PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2258, 10 June 1897, Page 52

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

The Flag of the Empire. Such is the heading of a letter in the Duly Times of Saturday last; and as the nter, Mr James Abernethy, &sk3 me to bfck him up, I have much pleasure in doing »> -Briefly, Mr Abernethy thinks that all t - tcaool children in anel around Danedin — ir>d elsewhere too, no doubt — should . - «mole and give one united loyal outDarsfc, and sing "God save the Qaoen " to tbe simultaneous waving of as many flags — Union Jacks — aa there are loyal throats ; &ad then, to make tbe patriotic feeling a permanent one, be proposes that every school should have a flag pole with the Union Jack permanently flying — at least his suggestion if on that line : the flag could be the New Zealand one, for it contains the Union Jack. JLad. m if we aren't blood-thirefcy enough*

! Mr Abernethy would even go farther and , have the boys' drill varied with a ohapter | from " Deeds that Won the Empire," or I something equivalently soul-stirring. And I am quite at one with all Mr Abernethy'e proposals. I know of a school near Danedin where for four or five years the Union Jack as a pioture has been on the walls of the rooms, with coloured diagrams of the three flags which are comprised in it, and also diagrams showing not only how they have been combined, but accompanied by- letterpress telling when the combination took place ; money too has been subscrlbsd to buy a flag, but necessary improvements have taken precedence Farther, a large picture of tbe British navy, issued some time ago with the Graphic, occupies a prominent place over the fireplace in the upper room. I believe, too, that " The Death of Nelson " and a few other battle pictures are on the same walls, thong'u there are other pictures less warlike to be found there, too. And here might I make r suggestion to teachers. It seems to me that many a good picture is waited by being pasted on the walls of schools ; I think it far preferable to have fewer pictures, and framed. Tbe pupils' taste is better cultivated, and the pictures don't get that ragged and dusty dirty look that invariably overtakes such pictures after a time. Then, too, if the walls are to be washed, painted, or distempered, the pictures, if pasted td the walls, must be destroyed. There is a school in Danedin where a room sadly wants distempering; but the walls are covered with good pictures, and as it is a question of distempering and losing the pictures, or saving the pictures and no distempering, it is thought to be the greater benefit to leave the walli« alone and. save the pictures. But this is bj *he way. I am afraid it is -jo late to have a thoroughly well-organii-ed demonstration. It isn't, an easy matter to provide flags of even size and design for 5000 or GOOO children, especially when theie is an absence of a head to organise early. We, in Danedin, are very ranch in want of a leader in this matter. One thing oould be done. It wouldn't take long to chromo-lithograph an indefinite number of paper Union Jacks — calico either for that matter, I suppose — and have them ready in time ; if that were done, given fine weather, a good leader, and a good grand stand, the waving of flags to the singing of " God save the Qaeen " would have a fine effect. Ac country schools won't have the opportunity to mass, it would be just as well for each school to sing the National Anthem on the Friday afternoon jast previous to breaking up for the week's holiday. But why not have another patriotic song or two and a few stirring recitations ? In addition to the Union Jack a fine effect ■would be produced by singing tbe song, " The Red, White, and Blue," chorusing as follows : — Give three cheers for the Red, White, and Blue ! Give three cheers for the Red, Wh'te, and Blue 1 May the merry; merry men of England Give three cheer 3 for the Red, White, and Blue ! Only " Britain " conld be substituted for { " England," and at the same time the chil- j dren, arranged in three tiers, could wave ! flags— the first tier of white, the second of j red, the third of ..blue. The flags could be j of paper, and the words of two or three songs ' printed on one side. These could be kept as mementoes. Something of this sort was done in Australia when the Princes — the j late Duke of Clarence and Avondale and the present Dake of York — visited the colonies ; and the effect of the wa?ing and rustling of the three colours, *aoh in separate tiers, was, lam told, a very inspiring one. Such ceremonies aa these impress the youthful mind very much. I remember so well when the Dake" of Edinburgh visited the colonies j about 30 years ago. I was a small boy then, bat how enthusiastic we bojs and girls were over the visit, anticipated and realised, of the " Sailor duke." Tbe superintendent of | the Sunday school I attended — there was no free education in those days— trained us, trebles and altos, and the final praotics was ■ held in an immense goods shed in connection j with the railway. And didn't we sing with \ gusto ! We don't fssem to have any enthusiasm nowadays. I suppose we have got too wise or too well-balanced in mind. Then on the eventful day we all appeared in sashes, and wearing a blue rosette on which was fastened a gilt anohor and cord ; at least I was so arrayed, and I suppose the rest were, j too. We were assembled in a large building ; called the Alfred Hall, and specially built ; for the occasion. All the men that conld b8 crowded on it were working night and day to finißh it in time, and the hammer sounded ! almost to the last minute. My teacher was j a paperhanger, and he actually fell asleep j teaching us, he was so exhausted by the long • hours. At last the Prince arrived, and at a | given signal our well-trained voices, singing the two parts, gave vent to the National Anthem. Why, lam ready to do the same thing now, so vivid is the memory of that time. But that wasn't all. After all was i over we filed out between cart-loads of fruit \ and pastry 1 and as we passed through the door received a bag of one in the right hand and of the other in the left. Bat we don't do such foolish things now, more's the pity ; we are too dignified, worse luck. So you can see my sentiments, I think, can't you, sven omitting the frnife and j pastry t In theory I may bs a republican, and so may you, but in practice we know that there isn't another nation in the world j possessing the same freedom and blessings as Greater Britain with its Monarchical Government. So let us sing " God Save the Qaeen," and unfurl the Union Jack or the Red Ensign of the New Zaaland flag on all our schools and public buildings, and may they remain unfurled as a perpetual reminder of the world -wide influence and dominion of the empire of Greater Britaie. THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE UNION JACK. BuG do ycu know the Union Jack when you see it ? I haven't yet come across anyone who has been able to give me the relative proportions o! the genuine Union Jack ; and though it would bs as easy to make a correct stamped imitation of tbe Union Jack as to make an incorrect one, yet nearly all being sold ia Dunedin— and I dare say that a thousand or two have been distributed — are incorrect both in proportions and design. If any of you have the Boys' O*vd Paper for 1894, you will see the correct dimensions j there ; and th9ra is another volume called [ Boys which will supplement the information given ia the former. I hay« before, in t,

