Richmond Palladium (Daily), Volume 42, Number 215, 21 July 1917 — Page 8

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THE RICHMOND PALLADIUM, JULY 21. 1917

"The Star -Spangled Banner" As Nation's Anthem Only Since the Present War Against Germany Began Has It Been Generally Recognized-the Real Story of Its Origin

... - The present war has given "The . Star-Spangled Banner'.' a , vogue

- which .. it ' never possessed before.

; For the first time it 'is recognized

, throughout the country as the na : tional anthem, although It is not . such in legal fact. Congress having ' - repeatedly rejected proposals one , as recently as three years ago to make a declaration to that effect i by formal orders' to be played in 1 years " after Francis Sco'tt i Key

, ' wrote the song it was prescribed ; by foraml orders to be played in

. the army and navy on occasions of ceremony, and that is the extent , of its omcial recognition toaay. ! Foreigners have '- long believed '. "The Star-Spangled Banner" to be the fully accepted national anthem of America and in their armies and navies, and on all public oc casions when it is desired to honor , this country in music" abroad, the familiar air is played. While many on this side of the water were in clined over a period of years to dis credit the song and to advocate strenuously the claims of "My Country. 'Tis of Thee." "The Bat tle Hymn of the Republic" and even "Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie," the standing of -"The Star-Spangled Banner" has not been disputed in - other lands. - V . i Even as late as the Spanish .war

the "Star-Spangled Banner" had only limited ; popular recognition. , No theatre audiences stood while it was being played in 1898, and, in fact, the general disposition at that period, at least in the Northeastern part of the United States, was to elevate "My - Country, 'Tis of Thee," to the place of honor. Marching troops in Cuba and Porto Rico, as all the world knows, were

partial to "There'll Be a Hot Time In the Old Town Tonight." In the civil war, "John Brown's Body; and "Yankee Doodle,", on one side, and "Dixie" and "The Girl I Left Behind - Me," on the other side, were the favorite inspirations of the stern men .who clashed on a hundred bloody fields. But since we' have taken up arms against Germany debate and " difference on the Bubject of wheth- , er, we have a pre-eminently prefer- ' red naitonal anthem and what that anthem is appear to have vanished. , The National Star-Spangled Banner Commission laid the groundwork for the change, It was or- ' ganized In Baltimore for the purpose of preparing the centennial

celebration of Key'a song in, SepPOSSUM LIVING . " : IN CITY GARDEN , ' Ben Sough spent his pickaninny days on a Santee river plantation and he still calls Colonel Henry Rutledge his "mawsa," and remembers when the colonel went off to - war to fight (or the Yankees.. I But for a long time Beii has been living In Charleston, South Carolina and he has forgotten country ways and country, things. If he had not forgotten them so completely he would not have been scared within an inch of his life the other, day. . - Ben does odd Jobs now1 and then in a downtown garden. In this garden some gray squirrels live happily and contentedly, just as though they, were out in the woods. They are pretty and interesting to watch, and last fall, tn order that they might have shelter during the winter, a covered box with a good sized hole at one end , was placed in a crotch in a cedar three thirty feet or so above the ground. The squirrels had their own ideas about where they wanted to sleep,, and . did not use the box, and some days ago there seemed reason to believe that rats had taken possession of it So Ben Gough was sent up into the tree to investigate. , : . He climbed up for he is pretty . spry for his- years-r-and placing his face to the opening of the box 'looked in. Then he gave a shout ' and very nearly fell out of the t' tree; "My Land boss!" he yelled. C "Come up quick Lewd knows wha dis in de box."' When the boss had ' climbed up and looked in with a ' great deal more caution than Ben had employed he saw a big pos

