[to be continued.]
[FAIR PLAY.]
BY MARGARET E. SANGSTER.
There are two little words that are dear as his honor
To the every-day boy whom we meet at our school.
He may walk round the street with a chip on his shoulder,
But if you join battle, fair play is the rule.
All he asks of a comrade, a foe, or a neighbor,
This every-day fellow, whom you and I know.
Is that friendship be loyal, and battle be open,
And fair play be practised with friend or with foe.
And so be it comrade, or foe, or near neighbor
In the march or the fight, or the heat of the game,
Whatever the stress of the fun or the labor,
He calls for fair play, and he renders the same.
Only cowards and braggarts would seize an advantage
That was not allowed in the rules of the game.
Our boy is as brave as the knight in the tourney;
He asks but fair play, and he renders the same.
[CAPTAIN JACK AND THE BLUE-FISH.]
It was dreadfully hot on the sea-shore, and the boys couldn't find much fun in digging in the sand, so they sauntered slowly down the scorching beach to the old wreck, intending to sit upon its shady side and try to keep cool. It was deserted when they arrived, and they had a pretty good time by themselves for about an hour, when who should turn up but old Captain Jack, pulling away as usual upon his pipe! They could always tell without much trouble when the Captain was approaching, he used such very strong tobacco, and blew the smoke on ahead of him in great clouds, which announced his coming some fifteen or twenty seconds before he arrived.
"Hullo!" said he, as he sat down alongside of the boys. "You here? I sort of thought you'd be up at the hotel sitting in a bath-tub full of ice-water a sizzling day like this."
"It is pretty hot, isn't it?" said Tommie. "The thermometer's at eighty-nine up in the hotel office."
"I don't doubt it," said Captain Jack. "But that don't signify much. Everything's high at the hotel. They charged me a quarter for ten cents' worth o' smokin'-tobaccy last week—so I ain't surprised that the mercury's riz to pretty high heights there. What takes me all of a heap is the heat out there on the ocean. It's fearful. I 'ain't seen anything like it since '69, and even then it warn't half as hot."
The boys giggled, and Captain Jack went on. "I been out blue-fishin' all the morning, and I tell you if it's a-sizzlin' in here it's simply a-sozzlin' out there. The boat's all covered with blisters, and her name, where I painted it last week, has just regularly peeled right off; and worst of all, I've teetotally forgot what the name was, so I've got to christen her clean over again."
"She was called the Polly Ann, wasn't she?" asked Bob.
"That used to be her name," said the Captain; "but it hasn't been this summer. It was something like Amber-Jack or Sarah Toodles this year, and I can't remember which. Fact was, she leaked so last summer when she was known as the Polly Ann that people wouldn't hire her to go fishin' in; so, seeing as how I couldn't afford to buy a new boat, I gave her a new name, so's the fishin' folks wouldn't know she was the old Polly Ann; and now this here heat has gone and het her name right off, and I can't remember what it was. Kind of hard luck, I think."
"Very," said the boys. "But why don't you call her the Sarah Toodles anyhow?"
"I'm afeered to. The summer before last she had some such name as that, and she leaked then, bad as ever, and it may be some folks will remember it. I guess I'll call her Fido. Fido's as good a name for a boat as a dog, and it'll give funny fellers a chance to speak of my bark bein' on the seas, and say she's a regular old sea-dog."
"Good idea," said Bob. "Did you catch any fish this morning?"
"Yes," said the Captain, sadly, "but the heat ruined 'em all. It's a shame the way the Weather Bureau lets loose all these hot waves, ruinin' honest men's business—peelin' the names off their boats and spilin' their fish."
"How did it spoil the fish, Captain?" queried Tommie.
"Spoiled 'em for my trade," said the Captain, sadly. "I took two young fellers out to catch 'em. They were fellers that thought there was nothin' so good to eat in this world as broiled blue-fish, and I said I knew where we could catch some beauties, so we struck a bargain and went out. Inside of two hours we'd caught a dozen of the finest yo'd ever seen, and we turned about to come in. 'It's been awful hot,' says one of the fellers. 'Yes,' said the other; 'but we'll make up for our sufferin' in the heat when we have a couple o' those blue-fish broiled and sit down to eat 'em. It makes my mouth water,' says he. Then we came in and landed. We took the fish ashore, and then we found out what had happened."
The old man paused, and pulled mournfully away at his pipe for a full minute.
"Go on," said Bob, softly. "What had happened?"
