spanning the reach of endeavor into the vast To Be; 
 
— 74 — 
 
 Broadening its stripes that their shadow may shelter a neighbor 
 
 brood. 
 A nation reckoned of nations, fearless of temper and mood. 
 
 Never the past forgetting, ne'er to the past untrue, 
 
 But formed of a larger stature, 'neath skies of a deeper blue ; 
 
 Grown to a fuller being, wise with the wisdom of years, 
 
 The prudence born of mistakes wrought out, the tenderness taught 
 
 tears ; 
 Strong with the pain of purchase, tense muscle and sweat of brow, 
 When destiny over the nations drove deep its iron plow; 
 Fit with the brawn of battle for defending the ways of peace, 
 That the factions of evil may dwindle, the forces of right increase. 
 
 Hemmed no more in the cradle on the marge of the eastern sea, 
 
 For a puissant people only the stars of the West float free. 
 
 As a tree grows, as a child grows, as a man to his power and prime, 
 
 So the life of our nation broadens, strong-souled in its riper time; 
 
 With the might of a titan impulse, a million hands at the wheel, 
 
 A million minds for serving, a million hearts to feel; 
 
 Upborne, as a ship sea-driven, when the full tides sweep and roll, 
 
 In the track of the gods far-destined to our unchangeable goal. 
 
 In the front of the great World-shapers appointed to lead and to mold, 
 Lining the solid course of the new to plumb with the tried of the old ; 
 On the broad foundation buttressed with the mortar of blood and tears, 
 There towers the temple foretokened in the dreams of prophets and 
 
 seers; 
 Wide-domed as the vault of heaven, including, as heaven includes, 
 The strong and the puny in status alike, full-handed or bare of goods ; 
 Holding no cast injustice, no fief of air or light, 
 Not flung as a bone to beggars, but ceded, a primal right. 
 
 No more shall the grail of the ages for the few be sought and won, 
 But alike and equal the sharing, when the strife is striven and done; 
 Each man, by the flag above him, bound to his bravest and best, 
 To full free chance for his making, to room for his highest quest; 
 Bound, by the flag above him, to reckon his brother's need; 
 Bound, by the flag above him, to hearken, and help, and heed 
 The voices crying in the darkness, as the crying of kith and kin, 
 The call of the scourged and outcast, as the call of the housed within. 
 
 Not all to the captains and leaders — to them be the good that is theirs — 
 But they battle for Liberty's largess, and the sons of slaves have shares ; 
 No more to her borders only the power of the nation bends 
 But the keepers of earth are kindred, and the weakest of earth are 
 friends ; . 
 
— to — 
 
 Friends by the bondage of urgent need, equal, insistent and strong, 
 Kindred by kindred purpose to better the ancient wrong; 
 Tempered and tried in the furnace, proven of sight and of soul, 
 She measures the message of Fate on the future's golden scroll. 
 
 Unfurl its folds to the winds of heaven from every cliff and crag, 
 Roll a strong salute from a million throats to honor this greater flag; 
 The flag of a larger freedom, the flag of a wider trust, 
 From the arctic snow-peaks waving to the gray-flung desert dust; 
 With the light of its starry halo out-tossed on the utmost seas, 
 Its stripes in the sunshine rippling, caressed by the f artherest breeze ; 
 With the hopes of the hearts that won it, the torch of our beacon still, 
 And the blood yet red for its keeping that flowed on Bunker Hill. 
 
 The Flag on The Farm. 
 
 We've raised a flagpole on the farm 
 
 And flung Old Glory to the sky, 
 And its another touch of charm 
 
 That seems to cheer the passer-by; 
 But more than that, no matter where 
 
 We're laboring, in wood and field, 
 We turn and see it in the air, 
 
 Our promise of a greater yield. 
 It whispers to us all day long 
 
 From dawn to dusk, "Be true, be strong; 
 Who falters now with plough or hoe 
 
 Gives comfort to his country's foe." 
 
 It seems to me I've never tried 
 
 To do so much about the place, 
 Or been so slow to come inside. 
 
 But since I've got the Flag to face, 
 Each night when I come home to rest, 
 
 I feel that I must look up there 
 And say, "Old Flag, I've done my best — 
 
 Today I've tried to do my share." 
 And sometimes, just to catch the breeze, 
 
 I stop my work, and o'er the trees 
 Old Glory fairly shouts my way, 
 
 "You're shirking far too much today!" 
 