"The Star-Spangled Banner" ' Oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming. Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight, ' O'er the ramparts we watched, were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still' there. ; Oh. say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. On the shore dimly seen thro' the mists of the deep, Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes, What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep, As it fitfully blows, half conceals1, half discloses? Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam, in full glory reflected, now shines on the stream: 'Tis the star-spangled banner; oh, long may it wave , ; O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave. Oh, thus be it ever when free men shall stand ..Between their loved home and wild war's desolation; Blest with vicfry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land Praise the Pow'r.that hath made and preserved us a nation! Then conquer we must. When our cause it is just, And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!" And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

tember, 1914, and for many months before that It conducted an active and wide-spread propaganda. Committees were formed in every state, bv annointment of the governors, and local committees were appoint ed by mayors to co-operate with the commission, both in diffusing interest in the celebration and in emphasizing the claims of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as the national anthem. These committees were composede, in large part, of influential men and women who took up the work in a spirit of pride and created a state of public opinion the fruits of which we now see. Patri otic, organizations, such as the Sons of the Revolution, the Sons of the American Revolution, the. active organizations of "Daughters" and the Society of the War of 1812 cooperated with enthusiam, and both through their general and local officers did a great deal to develop public opinion. ; ' No other candidate for acceptance as the national anthem had this systematic and vigorous backing, and no other .writer of an American patriotic song has had so many honors paid to him as Key, for whom Congress has erected an imposing sculptured memorial in Fort McHenry and whose lineaments are preserved in public statuary as far from the scene of his labors as San Francisco. The sum grinning at him from the inside. How Br'er Posr.um found his way to this city garden is a mystery. But the point is that if Ben Gough hadn't forgotten so completely the experience of his pickaninny life, this one wouldn't have come so near to making h'm break his neck. The Red Cross Good Turn Although Boy Scout Headquarters did not outline a national program for co-operation with the Red Cross, reports are coming in from all over the country' to the effect that Boy Scouts gave ready and valuable assistance, in the raising of the "One hundred million." Complete data is not at hand, so it cannot be said even approximately what amount the Red Cross received through' the aid of Boy Scouts. . But it is known that 'it must have been considerable, because, of the very general assistance given. Scoutmasters and the Scouts themselves are to be commended for their spirit in giving their services to the Red Cross, particularly as the big Liberty Bond drive had only just ended, in which the Scouts served so conspicuously. - - The American Red Cross is an institution that deserves the keen interest and material support of all our people, and it is quite in order for Boy Scouts at every opportunity to lend their aid to the local chapters. This is honorable service to the nation itself in the time of war. It is honorable service for humanity. It is true Boy Scout activity.

incidence of war so soon after the propaganda caused it to have a maximum, effect. , "The 'Star-Spangled Banner" was composed by one of the best of the American types. Key was a poet, scholar, lawyer, public official, and churchman, a member of a distinguished family on whom the researches of prosperity have cast no blemish. He wrote "The StarSpangled Banner" in a burst of inspiration "a conflagration of the senses," as James Ryder Randall described his own state of mind when he leaped from bed and composed "Maryland, My Maryland." It was written in a moment of acute national stress and expressed the characteristic feelings of the country not desiring to , provoke war, but rising with determination to take arms in defense of the national honor when a crisis required it. In literary form, it is far superior to most patriotic songs, and even without the music would find wide popularity on its merits as a poetical composition. . It struck the popular fancy at first, and has held it in large measure ever since. Key had the words printed in handbill form in the office of The Baltimore American, and distributed on the streets of the delivered city in September, 1814, before the fleet which had. been beaten off from Fort McHenry had got out of the

ECHOES By HENRY McFARLONE NEWSY NEWS and FICTION (By Henry McFarlone) You can tell a man by the noise he makes, goes an old proverb but if he's a deaf mute? Pleasure never comes until death has claimed us and then I don't think many of us will enjoy ourselves. s . . Nobody loves Aa rich man but most of us are willing to take a chance in this case. "I know a man whose name is mud" may not necessarily mean the kaiser. Make play out of your work and when you get thru get the deuce and have to do it all over again. ' Never cross a bridge until you come to it and then walk back eight miles to take a different road. "Roses are red Violets are blue I remember the time . when I wanted you." Thinks Germany of Russia, ,i,;u,aifil

