The Jacksboro Gazette (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 53, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 31, 1934 Page: 3 of 8
This newspaper is part of the collection entitled: The Jack County Newspaper Collection and was provided to The Portal to Texas History by the Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
• ~ ■>f?V«
**!
Irafa
f*v-^1 * ‘tV^e*'/*
*
'WE PLEDGE T”
W V mtmm m Rm 1mm VBP^ ■■■ mj^
ALLEGIANCE TO! ,
r ■*
p* * * •;
^ ^ -Mr
♦ 4c;
:• ■:•'• *
Vm
Wmmm
iJ
oooo
i
A
MBBaiM
By ELMO SCOTT WATSON
N JUNE 14 thousands
of Americans will, as
a part qf the anuual
celebration of Flag
day, repeat this sen-
tence: “I pledge al-
legiance to the flajj
of the United States
and to the Republic
for' whfch It stands,
•ne nation, Indivisible, with liberty
Justice for all:* . Jit has l?een
•aid that “The Pledge to the Flag”
has been repeated more than any
other quotation from modern lit-
erature. For that reason the man
who wrote It and the circumstances
under which It was written deserve
to be remembered.
It is singularly appropriate that
this pledge, which has been repeat-
ed so many times by so many thou-
sands of school children, should have
been written by a member of the
editorial staff of the publication
which for so many years was Young
America’s favorite magazine—the
Youth’s Companion. Francis M.
Bellamy was his name, and at the
time of his death on August 28,
1931, the memory of his greatest
claim to distinction was revived
by his widow who gave an interest-
ing account of the origin of the
pledge.
A little group of men, who In 1891
believed the tlame of patriotism was
dying out because of momentous de-
velopments In Industrial and polit-
ical circles, sought to “fan the
spark Into new life,” she explained.
This effort resulted In President
Benjamin Harrison proclaiming Oc-
tober 12, 1892, as the first nations,1
holiday in honor of the discovery
of America. Delegated to write a
proclamation as part of the orig-
inal ceremony, Bellamy produced a
27-word pledge that stood the test
of time.
•'Chief among the leaders of the
movement,” said Mrs. Bellamy,
“were President Harrison, James B.
Upham, publisher; William T. Har-
ris, federal commissioner of educa-
tion; and Mr. Bellamy, a member
of the editorial staff of the Youth’s
Companion.
“Mr. Upham conceived the Idea
of a revival of patriotism at a time
when material things occupied the
attention of most people. His first
plan was to place an American flag
over every schoolbooks**. As a re-
sult, 25,000 flags waved on as many
school buildings.
• “Then the suggestion was adopt-
ed for a national holiday. Com-
mittees were formed, public men
were Interviewed. This handful of
men virtually consecrated their
lives to the task of obtaining gov-
ernmental recognition of Columbus
day.
“Mr. Bellamy saw congressmen,
senators and others In the public
eye. He Interviewed President
Harrison and Grover Cleveland
among others.
“Afterwards he aroused interest
among congressmen by inducing
them to give Interviews endorsing
wsm
'•rill:
WOODROW WILSON
the project, to newspapers. It
wasn’t long before senate and
house passed a Joint resolution giv-
ing the President authority to pro-
claim the holiday, with standard
exercises In public schools
“At last everything was com-
pleted except the opening proclama-
tion. The secretary of state asked
Mr. Bellamy to do that Mr. Bell-
amy nominated Mr. Upham, but the
latter refused. After many long
weary hours over the draft, my hus-
band produced the pledge that has
remained unchanged since then.
“And that’s all," she conclnded.
“All except that Mr. Bellamy’s
health was Imperiled In his work
to rediscover America 400 years aft-
er Coiambus landed.”
the United State* 1* one
* *•*!
terhood of nations of the world,1,
her flag Is one of the oldest In the;
world. Aside from the swallow-*
tailed. Savoy colors of Denmark,-
adopted in 12J9, and the flag of
Switzerland, which dates from the
f Seventeenth century, history re-
cord* no national flag with s longer
continuous life than ours.
When the Second Continental
congress on June 14, 1777, adopted
a resolution which read: “Resolved,
That the flag of the United States
be thirteen stripes, alternate red
and white, that the union be thir-
teen stars, white In a blue field,
representing a new constellation,”
the French trl-color had not yet
come Into existence. The present
British flag dates only from 1801.
