24 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1918. 



ing of a large amount of material, it will add greatly to the techni- 

 cal value of the collections. 



While but slight advance was reported in the section of photog- 

 raphy, as the custodian, Mr. L. W. Beeson, and many would-be con- 

 tributors were exceptionally busy with war work, valuable material 

 will eventually result from these activities. The exhibition collec- 

 tion remains as reported last year, aside from deterioration of the 

 prints due to the intense light on the gallery where displayed. 



History. — Among the historical objects received this year were two 

 very interesting relics of the present world Avar. The first is one of 

 the two flags flying on the Zeppelin L-49 at the time of its capture at 

 Bourbonne les Bains, France, October 17, 1917, by Lieut. Lefevre, of 

 the French Army, who presented it to Maj. Harry R. Lay, adjutant 

 of the Fifth Regiment of Marines, serving with the American Expe- 

 ditionary Forces in France. It reached the Museum by transfer from 

 the United States Marine Corps through Maj. Gen. George Barnett, 

 commandant. The flag, 40 by 46 inches in size, is made of bright red 

 cotton without decorations or insignia, and is accompanied by a small 

 fragment of the gas bag and one of the outer envelope of the L-49. 

 The second, received through President Wilson, is an American flag 

 made at Islay House, Islay, Scotland, by Jessie McLellan, Mary Cun- 

 ningham, Catherine McGregor, Mary Armour, and John McDougall, 

 for use at the funerals of American soldiers lost with the transport 

 Tuscania, February 5, 1918. Mr. Frank M. America, of the London 

 staff of the Associated Press (the first American to arrive at Islay on 

 this occasion), was asked by Mr. Hugh Morrison, the Scotch land- 

 owner, at whose residence, Islay House, the flag was made, to send it 

 to President Wilson to be placed in some museum or institution of 

 his selection. Mr. Morrison took a prominent part in the Tuscania 

 relief work and donated the land for two cemeteries, in which Ameri- 

 can soldiers are now at rest. The flag, which is 37 by 67 inches in size 

 and shows plainly by its design that it is handmade, was transmitted 

 to the President by Mr. Melville E. Stone, general manager of the 

 Associated Press, New York City. It was accompanied by three 

 photographs, one of the group of five makers of the flag, one of Mr. 

 Hugh Morrison, and one of Mr. Colin Campbell, of Port Ellen, who 

 provided clothing and did everything possible to make comfortable 

 the American survivors from the Tuscania who landed at Port Ellen, 

 and arranged for the burial of 133 Americans whose bodies came 

 ashore in his neighborhood. 



The following relics pertaining to the officers of the opposing 

 armies in the Civil War are of particular interest : The original let- 

 ter written by Gen. Grant demanding the unconditional surrender of 

 Fort Donelson, in answer to one written by Lieut. Gen. Simon B. 

 Buckner, Confederate States Army, proposing that commissioners be 