 The help have caught the spirit, too; 
 
 The hired man takes off his cap 
 Before the old red, white and blue, 
 
 Then to the horses says, "Giddap!" 
 And, starting bravely to the field, 
 
 He tells the milkmaid by the door, 
 "We're going to make these acres yield 
 
— 76 — 
 
 More than they've ever done before!" 
 She smiles to hear his gallant brag, 
 
 Then drops a courtsey to the Flag, 
 While in her eyes there seems to shine 
 
 A patriotism that is fine. 
 
 We've raised a flagpole on the farm 
 
 And flung Old Glory to the sky; 
 We're far removed from war's alarm 
 
 But courage here is running high. 
 We're doing things we never dreamed 
 
 We'd ever find the time to do — 
 Deeds that impossible once seemed 
 
 Each morning now we hurry through. 
 The flag now waves above our toil, 
 
 And sheds its glory on the soil; 
 And man and boy look up to it 
 
 As if to say, "I'll do my bit!" 
 
 — Edgar A. Guest, by permission. 
 
 The Name of Old Glory. 
 
 Old Glory! say, who, 
 
 By the ship and the crew, 
 
 And the long blended ranks of the gray and the blue, 
 
 Who gave you, Old Glory, the name that you bear 
 
 With such pride everywhere 
 
 As you cast yourself free to the rapturous air 
 
 And leap out full-length, as we're wanting you to? 
 
 Who gave you that name with the ring of the same 
 
 And the honor and fame so becoming to you? 
 
 Your Stripes stroked in ripples of white and of red, 
 
 With your stars at their glittering best overhead — 
 
 By day or by night 
 
 Their delightful light 
 
 Laughing down from their square heaven of blue! 
 
 Who gave you the name of Old Glory? — say, who — 
 
 Who gave you the name of Old Glory? 
 
 The old banner lifted, and faltering then, 
 In vague lisps and whispers fell silent again. 
 
 Old Glory, — speak out! — we are asking about 
 How you happened to "favor" a name, so to say, 
 That so familiar and careless and gay 
 As we cheer it and shout in our wild, breezy way — 
 We — the crowd, every man of us calling you that — 
 We — Tom Dick and Harry — Each swinging his hat 
 And hurrahing "Old Glory!" like you were our kin, 
 When — Lord! — we all know we're as common as sin! 
 
And waft us your thanks as, as we hail you and fall 
 Into line, with you over us, waving us on 
 Where our glorified, sanctified betters have gone. — 
 And this is the reason we're wanting to know — 
 (And we're wanting it sol — 
 Where our fathers went we are willing to go.) 
 Who gave you the name of Old Glory — Oho! — 
 Who gave you the name of Old Glory? 
 
 The old flag unfurled with a billowy thrill 
 For an instant, then wistfully sighed and was still. 
 
 Old Glory, the story we're wanting to hear 
 
 Is what the plain facts of your christening were, — 
 
 For your name — just to hear it, 
 
 Repeat it and cheer it, 'tis a tang to the spirit 
 
 As salt as a tear; — 
 
 And seeing you fly, and the boys passing by, 
 
 There's a shout in the throat and a blur in the eye, 
 
 And an aching to live for you always — or die, 
 
 If, dying, we still keep you waving on high. 
 
 And so, by our love 
 
 For you, floating above, 
 
 And the scars of all wars and the sorrows thereof, 
 
 Who gave you the name of Old Glory, and why 
 
 Are we thrilled at the name of Old Glory? 
 
 Then the old banner leaped like a sail in the blast, 
 And fluttered an audible answer at last. 
 
 And it spake with a shake of the voice, and it said: — 
 By the driven snow-white and the living blood-red 
 Of my bars, and their heaven of stars over head — 
 By the symbol conjoined of them, skyward cast, 
 As I float from the steeple or flap at the mast, 
 Or droop o'er the sod where the long grasses nod, — 
 My name is as old as the Glory of God. 
 
 .So I came by the name of Old Glory. 
 
 — James Whitcomb Riley 
 
 Union. 
 
 The following poem from the patriotic department of the 
 course of study in the elementary schools of Texas, where Annie 
 Webb Blanton is state superintendent, was written by Virginia 
 Frazer Boyle, said to be the foremost living poet of the South. 
 It is truly patriotic. Such sentiments should tend to unite the 
 North and the South. With the author the war is over. 
 
Out of the mists and the storms of the years, 
 Out of the glory of triumph and of tears, 
 Out of the ashes of hopes and of fears, 
 The Old South still leads on. 
 
 She is bringing today what her hands have wrought, 
 What her mother's heart at her knee has taught — 
 Her treasure of time that her blood has bought — 
 To lay at the nation's feet. 
 