Germany changed Its flag after the
fall of the empire In 1918, but even
the flair used during the World war
was less than 50 years old.
h Ik h h h h
The American flag has three
symbolic names—the Stars and
Stripes, the Star-Spangled Banner
and Old Glory.
The name Stars and Stripes
dates, of course, from Its very be-
ginning, and Is based upon the de-
scription of the banner in the flag
resolution of June 14, 1777.
The Star-Spangled Banner dates
from the War of 1812. Orators may
have called our flag by that name
before that time, but it remained
for Francis Scott Key, a young
Maryland lawyer who was detained
on a British warship during the
bombardment of Fort McHenry on
the night of September 12, 1814, and
who saw “by the dawn’s early
light” of September 13 “that our
flag was still there," to express his
Joy in a poem which was later set
to music and which took the coun-
try by storm.
The name Old Glory dates from
1831. On August 10 of that year
a crowd had gathered at the
wharves of Salem, Mass., to wit-
ness the departure of the brig,
Charles Daggett, which was about
to set out on a ’round-the-world
cruise. Master of the Charles Dag-
gett was Capt William Driver,
noted for his sturdy Americanism
and his deep lov*«for his country’s
* So his neighbors had brought
him a fine American flag to be
hoisted to the masthead of the
brig. When the new banner had
been run up in its place and rip-
pled In the breeze In all Its beauty
of red and white and blue, Cap-
tain Driver, looking aloft, had a
sudden Inspiration. “I’ll call her
Old Glory, boys. Old Glory!” And
thus was another symbolical name
for our flag born.
Ik Ik B Ik
Flag day has been the inspiration
for a number of memorable tributes
to our national banner. In a Flag
day address during the World war
President Wilson said: "This flag
which we honor and under which
we serve Is the emblem of our
unity, our power, our thought and
purpose a# a nation. ... It Is
fitting that we celebrate the day
wf ius bit iii; uuu ft tmi its biriii un-
- til now It has witnessed a great
hlitnpr^ hit Anolarf An high *h?
symbol of great events, of a great
plan of life worked out by a great
people.”
On Flag day In 1914, Franklin
K. Lane, secretary of the Interior
In President Wilson’s cabinet,
speaking before employees of his
department, delivered a eulogy
whleh has become something of a
classic In the literature of the flag.
It is the following:
THE MAKERS OF THE FLAG
This morning, as I passed Into
the land office, the flag dropped me
a most cordlgl salutation, and from
Its rippling folds I beard It say:
“Good morning, Mr. Flag Maker.”
"I beg your pardon, Old Glory.”
. I said, “aren't you mistaken? 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.”
”1 greet you again, Mr. Flag
Maker,” replied the gay voice; “I
know you well. You are the man
who worked In the swelter of yes-
terday 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 morfc
safe, or brought relief to the old
soldier la Wyoming. No matter;
la M
I give you greeting, Mr. Flag
Maker."
I was about to pitss oh, when the
flag stopped me with these words:
"Yesterday the President spoke
a word that made happier the fu-
ture of 10.000,000 peons In Mexico;
hut 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 we made s new law
to prevent financial panics, and yes-
terday, maybe, a school teacher la
Ohio taught his first letters to a
O'*'-'"
^ £
FRANCIS SCOTT KEY
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 mak-
ing of the flag.
“I am not the flag; not at all. I
am but Its shadow.
**I am whatever you make me;
nothing more.
"I am your belief In yourself,
your dream of what a people may
become.
“Sometlmumdlur am sflrongertUi
pride, when men do an honest work,
fitting the rails together truly.
“Sometimes I droop, for then pur-
pose has gone from me, and cyni-
cally 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 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 meD
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 be-
lieve me to be and I am all that you
believe that I can be.
“I am what you make me; noth-
ing more.
“I swing before your eyes as s
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, bril-
liant with courage, 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.”
W« owe our official celebration of
Flag day to President Woodrow
Wilson. On May 13, 1916, he Is-
sued a proclamation designating
June 14 of each year as Flag day,
and it has been so observed since
that time.