"They was boiled when we caught 'em, the water was so hot," moaned the Captain. "And if there's anything spoils a blue-fish for broiling, it's to have 'em boiled first!"
"It was too bad," said Tommie. "And wouldn't they take 'em?"
"No," said the Captain; "and I couldn't blame 'em. They only wanted to keep me up to my bargain. I'd made it, and they meant I should stick to it; and havin' promised 'em broilers, they wasn't under any obligations to take boiled fish. The worst part of it is I've got 'em all on my hands, and instead o' havin' the cash to buy tenderloin steaks and pie and apple-sauce with, I'll have to eat boiled blue-fish instead for the next ten days; and boiled blue-fish gives me the most depressed feelin's you ever saw."
With which sorrowful statement the good old fellow rose up and walked away, leaving the boys not only sorry for him, but sorry for themselves as well; for when they realized how awfully hot it must be out upon the sea to boil the fish in the water itself, somehow or other it seemed to grow a great deal hotter there upon the beach.
[FLAGS OF THE REVOLUTION.]
BY WILLIAM HALE.
It is a fact not generally known that the stars and stripes is the oldest national emblem now in existence, and that the national flags of all other countries bear more recent dates of official adoption.
There has been a great deal of discussion concerning the origin of our flag. Although the thirteen stripes were in use before and during the early part of the Revolution, the first and only legislative action for the establishment of a national flag was in the shape of the following resolution, which was passed on Saturday, June 14, 1777:
"Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."
No record of the discussions that preceded the adoption of this flag has been kept, and although there have been many theories as to the origin of the device, none of them has been entirely satisfactory.
In the early years of the Revolution a number of emblems were in use, which became famous. The standard displayed on the south-east bastion of Fort Sullivan (or Moultrie, as it was afterward named) on the 28th of June, 1776, by Colonel Moultrie, was a blue flag with a white crescent in the upper left-hand corner, and the word "Liberty" in white letters emblazoned upon it. This was the flare that fell outside the fort and was secured by Sergeant Jasper, who leaped the parapet, walked the whole length of the fort, seized the flag, fastened it to a sponge-staff, and in sight of the whole British fleet, and in the midst of a perfect hail of bullets, planted it firmly upon the bastion. The next day Governor Rutledge visited the fort, and rewarded Jasper by giving him his own sword. He offered him also a lieutenant's commission; but Jasper, who could neither read nor write, modestly declined it.
The pine-tree flag, which was a favorite device with the officers of American privateers, had a white field with a green pine-tree in the middle, and the motto, "An Appeal to Heaven." This flag was officially endorsed by the Massachusetts Council, which in April, 1776, passed a series of resolutions providing for the regulation of the sea service, among which was the following:
"Resolved, That the uniform of the officers be green and white, and that they furnish themselves accordingly, and that the colors be a white flag with a green pine-tree and the inscription 'An Appeal to Heaven.'"
The device of a rattlesnake was popular among the colonists, and its origin as an American emblem is a curious feature in our national history. It has been stated that its use grew out of a humorous suggestion made by a writer in Franklin's paper, the Pennsylvania Gazette—that, in return for the wrongs which England was forcing upon the colonists, a cargo of rattlesnakes should be sent to the mother-country and "distributed in St. James's Park, Spring Garden, and other places of pleasure."
Colonel Gadsden, one of the Marine Committee, presented to Congress, on the 8th of February, 1776, "an elegant standard, such as is to be used by the commander-in-chief of the American navy; being a yellow flag with a representation of a rattlesnake in the middle in the attitude of going to strike." Another was a white flag with a pine-tree in the centre under which was a snake. Above was "An Appeal to God," and below "Don't Tread on Me!" The Culpepper Minute-Men adopted a similar device, with the name of their company and the motto "Liberty or Death." Another use of the rattlesnake was upon a ground of thirteen horizontal alternate red and white stripes, the snake extending diagonally across the stripes, and the lower white stripe bearing the motto "Don't tread on me." The snake was always represented as having thirteen rattles—and the number thirteen seems constantly to have been kept in mind: thus, thirteen vessels are ordered to be built; thirteen stripes are placed upon the flag; in one design thirteen arrows are grasped in a mailed hand; and in a later one thirteen arrows are in the talons of an eagle.
