Stars

and Stripes. The earliest mention of the Stars and Stripes as Washington’s coat-of-arms was by Lawrence Washington, Worshipful Mayor of North amp ton, England, 1532. In 1540 he placed it upon the porch of his manor-house. Again they appear (the Stars and Stripes) on the tomb of “Anne, hys wyf,”’ 1564. At the old English Church, at Bring ton, the tombs of Washington's ancestors are marked by memorial bra plates bearing the arms of the family, which consisted of a shield that bore the Stars and Stripes. In the records of the Archzological 9ociety of England, the highest authority on ancient churches and heraldic matters, it is stated that in the red and white bars, the stars of his shield and the raven i uant from its crest (borne later by General Washington), the framers of the U. S. Constitution got their idea of our national emblem. When Sir John Washington, great-grandfather of our hero, came to the New World to be rid of the ‘‘ Protector" (1657), the family shield was not forgotten. Settling in Virginia, Sir John established the American line of Washing tons. In due time George Washington came to bear this emblem about his person. Its design was blazoned upon the panels of his carriage. Two watch-seals and a book-mark bore the same red bars, five pointed stars, and a raven i uant (heraldic) ‘‘on the rise’ from the ducal coronet. The commi ions of some officers in the Army of Independence bore this seal. From this embryo flag the transition was easy to the one made by Betsy Ro under the supervision of Washington, and subsequently adopted by Congre . The first resemblance to a National Standard dates from the results of Benjamin Franklin and Me rs. Harrisou and Lynch. They were chosen by Congre as a committee to create 8 National Flag. They adopted the “King’s colors” as a union, reunited with thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, showing ‘‘that although the colonies united for defence against England’s tyranny, they still ackowledged her sovereignty.’”’ This flag was first hoisted by General Washington, January 2, 1776, at his headquarters at Cambridge, Ma . It received a salute of thirteen guns and thirteen cheers. It was known as the ‘‘ Flag of the Union,” or the ‘Cambridge Flag.’”’ It con. sisted of a combination of the cro es of St. George and St. Andrew in the upper corner of a blue field, bordered by the thirteen stripes, representing the union of the thirteen colonies. Its composition was the blending of the colony flags, all of which, with one exception, bore one or more of the three chosen colors—red, white and blue. In New England, the Pine Tree Flag, usually shown in the upper inner square of the British Union, quartered by a red cro on a blue or white field, predominated. In the South the figure of the coiled rattlesnake appeared frequently on their flags, with the motto: ‘Don't tread on me.’’ The pine tree flag was borne by the earliest armed ve els sent out by General Washington from Ma achusetts ports. The pine tree was selected as the fitting type of the sturdy people of New England. Colonel Joseph Reed, military secretary to Washington, writes the General: ‘“‘ Please fix upon some particular color for a flag, and a signal by which our ve els may know one another. What do you think of a flag with a white ground, a tree in the middle,. the motto: ‘Appeal to Heaven?’ This is the flag of our floating batteries.’’ As our first naval flag it is worthy of mention. In Trumbull’s celebrated picture of the battle of Bunker Hill it appears that General, Putnam had placed upon the old red flag, in place of the British Union, the flag of the Ma achusetts cruisers, a white field with a green pine tree in its centre. But the best authorities agree that the first flag hoisted at Bunker Hill was red. It meant defiance; it was the colonists’ reply to the king’s speech. When Putnam's men marched forth that starlit night from Boston and the surrounding country toward the dark heights of Bunker Hill, to defy the British legions, they chose the red flag, to signify their intentions. Shortly before this a crimson flag had been presented to General Putnam, bearing this motto on one side: ‘“‘An Appeal to Heaven,” and on the reverse side ‘‘Qus Transtulit, Sustinet’’—‘‘ He who transplanted will sustain us.” Soon after the battle of Lexington, * April 19, 1775, the Connecticut troope bore this motto on their colonial banners when they a isted in driving the British out of Boston. The first ve el over which the Union flag floated was the frigate Alfred, whose gallant commander was the famous Paul Jones. He it was also who first hoisted the yellow sheet displaying the coiled rattlesnake, and the motto: “Don't tread on me.” His unparalleled exploits and succe under this yellow flag won for it the distinction of the “ Paul Jones Flag.” 16 to x. By the much used term 16 to 1 is meant the ratio between gold and silver as laid down by the Mint Act of 1834. By that act sixteen ounces of silver were made the equal in value to one ounce of gold. At the market value (bullion) of the two metals in 1900 the ratio was about 33 to I. 418