Aa for the honor of being the
“originator" of Flag day, It would
bo difficult to award that title to
any one person, since several Amer-
icana contributed to the idea.
One of them la a woman, Mrs.
Laura B. Prlsk, widely known as
the “Mother of Flag day.” During
President Wilson’s administration
she was editor of the Patriotic In-
structor in New York and In that
publication suggested setting aside
June 14 as Flag day. Her sugges-
tion was forwarded by the Daugh-
ter* of the American Revolution In
New York to the President, and hla
proclamation of May 18, 1016, fol-
lowed toon afterwards.
Another who seems to have a
Just claim fee Ike title ef “origins-
* * * *
* * * *
* + **:
-
NOT TAKING CHANCES
tor" is Benjamin Altheliner of New
York. Under the title ot “Flag-Day
Man,” the New Yorker magazine In
Its issue of June 14, 1930. told bis
story as follows:
If the lady on your left tires of
your more ponderous dinner topics,
you might tell her about Benjamin
Altheliner. “Benjamin Altheimer,"
you might say, ‘‘is responsible for
Flag day; did you know that?" To
prove that you are not Just trying
to he funny, you can give her the
facts about Mr. Altheimer, and how
he thought up Flag day. Here they
are: He is a real person, alive, and
well, and lives right In old New
York. Although eighty, he can still
get about spryly. No one In the
world gets a greater thrill out of
walking np Fifth avenue on June
14 than he does. After all. he put
those flags out there—yours and
“You’ll have to send for another
doctor,” said the one who hud been
cnlled, after n glance at tbe patient.
“Am I so 111 as that?” gasped the
sufferer.
“I don’t Just know how 111 you
are," replied the man of medicine;
“but I know you’re the lawyer who
cross-examined me when I appeared
as an expert witness. My conscience
won’t let me kill you, upd I’ll be
hanged If I want to cure you. Good
day.”—Border Cities Star.
yon
A Specialist
“Doctor, I wunt to consult
about my stomach.”
“But. madam, you are mistaken, I
am a doctor of philosophy.”
“Goodness me! What strange dis-
eases there are nowadays,"—Vart
Hera (Stockholm). *
Vanishing Act
“Mamina, when the fire goes ont
Micro does it go’;”
“My dear boy, I don’t know. Yon
might ju*t as well ask me where
your father goes wliep he goes out.”
—Vancouver Province.
The Tummy Letter*
. . . . . . _ , , , . The primary teacher was helping
mine and Ix>rd A Taylor s and every- i , , . .. ,, .
1 . ' the children to tell the difference be
Mr. Altheimer thought of setting
aside a special day for the Spangied
Banner, back in 191W. He was on
a visit to San Antonio, and he
watched with sparkling eyes the
flag-retreat ceremony at Fort Sam
Houston one ufternoon. It Im-
pressed him mightily. He wns
about sixty then, and a great pa-
triot In a quiet way, a lover of
the flag of the Betsy Ross tradi-
tion, of the United States of Amer-
ica generally (oddly enough, be was
born In Germany.)
He came to America as a young
man, plunged into hanking and
brokerage out in St. Louis and, In
no time, made millions of dollars.
His gratitude for the quick success
that he, a foreign-bom Jew, had In
a strange country, took the form of
philanthropy and patriotism. Ha
gave to hospitals, founded libraries,
aided government projecta, financed
charities, led off campaigns for tha
relief of victims of fire, flood, war.
and unemployment Always In hla
mind, however, there lurked a de-
sire to do something for America
In a big way. The Incident at San
Antonio wns his Inspiration. A
great reader of our history, be
knew (or if he didn’t, he looked It
up) that June 14 was the day on
which * ^otigt^ss accepted Betsy
Ross’ flag. Then, with the same
spirit and gusto that had put over
charitable campaigns, he started
his drive to Interest the nation In
Its flag. He began on St. Louis.
He promised to give a fine flag to
any institution which would for-
mally observe Flag day on the four-
teenth. The Second Presbyterian
church of St. Louis was the first to
respond—in 1011. Other churches,
synagogues, and schools fell In
tween the letters “d” and “h."
"Johnnie, how* can we tell these
letters apart?” asked the Instructor.
