The Betsey Rosses of Today Engaged in the Huge 



In the wave of 

 patriotic fervor 

 which is sweeping 

 over the entire 

 United States, the 

 daily manufacture 

 of flags and patri- 

 otic emblems of 

 every description 

 has run up into 

 many millions 



In spite of the fact 

 that electrical ma- 

 chinery of every 

 available type is 

 used, the produc- 

 tion scarcely keeps 

 pace with the de- 

 mand. At left 

 is shown the form 

 used in cutting out 

 stars of all sizes 



Above is shown a 

 motor-driven cut- 

 ting machine in 

 operation on ma- 

 terial for the 

 blue flelds of the 

 flags. These blue 

 fields are cut in 

 bulk, many hun- 

 dreds of them at a 

 single cutting. It 

 is difficult to esti- 

 mate the number 

 of yards of bunting 

 that have been cut 

 up into flags since 

 the United States 

 announced her in- 

 tention of joining 

 the contestants in 

 the great war 



As soon as the stars 

 have been cut out 

 they are pinned or 

 pasted on the blue 

 fields and then 

 passed on to the 

 operators of the 

 electrically driven 

 sewing machines. 

 These seamstresses 

 turn out an in- 

 credible amount of 

 work in a day 



At left: The stars 

 being cut in a punch 

 press. At each op- 

 eration the steel 

 die cuts through 

 forty-eight folds of 

 the white bunting, 

 making forty-eight 

 stars — enough for 

 one complete flag — 

 at one time. There 

 are dies of all sizes 

 of stars and eagles 



178 



