Show NN old 71 CAPI 0 ra 4 A v v T 8 A k 41 4 1 I 1 T 0 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON I 1 HE american flag whose birthday vie me celebrate on june 14 Is known by a number of figurative names it is probable that it was called the red ned asyl white and diane or the 1 1 stars and stripes very soon 7 after the first flag was made in accordance with the resolution passed by the continental congress on june 14 1777 that the hag flag of 0 the united states be 13 stripes alternate red and white that the union be 13 stars white in a blue field representing a new constellation the name the star spangled banner dates from 1814 when francis scott key watching the british bombardment bar dment ot of fort mchenry was inspired to write the poem which was later set to music and became the official national anthem but the name old glory Is a more recent oue one it was just a hundred years ago that a yankee sia skipper apper had bad the inspiration which resulted in that affectionate name being bestowed upon our national colors here is the story of how bow old glory got that name from the be beginning inning of new england maritime history the driver family of salem mass blass had been leaders in the shipping trade not only as ship builders but as 88 owners captains and sailors of their own vessels in the year 1831 capt william dror dair was carrying on the family tradition As a boy 0 of f twelve lie had shipped on a salting sailing vessel for europe and before lie was twenty he was master of the brig charles baggett one of that innumerable fleet beet which sailed the seven seas and carried the name of salem to every corner of the earth in september of that year captain driver was preparing to sail for a trip around the world just before leaving a party of his friends gathered to present liim him with a fa farewell remell gift an american flag because he was noted for liia life love for the national colors and what they betokened captain driver was on deck to receive them and a sailor currying the flag folded in triangular form stepped forward and began a carefully memorized speech in ancient times when an ocean voyage was looked upon with superstitious ious dread he be said it was the custom on the eve of departure to roll the banner in the form of a triangle when ready the alie priest stepped forward and taking the banner in hand sprinkled it with consecrated water and dedicated it to god the father god the son and god the holy host 1 turning the point of the triangle upward at the name of each thus calling on that unity of creator redeemer and sanctifier to bless the national emblem and prosper the voyagers and their friends the flag thus consecrated was then hoisted to the masthead lie ile then adjusted the flag to file halyards hal yards and hoisted it to its position nt at the masthead captain driver overcome with ith emotion was nas silent for a moment then as me le looked aloft and saw the flag which i he be loved so well floating in the b breeze reeze he exclaimed ill call her old glory boys old glory I 1 and thus was mas the imer amer lean flag christened with a new name for he was the first to use that name and by no other lid did lie he ever refer to it the voyage which was thus so BO appropriately inaugurated carried the original old glory into ninny harbors throughout the world and into even more during the next six years while captain driver sailed the seas during one of his voyages into the orient he be lied had made a campli orwood sea chest brassbound brass bound and decorated with railheads nail nall heads beads in which aich he be placed the original old glory when it was not dot floating at the masthead of his ship and this flag had be an even more thrilling later history than its early one in 1837 captain driver retired from the sea and went to nashville tenn to make hla big home but when lie he sold his ship he did not sell old glory safe in its chest it went to tennessee with him on oil patriotic occasions and on bis big own oiin birthday birtha ay iy st patricks day tor for he was born march 17 1803 it was taken from the chest and flung to the breeze for till all to see and to reverence and captain driver invariably saluted it with these words my country my flag old glory V 1 As the dispute between tile the north and south became more intense and the civil war drew nearer dearer and nearer captain driver became increasingly unpopular with hla his neighbors in nashville because of hla his outspoken devotion to his country and his flag during the presidential campaign old glory was displayed on a rope stretched from his home to a tree across the street but the bitterness of that campaign brought to captain drivers ears unmistakable hints that his fla flag might be stolen or destroyed so he bought another flag for display and r retired old glory once more to its chest after the secession of tennessee from the union the captain began to fear for safety of his flag at the hands of the confederates so he took it by night to the tb house of a union sympathizer named bailey and asked mrs airs bailey and her daughters mary and patience to tilde hide it for him so that it could not be found and destroyed it if the confederates searched his house at the time mary and patience bailey were making a comfort padding it heavily with cotton and thus suggested an ideal hitting hiding place place so captain driver folded old glory placed it between the layers of cotton in the comfort where the calley balley girls tacked it in and sewed up the outside covering again at night captain driver took the comfort to his home and placed it in a large iron wash mash kettle in the attic of his home there old glory stayed until union troops occupied nashville in february 1862 immediately thereafter captain driver and a group of soldiers ripped open the comfort took out the flag and hoisted it over the state capitol to the strains of the star spangled banner played by a regimental bond band it remained there for hours but so fearful was captain driver that his flag might even then be injured by a hostile hand band that he stood guard over it day and night in the morning old glory was wag taken down and replaced with another amer ersy lean flag by this time it was verj old much worn and the captain cap feared that a strong wind mind would whip hip it to pieces after this old glory was always kept in the captains house rod and late in his big life lie he gave it to his big daughter mrs M J roland of nevada where so far as Is known it still is in 1907 the lag flag had bad become so vorn morn that mrs roland placed it on a piece of sheeting and stitched it fast to the cloth to pr it for future generations erat ions of the family captain driver lied died march 2 1886 and was burled buried in old city cemetery in nashville just as it was a yankee sen sea captain which gave to our flag its name of old glory so it was that another yankee a soldier instead of a sailor homeer who took another old glory on one of the most romantic expeditions in our history bates was his name and he had served as color sergeant in the twenty fourth massachusetts chu regiment during the civil war in 1972 color sergeant bates had an idea which abich he be proceeded to put into effect in a dramatic fashion at that time there was as much talk in this country of the hostility of great britain toward the united states determined to find out for himself whether this talk was fostered by politicians tor for their own selfish ends or was a genuine antipathy bates resolved to cross the atlantic start from the northern border of england and march to london bearing aloft an unfurled american flag just as he had done on the battlefields of 1801 1861 65 ills his reception by the people of england would show whether or not there was any foundation for this talk of john bulls hostility toward uncle sam clad in his uniform of blue sergeant bates on november 5 guy fawkes day and the anniversary of the battle of inkerman left edinburgh for gretna green at sark sarh bridge on the borderline border line between scotland and england he unfurled old glory and stood beneath it with uncovered head bead then he started on his march that evening lie tramped into carlisle where a group of commercial travelers at the bush hotel gave him a hearty bearty welcome more than that they sent word on ahead of his strange pilgrimage and when he came to tile the mining towns of penrith and shap great crowds of miners minere were mere on hand to cheer him the warm welcome given bates there was repeated in every place through which he traveled the london dally daily press gave much space to the american soldier on december 2 A dense mass packed the GuIl guildhall dball yard where a british ser er gentit was carrying the english standard ard bates was borne on the shoulders of men into the crowded guildhall and then back to the carriage from which he made a speech before re furling hla his flag bates reception in london was the crowning touch to his pilgrimage there was mas no longer any doubt of john bulls frien friendliness hiness toward uncle sam at least so far as the common people of england were concerned K 0 by western newspaper New paper union unload I 1 j |