The red stripes seemed for a time to be used as often on a blue ground as on a white. A water-color drawing found among the papers of Major-General Philip Schuyler represents the Royal Savage, one of the little fleet on Lake Champlain in the summer and winter of 1776, commanded by Benedict Arnold, as flying a flag which Bancroft, in his History of the United States, describes as "the tricolored American banner not yet spangled with stars, but showing thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, in the field, and the united crosses of St. George and St. Andrew on a blue ground in the corner."
One of the most interesting flags of the Revolution is the banner or flag of Count Pulaski, presented to him by the Moravian Sisters of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Count Pulaski, a Polish volunteer, who had been appointed a brigadier in the Continental army just after the battle of Brandywine and placed in command of the cavalry, had resigned his commission, and had received the consent of Congress to raise and command an independent corps of 68 horse and 200 foot, which was chiefly raised and fully organized in Baltimore in 1778. He visited Lafayette while wounded, and was taken care of by the Moravian Sisters, who gave him a crimson silk banner with designs beautifully wrought with the needle by their own hands. Pulaski bore this flag through many a battle, until he fell at Savannah in 1779. It is now in the possession of the Maryland Historical Society.
The flag of Washington's Lifeguard, which is preserved in the museum of Alexandria, Virginia, is of white silk, on which the device is neatly painted. One of the guard is holding a horse, and in the act of receiving a flag from the Genius of Liberty, represented as a woman leaning on the Union shield, near which is an American eagle. The motto of the corps, "Conquer or Die," is on a ribbon over the device. The flag flown by our victorious frigates during the war of 1812 bore fifteen stripes and fifteen stars. Afterwards it was settled that the number of stripes should be the original thirteen; and now the field bears forty-five stars, to which others will be added as new States are admitted.
The Oak Park High-School, of the Cook County League, starts out this season with more men qualified for positions on the football team than any of its rivals, having twenty-seven available players. Evanston has the smallest available amount of material, with but fifteen men. Lake View has twenty-four, Chicago Manual twenty-three, North Division twenty-one, West Division eighteen, and Hyde Park and Englewood seventeen each. These numbers show a considerable increase of candidates over previous years.
There is a very general opinion among those who have been watching the form of the Englewood H.-S. team that they have the pennant won already; and they are beyond doubt very strong. Nevertheless, they cannot hope to overcome some of their hard-working rivals without a continuation of the steady work which has characterized their early practice. In Teetzel they have a strong and sure ground-gainer. He is a fast runner, and knows the game thoroughly. Henry is also certain to make his distance with the ball, although he has been unable to practise the past few days on account of injuries received in the Chicago University match. Talcott, captain and quarter-back, is a quick player, and is the best man on the eleven for heading interference. Fowler at centre is handicapped slightly by his stature, but he is of good strength, learns quickly, and has had experience in playing his position on last year's team.
At right guard Doud is doing steady work. He played on the Chicago Manual team last year. On the other side of centre there is another veteran—Lespinasse. He is a stockily built player, and helps to make the centre a formidable thing to attack. Schoellenberger at right end has been doing excellent work in breaking up interference; and besides this he is a sure tackler and a fast runner, both excellent qualities for an end rusher. Wadsworth is doing fairly well at full-back, having gone back from end, where he played last year. His previous experience in the line makes him a good running back, but as a punter he is not yet up to the mark.
HYDE PARK HIGH-SCHOOL FOOTBALL TEAM.
Cook County Interscholastic League.
The Hyde Park H.-S. Eleven averages heavier than last year's team—130 pounds. Only four of last year's players are back again. The team this fall is not so snappy and quick as the Hyde Park elevens usually have been, but it is very probable that this quality will develop by the time the important games come about. It is improbable, however, that Hyde Park will have as strong an eleven as that which represented the school last year. Captain Linden, who plays left end, is a quick, hard runner, and is thoroughly familiar with the game. Knickerbocker and Miller, right and left tackles, are the heaviest men; of the two, Miller is the better man, being a good tackler. Knickerbocker is somewhat slow in getting down the field. Nash and Crane are pretty light for guards; but Nash has been playing a hard game, and has been doing notably good work in running with the ball. Crane is a new man, but is developing steadily. Mackay, at centre, was considered last year the best man for his position in the Cook County League, and is still maintaining his reputation. Hennessy, at right end, to be valuable should make better use of his head and follow the ball more closely; he is energetic and a hard worker. Of the candidates for right half-back, Higley is the best of the three, being a surer tackler than either Wilson or Pingree. Minnemyer and Welch are trying for left half, the former being the best tackler, the latter the fastest runner. Trude, at full-back, is as fast a runner as there is on the team, and is punting very well this year.