 Not the tattered things which she waves today — 
 Not the Stars and Bars she has laid away, 
 Not the bended forms in their coats of gray — 
 Her wond'rous pledge to the past. 
 
 But the spirit that stirs through the dust of the grave, 
 Where the flags of the Union wave; 
 The valor the God of heroes gave 
 To freedom and liberty. 
 
 She comes with the cry that led her on, 
 When freedom and liberty first were born — 
 And the name of her peerless Washington — - 
 The rugged strength of her days. 
 
 She has kept unmixed, through her years of pain, 
 America's blood in its purest vein; 
 As she gave to the past, she gives again, 
 For the glory of her land. 
 
 With a patriot's faith in the days to be 
 She is pressing the seal of her destiny; 
 With the fame of her Jackson and her Lee, 
 The heritage of her sons. 
 
 And she sees in her ruddy boy today, 
 In his khaki coat, her lad in gray; 
 And back of the drums her heartstrings play 
 When the bugles shout and call. 
 
 But her mother-love is not dismayed; 
 She has laid her treasure unafraid 
 On the shrine where the sad-eyed Lincoln prayed 
 That the Union might not break. 
 
 How they troop, that host that can never die! 
 A nation's heroes passing by — 
 The spirits that brook nor earth nor sky — 
 For the deathless dead have heard. 
 
79 
 
 They are marching out with a shadowy lance, 
 With the sons of sons to the fields of France; 
 And they stand at the guns while the bullets glance, 
 Where England fights to win. 
 
 Oh, hallowed earth of the brave and free! 
 Oh, pledges of life and of liberty! 
 They are keeping the tryst on the land and the sea, 
 Of a nation forever one ! 
 
 At a Parade. 
 
 The flag went by, its bars of purest white 
 
 Paid tribute to the memory of the dead, 
 
 Although its scarlet stripes glow vivid still, 
 
 As when they dripped with blood at Bunker Hill. 
 
 The flag went by, its bars of purest white 
 
 Unsullied as the deathless ideals bright 
 
 For which our forebears bled, and every star 
 
 Gleamed on its azure field, like hope afar, 
 
 That leads men upward — deems no height too steep 
 
 For those to scale who safe their birthright keep. 
 
 The flag went by. Its passage seemed to me 
 
 A strain exquisite from a threnody 
 
 That mourned the passing of those heroes bold. 
 
 Who fought beneath its silken folds, of old. 
 
 The flag went by. I merely dreamed the note 
 
 Of sweeter melody that seemed to float. 
 
 And quivering, suspended, hung in air 
 
 Above the thoughtless crowds that gathered there 
 
 To watch the pageant; for I saw no sign 
 
 That any other soul had thrilled with mine! 
 
 Where is the patriotic fire that flamed 
 'Mid snows at Valley Forge? Are men ashamed 
 To render public homage to the sign 
 And symbol of a nation's soul, divine 
 And deathless ? It is comforting to know 
 In '76, at least, it was not so! 
 History chronicles for all to see 
 
 It was not so in 1863! t 
 
 Does our blood crawl so sluggishly today 
 That, we unmoved, that emblem can survey? 
 Hats off! It is your own, your country's flag! 
 On many battlefields a tattered rag- 
 It fluttered proudly! triumph or defeat 
 For right did not hesitate to meet. 
 It is the symbol of the hopes and fears, 
 
80 
 
 Struggles, attainments, of a hundred years 
 And almost two-score more. It is the sum 
 Of what we aim to be, what we have done, 
 Or hope to do — and yet I saw no eye 
 Kindle, no hand salute — 
 
 The flag went by! 
 — Beatrice Barry 
 
 Selected from Colorado's Holiday Book 
 
 The Flag Goes By. 
 
 Old Glory's coming down the street, 
 
 Its sparkling stars in Heaven's sky 
 Where blue and white and red all meet — 
 
 Take off your hat as it goes by. 
 
 Old Glory rustles in the breeze 
 
 That murmurs where the wounded lie 
 
 Who fought to give you lives of ease — 
 Take off your hat, the Flag goes by. 
 
 Our boys are falling on the line — 
 
 Each day records they do and die. 
 Then will you stand and give no sign? 
 
 Take off your hat, the Flag goes by. 
 
 And will you say, "I did not know 
 
 Old Glory stands for those who lie 
 In heroes' tombs, or graves laid low?" 
 
 Lest you forget, the flag goes by. 
 
 Old Glory sees its triumph hour, 
 
 No fairer sight can greet your eye; 
 This is the Flag of might and Power — 
 
 Take off your hat as it goes by. 
 
 Old Glory's coming down the street, 
 
 The ensign of the world — to fly 
 Where hope and peace and freedom meet. 
 