couple of articles on flags, given tho evolution of the Union Jack, so ifc is not necessary to repeat that now ; but as it has been proposed that the flags may be made in schools or in the homes, I now give what I h»V6n't previously given — the true dimensions ; at least I'll try. Perhaps yon can make it in paper as a transparency and put it on the window. A light behind from a good lamp will make a very effective display. Take a piece of paper 60 inches loag by 30 wide. Put points along the top at 25, 27, 33, and 35 inches, and the same along the bottom, and connect corresponding top and bottom points ; then down the side at 10, 12, 18, and 20 inches, and the same opposite, and connect as before. You will then be able to make the following (the diagram is only given as a guide ; the proportions are not accurate) :—: —

Then draw diagonals through the whole figure (a to d and c to J) and parallel lines two and three inches above and below the diagonals. Bub the diagonals aad parallels are not needed through the perpendicular cross marked 5 nor through the two-inch border about it — only through the oblongs marked 1 2, 3, 4. Now for the colouring. Pat the cross 5 in red, and leave the twoinch border about it in vthite. Fill in, in red, the two-inch strips above the first drawn diagonals in tbe two oblong-} on the right, and below the same in the oblongs on the left. You will now notice eight triangles with their bars on the four sides, two to each side ; fill these in, in blue, and rub out superfluous lines. You will then have an exact representation of the Union Jack. I think the directions are fairly clear. In one of our schools the Union Jack was drawn to acale — an inch to sis inches — and ooloured as a part of the drawing syllabus for the examination, and the children were only too happy to do it. I have already taken up too much space, but knowing, as I do, what ignorance prevails on how the Union Jack is built up and on its proportions, I may be excused at this time for desiring to supplement what I have previously written, so that you may know something about the flag that may be seen floating in. every country in the world, whether civilised or not.