The man who never made a mis

Chesapeake. It was sung on the stage of the famous Holliday Street Theatre in Baltimore and taken up with intense eagerness by the people there and -throughout' the nation being heard in distant New Orleans and Boston in a space of time incredibly short in the days before the railroad and the telegraph. . Unfortunately though it does not affect the main point few incidents in our antional history have been' beclouded by so much misconception of fact as the origin of "The Star-Spangled Banner." In view of the increased popular acseptance of the song and the acuentuated interest in lis history, this may be expected to vanish, though it has persisted so long. The most common error, which has had an unfortunate habit of creeping into print, is that Key composed the words while he was a prisoner of war on the fleet, which attacked Fort McHenry. Key was not a prisoner of war, but had gone to the fleet on the cartel ship Minden, used by the American government in negotiating exchanges of prisoners, for the purpose of obtaining the release of a civilian, Dr. William Beanes of Upper Marlborough, Maryland, who was being detained because he had caused the arrest of British marauders. As Key reached the fleet, when the attack on Baltimore was about to begin, he was kept behind the British lines until it was over in order that he might not convey information of the impending movement. He was treated with the utmost . consideration and was promptly released when the attack ended. When he was rowed ashore on the morning after the bombardment ceased, the Admiral did not know that, a few hours before, he had scribbled on the back of an old letter which he -happened to have in his pocket the draft of the song which has become so famous since. The original manuscript is now in the possession of Henry Walters, owner of the Walters Art Gallery, and directing f spirit of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, who treasures it as one of his most valued possessions. The flag whose "board stripes and bright stars" burst upon Key's enraptured vision on that September morning in 1814 has also been carefully preserved. It passed into the hands of heirs of the family of Colonel George Annistead, commander of the fort during the bombardment, and was finally placed in the National Museum at Washington. New York Times.

take never made anything nor heard about it either. The man who remains idle lives on salt and Oh the thirst for water of course. - The teacher at school told me, "Laugh and be young"- I laughed and got sent out of the room. The restaurant made a bie mis take when it advertised, "Eat here and appreciate home cooking." Franka Crowe will be back in the first of August from Chicago. Sorry I haven't more time to write more Echoes but Marius Fossenkemper is 'playing in a Sunday School league game out to the playgrounds and I want to see the thing. Marius catches and believe me he is some catcher too, he can eatch anything to a oh hang it I want to get out there and see it so adieu A PRAYER The day returns and brings us the pretty round of irritating concerns and duties. Help us to . play the man, help us to perform them with laughter and kind " faces, let cheerfulness abound with industry. Give us to go blitnely on our business all this day, bring us to our resting beds weary and content and without dishonor and grant us in the end the gift of sleep. Amen. ' '

CHILDREN HAD .SPECIAL SERVICE h, children, last Sunday mhtng I had just the best time ever and.it was at church, too. .Now I know you all go to Sunday school and sometimes maybe you . stay for church. Well I wish you could have all been at this service. It was for the children and was held in the Christian church at Hagerstown. , There was a children's choir, and special songs by the little folks. In i the orchestra made up mostly of the children there were thre girls who played the violin. Four little girls took up . the collection and they, acted just like the grown-up deacons do and stood at the rear, of the church for a few minutes and then marched down to the front and bowed their heads as the minister asked the blessing. - But the best part of all was the talk the minister made to the children. There was a chart representing some one fishing and there were all sorts of things on the fish

ing pole. Beer bottles, a butterfly, a ham, etc. Now the beer bottle represented satan trying to get the men and the boys with that sort of bait. The ham represented the glutton, who eats too much. Thou he told so many interesting stories that really the older ones could got just as much out of the service as the ehi'dren. MOVES AWAY Miss Vera Kinert. who Iim writ ten so many stories for ty? Juuijr is going to move" to Logansport nn:l Is leaving the first cf August tt; her father and mother. "WHERE'S PAPA?" PHILLIP,, sixteen months' old j (at top) and Harry, five years, children of Patrolman Pel er J Bulfin, of Chicago, slain while 1 defending a bank messenger against bandits. Bulfin'a picture is below.

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