 "Would you forget?" The Flag goes by. 
 
 An empire cowers, for it knows 
 
 Its doom is writ in darkened sky. 
 A world takes off its hat, and shows 
 Old Glory now is passing by. 
 
 — Lillian M. Clark Cary, 
 National Patriotic Instructor, 
 Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. 
 
— 81 — 
 No Red Flag in America. 
 
 America, to all the world 
 
 Thou stretchest forth a friendly hand; 
 
 Beneath thy glorious flag unfurled 
 
 No bars to human progress stand. 
 
 The honest mind 
 
 In thee can find 
 
 No chains to hamper or to bind, 
 
 Thou dearest hope of all mankind, 
 
 Thou first and freest land! 
 
 Then what of those who now would flout 
 Thy flag that millions died to save 
 Since first, upon the breeze flung out, 
 It stirred the spirits of the brave? 
 What men are those, 
 What fools and foes, 
 
 Would change the flag the fathers chose, 
 And in the place where it arose 
 A blood-red flag would wave? 
 
 No lovers of their kind are they 
 
 Who'd wreck the work the fathers wrought. 
 
 Blind leaders of the blind are they 
 
 Who'd render vain the fight they fought. 
 
 Not love but hate 
 
 Inspires the prate 
 
 That bodes such evil to the State; 
 
 But by the God who rules our fate 
 
 Their plans shall come to naught. 
 
 Before no flaming flag of red, 
 Thy spirit, O Columbia, cowers; 
 No symbol of disorder dread 
 Shall palsy thy benignant powers! 
 But over thee 
 From sea to sea 
 Shall float the banner of the free, 
 The flag of law and liberty, 
 That Starry Flag of ours. 
 
 — Dennis A. Mc Carthy 
 
82 — 
 
 The Flag of Betsy Ross 
 
 Long are the years that it drifts across, 
 
 The tale that is dear and dim, 
 Of Washington's visit to Betsy Ross 
 
 And the flag that she made for him; 
 The tale of the flag with its radiant folds, 
 
 And the stars in its field of blue, 
 And well have we cherished all that it holds 
 
 That has thrilled us through and through. 
 
 And well do we treasure still the scene 
 
 In the quaint old Quaker town; 
 Over the folds with their silken sheen 
 
 The seamstress is bending down. 
 The roses are blooming beside the door 
 
 Where the fragrant breeze comes through, 
 The breeze that will welcome forevermore 
 
 The Red, the White and the Blue. 
 
 And the eyes of the seamstress, what do they see 
 
 In the stars she has circled there? 
 The sign of a Union that shall ever be 
 
 Forever free and fair! 
 So the vision grows as her needle flies 
 
 Through the hurrying hours, and then, 
 When the sun is high in the western sky 
 
 The general comes again. 
 
 All this we have read; but who can tell 
 
 Of the flag that she made that day? 
 What was its fate and what befell 
 
 When the general rode away? 
 Oh where did it fly. and where did it fade 
 
 And where was it last hauled down — 
 The flag that Betsy the seamstress made 
 
 In the quaint old Quaker town? 
 
 Did it fly, perchance, in the battle smoke, 
 
 The target of shot and shell? 
 Did it hear the cheers when the enemy broke, 
 
 And the groans of those who fell? 
 Did it wave o'er the ranks of the buff and blue, 
 
 And the glory of victory share, 
 When the blood-red banner of Britain flew 
 
 But a captive trophy there? 
 
 Did it fly, perchance, in the favoring breeze 
 On a ship that sailed afar 
 
— 83 — 
 
 Beyond the farthermost sweep of seas, 
 
 Where the Islands of Mystery are? 
 Did it feel the lash of the roaring gales, 
 
 And the kiss of the salty foam? 
 Did it flutter aloft when the weathered sails 
 
 Were furled in the harbor of home? 
 
 Did it fly, perchance, o'er the teeming town 
 
 When the land knew peace again, 
 Wherever its gleaming stars looked down 
 
 On the ways of busy men? 
 Where every wind that its stripes could know 
 
 Brought a message fair and good 
 Of the spirit that blessed the square below 
 
 Where the church and the schoolhouse stood? 
 
 Oh where did it fly, and where did it fade, 
 
 And where was it last hauled down — 
 The flag that Betsy the seamstress made 
 
 In the quaint old Quaker town? 
 It is vain to ask; we only know 
 
 That the fabric fell into dust, 
 And went to the land where lost things go; 
 
 As every fabric must. 
 
