THE ROMANCE OF THE " LARGEST FLAG IN THE WORLD."

Otago Witness, 5 December 1900, Page 64

THE ROMANCE OF THE " LARGEST FLAG IN THE WORLD."

A FLAG ON WHICH AN ARMY COULD STAND. A thousand romances cluster round the flags of nations, ibufc not one of them all is so striking, -so picturesque, 01 pathetic as that of the monster flag which Josephine Mulford wrought in honour of the heroes of the Spanish-American war, and the making oi which cost the young heroine her life only a few months ago.

Quite apart from the heroic devotion of its maker, this flag is in many ways the most remarkable the world has ever seen, and every square foot of it has an interest and a story all its own.

The flag* on which Miss Mulford iyorked night and day for more than a year with •unremitting toil is by far the largest in the world ; so large, in fact, that a army of 3500 men ,could find stancUnjg. room

on it, and so weighty that half a dozen strong men ;an barely move it ; while the mere task of folding it occupied two people, Miss Mulford and her mother, three days. It was begun on July 1, 1898, one of the hottest days of i hot summer, in the parlour of the homestead in New 'Jersey ; and from the time of its commencement to the day when the last stitch was made it was never a moment out of the hands or thoughts of the young girl who had set herself this patriotic task. Every stitch was counted as it was made, for every stitch represented an American soldier" who was fighting in far-away Cuba; and when her mother, alarmed for the health of her daughter sewing — a tiny figure among the red, white, and blue billows that reached to the ceiling — begged her to rest when it was so oppressively hot, she answered: "Mother, if it is not too warm for our brave boys in Cuba, it is not too warm for me."

Miss Mnlford spared no trouble to give her work an historic- value. The Pennsylvania Star was partly made in the very room in which, a century and a-quarter ago, Betsy Ross -worked, under Washington's guidance, on the very first American flag which proclaimed the independence of the States ; and the star was finished in the room where the first Continental Congress met

To make Virginia's star she travelled to Mount Vernon. and stitched it in one of the rooms of Washington's home. The Maryland star was made at Forb M'Henry, historically associated witn the "starspangled banner ' of Francis Scott Kay ; and New York's star was made partly in the very room in which Washington said "good-bye" to his officers and partly on board the flagship New York.

And thus, making as far as possible each stitch historic, the colossal task proceeded, until the last of the 325,000 stitches was made with loving,- if tremblins;. fingers, and she rose from her year's work triumphant, but shattered in health.

Her last work was to embroider in blue silk thread the following touching dedication : —

"To our victorious army and navy : While making this flag I have followed you "with my thoughts and needle all through the late Avar, arid taken a stitch for each one of you. I felt confident from the beginning that you would overcome all difficulties and return, as you have, still under the glorious Stars and Stripes, for which I am truly grateful ; and I would like the people of our country to present this flag to the nation which you have so nobly -preserved, as a thanksgiving to you all. — Josephine Mulford."

When the flag was completed it was found to measure 100 ft in length and 65ft in width. The stripes are sft wide ; and the stars, of which there are 45, all bearirig the names of the different States, are 2ft Bin across.

When the flag was finished there came a terrible reaction from the strain and toil of the last 12 months. Miss Mulford saw her life's work exhibited in Madison square Gardens, when thousands marvelled that one delicate pair of hands could have clone so much in so short a time.

Almost immediately afterwards she became serrouslv ill, and after a few months of suffering; died in a hospital in Morristown. When she was buiied none but her own family followed this heroine to her grave ; and the crowning tragedy was found in an announcement that on the very day of her death her home would be sold by auction to pay the debts 'her patriotism had incurred.