“Well," answered the lad, “one has
Its stomach In the front and the other
has it la the back.”
Watch Out for the Pin*
A shirt advertisement asks th<
question, “What Is the thing .von
look for In n shirt?”
Barracuda Pete answers that one:
Buttons.—San Diego Union.
All New
’ ’ He—Ybn want to see “Ball at the
Savoy” again? You have seen It
three times.
She—Yes, hut not in this dress!—
London Polite Humor.
PROCK THAT MAKES.
PARTICULAR APPEAL
TO HOUSEKEEPERS
PATTERN 1*28
For smart housekeepers—^-thl* «*p-
tlvating frock that will give you *
neat and attractive'appearance dar-
ing your busy -daytime hours. And
as for making it—there’s Just noth-
ing difficult about .11 at all. The
front, and back yokes ure economical-
ly cut Ip one, the poml-foeltejJ waist-
line Is readily adjusted, and. a^ro.qrse,
pockets are indispensable. ’ A tut>
bable cotton print with either s£lf or
contrasting ruffling’ would bd nice.
Married Now
“When you were a candidate for
my hand, you said I could spend all
m.v winters In Europe.”
“That was Just a campaign prom-
ise.”
The Instructor—illustrated sewing
lesson—:will help you put .the frock
together step by step. ,
I'uttern 1(525 Is available In size*
14. K», is. •_*<>, :t“ :m. at), as, 40, 42 and
44. -Size 1(5 takes 31i yards 90*incb
fabric.
Send FIFTEEN CENTS (15c) la
coins or stamps (coins preferred) for
this pattern. Write,plainly name, ad
dress and style number. BE SURE
I TO STATE SIZE.
Address orders to Hewing Circle
Pattern Department, 243 West Seven-
teenth Street, New York City.
m&sey
TRY THIS, MR. PRESIDENT
fm
m
•f. -.TT'’:
“I know how to settle this unem-
ployment problem,” said the club
■wag. “If we put all the men of the
world on one island, and all tbe
women on another, we’d have every-
body Mwy In no time.” fe
“Well, what would they he doing?"
“Why, boat-building,’!-*-.T)fe-BIte. \
Question All Right
At a college examination q profee
sor asked’( "Does the question em-
barrass you?”
“Not at all, sir." replied the stn-
denf. “It Is quite clear; lt’a the ay
swer that bothers nle.,’—Toronto
Globe.
She Know* Better
“There’s really ndfMng wrong with
you.’’ declared the doctor, after a
thorough examination.
“I’d like to see you cotfvince my
wife of that, Doc.” said he. “She
thinks everything is wrong with me"
—Cincinnati Enquirer.
The Dessert First
“I think I’ll go on a literary diet”
said Mr. Primm.
“Fine." nodded Mrs. Primm. “Then
you can give me the newspaper—
that is, all but the editorial pag«s
dear.”
“Just a minute, Just a minute,”
said Primm. “Walt till I finish the
comics.” <
FRANCIS M. BELLAMY
line. Mr. Altheimer soon had to go
Into the flag-purchasing and pre-
senting business on a big scale, with
secretaries and others helping him
to meet the demand. Since he was
retired from hanking, he could glv*
all of hla time to 1L In 1912 St.
Louis, as a municipality, celebrated
Flag day. Flags were everywhere.
All traffic stopped for a full min-
ute at a given time. Mr. Altheimer
was happy. He was happier yet
when, In 1917, he got to President
Wilson in person, and Flag day was
made a national occasldh. In 1927,
the one-hundred-and-flftleth anni-
versary of the adoption of the flag,
the United States Flag association
invited Mr. Altheimer, along with
Lindbergh, to attend Its celebration
In Washington. He couldn’t go,
because of Illness, but the associa-
tion sent him a cross of honor and
a citation, signed by Ooolldge, “for
having planted the true apprecia-
tion of the flag la the hearts of the
AaMrican people.”
• to Wasters .
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Dennis, J. R. The Jacksboro Gazette (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 54, No. 53, Ed. 1 Thursday, May 31, 1934, newspaper, May 31, 1934; (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth863798/m1/3/: accessed April 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Gladys Johnson Ritchie Library.