 The fabric faded and fell apart, 
 
 Yet the beautiful flag we know 
 Is the flag unfading that thrilled the heart 
 
 Of Washington long ago ! 
 And in that flag through the years to be, 
 Where'er its free folds toss, 
 Shall the eyes of the people ever see 
 
 The flag of Betsy Ross. 
 
 — Author Not Known. 
 
 Chronicles of the Flag. 
 
 Ne'er waved beneath the golden sun 
 
 A lovelier banner for the brave 
 Than that our bleeding fathers won 
 
 And proudly to our children gave, 
 Its glorious stars in azure shine, 
 
 The radiant heraldry of heaven; 
 Its stripes in beauteous order twine 
 
 The emblems of our Union given. 
 Around the globe, through every clime, 
 
 Where commerce wafts or man hath trod. 
 It floats aloft, unstained with crime. 
 
 But hallowed by heroic blood. 
 
 — Anonymous 
 
— 84 — 
 
 God Bless our Flag. 
 
 God bless the flag! let it float and fill 
 The sky with its beauty. Our heartstrings thrill 
 To the low sweet chant of its wind-swept bars, 
 And the chorus of all its clustering stars. 
 Embrace it, mother! and heroes shall grow 
 While its colors blush warm on your bosoms of snow. 
 Defend it, fathers! there's no sweeter death 
 Than to float its folds with a soldier's last breath. 
 And love it, children! be true to the sires 
 Who wore it in pain by the old camp-fires. 
 
 — Samuel L. Simpson. 
 
 Our Flag. 
 
 Flag of a thousand battles, 
 
 Beautiful Flag of the free, 
 Waving from lake to ocean, 
 
 Waving from sea to sea ; 
 Outward and onward ever, 
 
 Daring the restless wave, 
 Upward and skyward ever, 
 
 Pride of the true and brave. 
 
 -Eugene F. Ware. 
 
 Toast to the Flag. 
 
 Here's to the land which gave me birth, 
 
 Here's to the flag she flies ; 
 Here's to her sons — the best of earth — 
 
 Here's to her smiling skies. 
 
 — Frank Pixley. 
 
 No rest or peace at night he knew 
 
 The Flag was whispering in his dreams 
 Of splendid deeds for him to do, 
 
 Telling of blood that flows in streams, 
 Until at last with eyes aglow 
 
 He bade farewell to home and all 
 Stepped forward as a man to go — - 
 
 His soul had heard Old Glory's call. 
 
 — Edgar A. Guest 
 
 Forever float that standard sheet 
 
 Where breathes the foe but falls before it. 
 
 With Freedom's soil beneath our feet 
 
 And Freedom's banner streaming o'er it. 
 
 — Selected by Bishop Samuel Fallows 
 
85 — 
 
 Nothing But Flags. 
 
 My Little Flag Book of last year had in it the poem bear- 
 ing the above title, with the name of Franics Gallagher as its 
 author. I had seen the poem credited to Francis Gallagher, 
 also to Moses Owen. I did not know which was correct, and, 
 for no certain reason, chose Gallagher. When the little book 
 found its way "down east" to the Pine Tree State, and had 
 been read at the State Library, Marion Brainerd, assistant 
 librarian, wrote to me saying : 
 
 "I thank your courtesy in sending the second edition of "A 
 Little Flag Book. I have been much interested in it. On page 
 sixty-seven there is a poem, 'Nothing but Flags', which is 
 credited to Francis Gallagher. 
 
 "In the rotunda of the Maine Capitol building there is a 
 bronze tablet containing this poem, and it is credited to Moses 
 Owen. Several years ago we made a careful investigation and 
 are convinced that Moses Owen, a native of Bath, Maine, was 
 the author. I feel sure that you will be glad to have this called 
 to your attention, and we, of course, are anxious to give due 
 acknowledgment to a son of Maine. We are sending to you 
 today a copy of the words as they appear on our bronze tablet". 
 
 I was glad to get this letter, also a print of the tablet, which 
 I now have framed and placed alongside our Wisconsin battle 
 flags. It tells the same flag story here in our Capitol that it 
 does in Maine. The poem is here reprinted as it is on the tablet : 
 
 Nothing but flags — but simple flags, 
 
 Tattered and torn and hanging in rags; 
 
 And we walk beneath them with careless tread, 
 
 Nor think of the host of the mighty dead, 
 
 That have marched beneath them in days gone by, 
 
 With a burning cheek and a kindling eye, 
 
 And have bathed their folds with their young life's tide, 
 
 And, dying, blessed them, and blessing, died. 
 
 Nothing but flags — yet methinks at night 
 They tell each other their tales of fright; 
 And dim spectres come and their thin arms twine 
 'Round each standard torn, as they stand in line! 
 As the word is given — they charge! they form! 
 And the dim hall rings with the battle's storm! 
 And once again through the smoke and strife 
 Those colors lead to a Nation's life. 
 
8 r 
 
 Nothing but flags — yet they're bathed in tears, 
 They tell of triumphs, of hopes, of fears; 
 Of a mother's prayers, of a boy away, 
 Of a serpent crushed, of the coming day! 
 Silent they speak and the tear will start 
 As we stand beneath them with throbbing heart, 
 And think of those who are ne'er forgot, 
 Their flags come home — why come they not? 
 
 Nothing but flags — yet we hold our breath, 
 And gaze with awe at those types of death ! 
 Nothing but flags, yet the thought will come, 
 The heart must pray though the lips be dumb! 
 They are sacred, pure, and we see no stain 
 On those dear loved flags at home again; 
 Baptized in blood, our purest, best 
 Tattered and torn they are now at rest. 
 
 -Moses A. Owen. 
 
 Your Flag and My Flag. 
 
 Your Flag and my flag 
 
 And how it flies today 
 In your land and my land 
 
 And half the world away. 
 Rose-red and blood-red 
 
 Its stripes forever gleam 
 Snow-white and soul-white 
 
 The good forefather's dream. 
 Sky-blue and true-blue 
 
 With stars that aright — 
 The gloried guidon of the day, 
 A shelter through the night. 
 
 Your flag and my flag, 
 
 And oh, how much it holds — 
 Your land and my land 
 
 Secure within its folds. 
 Your heart and my heart 
 
 Beat quicker at the sight — 
 Sun-kissed and wind-tossed, 
 
 The red, and blue, and white. 
 The one flag, the great flag, 
 
 The flag for me and you, 
 Glorified all else beside, 
 
 The red, and white, and blue. 
 
— 88 — 
 
 Your flag and my flag, 
 
 For every star and stripe 
 Drums beat as hearts beat, 
 
 And fifers shrilly pipe; 
 Your flag and my flag, 
 
 A glory in the sky, 
 Your hope and my hope, 
 
 It never hid a lie. 
 In homeland a far land, 
 
 And half the world around 
 Old Glory hears our glad salute 
 
 And ripples to the sound. 
 
 — Walter D. Nesbit 
 
 A Toast to the Flag. 
 
 Here's to the Red of it — 
 There's not a thread of it, 
 No, not a shred of it 
 In all the spread of it 
 
 From foot to head, 
 But heroes have bled for it, 
 Faced steel and lead for it, 
 Precious blood shed for it, 
 
 Bathing it red. 
 
 Here's to the White of it — 
 
 Thrilled by the sight of it, 
 Who knows the right of it 
 But feels the might of it 
 
 Through day and through night. 
 Womanhood's care for it 
 Made manhood dare for it; 
 Purity's prayer for it 
 
 Kept it so white. 
 
 Here's to the Blue of it — 
 Heavenly view of it, 
 Star-spangled hue of it, 
 Loyalty's due of it, 
 
 Constant and true. 
 Here's to the whole of it, 
 Stars, stripes and pole of it; 
 Here's to the soul of it — 
 
 Red, White and Blue. 
 
— 89 — 
 
 A Suggestion to Teachers. 
 
 It is a good thing in school to have the boys and girls learn 
 two or three or more good poems so that they may be recited 
 now and then in concert. I cannot forget the energy and expres- 
 sion with which a school in Racine, Wisconsin, upon suggestion 
 of their teacher. Miss Medora Roskilly, recited a patriotic poem 
 for me. It was truly thrilling and inspiring, the spirit they put 
 into it; and they seemed heartily to enjoy it. I do not know 
 of better poems for this purpose than the last two. They are 
 good to have in one's mind for recitation at any time. It is 
 good as one grows older to have his mind stored with gems of 
 thought and literary expreession; and the time to take pos- 
 session of such riches is in childhood and youth- "Your Flag 
 and my Flag" and "A Toast to the Flag," are indeed gems, 
 poetic and patriotic. 
 
 SOME LITTLE FLAG VERSES 
 The Voice of the Flag. 
 
 He little thought the flag could speak, 
 
 'Twas just a patch of beauty there 
 That he had seen from week to week, 
 
 Half-soiled and fluttering in the air. 
 He never dreamed it had a soul, 
 
 He never thought it was his friend 
 Until the drums began to roll 
 
 And days of peace were at an end. 
 
 And then he saw the men pass by, 
 
 He heard the music of the band, 
 He saw the soldiers march — to die 
 
 If need be, out on No Man's Land. 
 But when the last brown line had passed 
 
 And silence claimed the streets once more, 
 Something that fluttered from a mast 
 
 Spoke as it never had before. 
 
 "Boy! Boy!" it seemed to cry to him, 
 
 "Come, I will make a man of you; 
 Come to the fields where all is grim 
 
 And live or die for what is true." 
 He thought it strange, yet day by day 
 
 Where'er he saw Old Glory fly 
 Always to him he heard it say 
 
 "For me out there your brothers die." 
 
— 90 — 
 
 Honor the Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Honor the flag that freemen raise, 
 Honor the flag that freemen praise — 
 Grander now than in days of yore — 
 Glorious Stars and Stripes. 
 
 Then lift the hat and give salute, 
 Nor let the patriot's tongue be mute. 
 Grows loyalty of less repute 
 
 Under the Stars and Stripes? 
 
 Splendid banner! first of all 
 That men to quickened heartbeats call! 
 And shall it e'er dishonored fall — 
 Beautiful Stars and Stripes? 
 
 Proud and high through many a storm 
 It has kept the hearts of freemen warm, 
 And covered many a silent form — 
 Sacred Stars and Stripes. 
 
 — Carl W. Mason, New London, Wis. 
 
 The Colors of Our Flag. 
 
 There is a Flag, a grand old Flag, 
 
 The red, the white, the blue; 
 It is so precious to my heart — 
 
 I know it's so to you. 
 
 The Red is like the heroes' blood 
 
 Which was shed for me and you; 
 So now, dear classmates, let us prove 
 
 That we to it are true. 
 
 The White is like the purity 
 
 Of our dear freedom's land; 
 And may it reach across the sea 
 
 And clasp our allies' hand. 
 
 The Blue is like our soldiers true, 
 
 Who are ever pressing on 
 To win the day, the blessed day, 
 
 When vict'ry shall be our song. 
 
 So let us all salute our Flag, 
 
 The red, the white, the blue, 
 And ever with our loyal hearts 
 
 Prove that to her we're true. 
 
 — A Seventh Grade Child, St. Louis School.. 
 
91 
 
 Salute to the Flag. 
 
 Oh bring- the fife and bring the drum, 
 
 And bring the colors, too, 
 The banner with the stars and stripes, 
 
 The red, the white, and blue. 
 Then roll the drum and shrill the fife, 
 
 And let the banner fly, 
 We'll all salute our bonny flag 
 
 As we go marching by. 
 
 Then fling the colors high in air, 
 
 Salute with shout and song; 
 The white it stands for purity, 
 
 The red for courage strong. 
 The stars that glitter there aloft, 
 
 In field of azure blue, 
 A message bear of loyalty 
 
 To every heart that's true. 
 
 Making Us The Flag. 
 
 One night upon the snow 
 
 The red sun fell in bars, 
 
 And in a square of sky above 
 
 There shone some early stars. 
 
 I saw the pretty day. 
 
 Upon the hilltop lag 
 A-playing she was Betty Ross 
 
 Just making us the flag. 
 
 What My Grandpa Said. 
 
 Recitation for a Boy Carrying a Flag 
 
 This is my country's flag; 
 
 I love each snowy star 
 Set in its azure corner space, 
 
 Each white and crimson bar. 
 
 I'd love to see it float 
 
 Above a battlefield, 
 I'd fight for it until I died— 
 
 I'd never, never yield. 
 
 I told my grandpa so. 
 
 He smiled and stroked my head. 
 "You can defend the flag to-day" — 
 
 That's what my grandpa said. 
 
92 — 
 
 He said to fight in time of war 
 
 Is not the only way 
 To serve the country that we love; 
 
 We can serve her every day. 
 
 He said that every wrong thing done 
 
 Is weakening our land; 
 Unless the evils are put down 
 
 Our country may not stand. 
 
 He talked of Greece, and Egypt too, 
 
 And Rome and Babylon, 
 And how because they were not good 
 
 Their mighty power is gone. 
 
 "A boy who loves his flag/' he said, 
 
 "Will battle for the right. 
 A boy can serve our country well 
 
 Being good with all his might." 
 
 He said the dearest land on earth, 
 
 The best the sun shines on, 
 Should have the best and bravest boys 
 
 To put the wrong things down. 
 
 I mean to always think of this 
 
 When I see our banner bright; 
 We boys may serve our country well 
 
 By trying to do right. 
 
 — Selected, From Colorado's Holiday Book. 
 
— 93 — 
 
 All. 
 
 Red. 
 
 White. 
 
 Blue. 
 
 Our Nation's Colors. 
 Exercise for Three Little Girls 
 
 We wear today the colors 
 
 To which our men were true; 
 
 Long may they wave above us, 
 The Red, the White, the Blue. 
 
 Bright as the rays of morning, 
 
 When comes the dawn's first gleam, 
 
 Within our much-loved banner 
 The crimson bars are seen. 
 
 Pure as the snowflakes falling, 
 
 Or early morning light, 
 Among the bars of crimson 
 
 Appear the bars of white. 
 
 Bright as the skies of evening, 
 
 When gleam the stars of night, 
 
 The blue within our banner 
 Enfolds the stars of white. 
 
 A Flag Exercise. 
 
 For The Little Ones 
 
 Holding The Flag. 
 
 First Pupil. This is our flag, and may it wave 
 
 Wide over land and sea! 
 Though others love a different flag, 
 This is the flag for me. 
 
 Concert. And that's the flag for all our land, 
 
 We will revere no other; 
 Whoever holds this symbol fair 
 Shall be to us a brother. 
 
 Second Pupil. America's the land we love, 
 
 Our broad, fair land so free; 
 And, schoolmates, whereso'er I go, 
 This is the flag for me. 
 
 Repeat concert stanza 
 
 Third pupil. These glorious stars and radiant stripes 
 
 With youthful joy I see; 
 May no rude hand its beauty mar! 
 This the flag for me. 
 
 Repeat concert stanza 
 
94 
 
 Our Flag. 
 
 For a boy and girl, each with a flag 
 We pledge allegiance to our flag, 
 Both — To it we will be true, 
 
 We will defend it with our lives 
 Our own red, white and blue. 
 The Girl — The white, it stands for purity, 
 
 For faith and truth the blue, 
 The red, for courage bold and strong— 
 There's meaning in each hue. 
 Both — We love the stars, the many stars 
 
 Upon their field of blue; 
 We love the stripes of red and white, 
 We know their meaning, too. 
 The Boy — "Star Spangled Banner" it is called, 
 
 Sometimes "Old Glory," too, 
 Sometimes "The Banner of the Free," 
 Our own red, white and blue. 
 Both, waving 
 
 their flags — We pledge allegiance to our flag, 
 
 To it we will be true, 
 We will defend it with our lives, 
 Our own red, white and blue. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Page 
 
 Foreword 3 
 
 State Capitol 4 
 
 Report of Grand Army Patriotic Instructor 5-11 
 
 A Talk With Teachers 12-14 
 
 Americanization in School 15-17 
 
 Flag Number of the National Geographic Magazine 17-21 
 
 Concrete Meaning of Our Flag 21-26 
 
 Old Abe, the Wisconsin War Eagle 26-41 
 
 Our Wisconsin Battle Flags 42-45 
 
 Some Flag Laws 45-46 
 
 Desecration of the Flag 46-47 
 
 Some Flag Customs 48-55 
 
 Is Betty Ross a Myth ? 55-57 
 
 Rhode Island's Claim on the Stars 56 
 
 Up With the School Flag 57-58 
 
 What Our Flag Said 59-61 
 
 Patriotism Means Good Citizenship , 61-62 
 
 Makers of the Flag 62-63 
 
 A Code of Morals for Boys and Girls 64-69 
 
 Some Tributes to the Flag, From— 69-72 
 
 Bishop Samuel Fallows, Rev. E. B. Earle 69 
 
 John A. Hazelwood, Colonel Jerome A. Watrous 70 
 
 Governor John J. Blaine, Wisconsin 71 
 
 Walter O. Pietzsch, Department Commander G. A. R 72 
 
 W. J. McKay, Assistant Adjutant General G. A. R 72 
 
 C. P. Cary, State Superintendent 73 
 
 Some Flag Poems 73-94 
 
 The Greater Flag 73 
 
 The Flag on the Farm 75 
 
 The Name of Old Glory 76 
 
 Union 77 
 
 At a Parade 79 
 
 The Flag Goes By 80 
 
 No Red Flag in America 8.1 
 
 The Flag of Betsy Ross 82 
 
 Some Short Flag Verses 84 
 
 Nothing But Flags 85 
 
 Memorial Hall, Capitol 1 86 
 
 Your Flag and My Flag 87 
 
 Toast to the Flag 88 
 
Suggestion to Teachers 89 
 
 Some Little Flag Verses 89 
 
 The Voice of the Flag 89 
 
 Honor the Stars and Stripes 90 
 
 The Colors of Our Flag 90 
 
 Salute to the Flag 91 
 
 Making Us the Flag 91 
 
 Flag Recitations and Exercises 91-94 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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