THE STORY OF THE AMERICAN FLAG 



299 



no charge, nor received any recompense. 

 I now submit it to your Honours' con- 

 sideration whether a quarter cask of the 

 public wine will not be a proper and a 

 reasonable reward for these labours of 

 fancy and a suitable encouragement to 

 future exertions of the like nature. . . ." 



Subsequently Hopkinson rendered an- 

 other account to the government for the 

 various designs mentioned above, together 

 with numerous others, the first item on 

 the list being "the great naval flag of the 

 United States." On this occasion he 

 asked for $2,700 compensation. Later he 

 rendered a third account, itemizing the 

 charge for each design, and followed this 

 with an explanatory note which throws 

 an interesting light on the financial status 

 of the nation at that time, for he says : 

 "The charges are made in hard money, to 

 be computed at 50 for one in Conti- 

 nental." 



This claim was never paid, a board 

 which passed on accounts reporting that 

 it appeared that Hopkinson "was not the 

 only person consulted on those exhibi- 

 tions of Fancy, and therefore cannot 

 claim the full merit of them and is not 

 entitled in this respect to the full sum 

 charged." Also the board was of the 

 opinion that "the public is entitled to 

 those little assistances given by gentlemen 

 who enjoy a very considerable salary 

 under Congress without fee or further 

 reward." 



admiral Chester's account of a 

 colonial flag-bee 



Rear Admiral Colby M. Chester, U. S. 

 Navy, has suggested that John Paul Jones 

 may have had a share in the design. He 

 says : 



"This young officer of the Continental 

 Navy had just returned from a successful 

 cruise at sea in command of war ships, 

 during which he had captured a number 

 of the enemy's vessels, and was in Phila- 

 delphia at the time Congress was con- 

 sidering the question of a national flag, 

 as a member of a Board of Advisers to 

 the Naval Committee of the Plouse of 

 Delegates upon matters relating to the 

 country's sea forces, of which the ques- 

 tion of a suitable distinguishing- mark to 



be worn by war vessels was one of the 

 most important. 



"Possessing a most attractive person- 

 ality, Paul Jones was lionized by the 

 ladies of the city and patronized by some 

 of the leading delegates to the Conven- 

 tion, who called upon him to advise the 

 legislators regarding the design for the 

 flag; he thus had much to do with secur- 

 ing the passage of the act of Congress 

 fixing its characteristics. 



"Soon after this event took place, Cap- 

 tain Jones received his appointment to 

 command the Ranger, one of the Conti- 

 nental frigates about to proceed abroad, 



and with the act of Congress containing 



. . . . . & & 



his commission m his hands he proceeded 



with all haste to Portsmouth, New Hamp- 

 shire, in which port the Ranger was fitted 

 out. Here he was received with more 

 distinction, even, than at Philadelphia, for 

 Portsmouth being one of the principal 

 seaports of the country, its inhabitants 

 were more interested in ships which were 

 to fly the flag and the men who were to 

 man them than were those living in the 

 capital of the colonies. 



"At Portsmouth Paul Jones attracted 

 about him a bevy of girls who formed a 

 so-called "flag-bee," who with much pa- 

 triotic enthusiasm and many heart thrills 

 wrought out of their own and their 

 mothers' gowns a beautiful Star Spangled 

 Banner, which was thrown to the breeze 

 in Portsmouth Harbor on July 4th, 1777, 

 less than three weeks after Congress had 

 so authorized." 



NEW ENSIGN'S FIRST ACTION AT SEA 



The story of the first time in history 

 that the Stars and Stripes went into ac- 

 tion at sea is told in the picturesque lan- 

 guage of the American officer who com- 

 manded the ship which displayed the new 

 ensign — Captain Thomas Thompson. In 

 command of the Raleigh and the Alfred, 

 Captain Thompson sailed for France 

 from Portsmouth, and on September 2, 

 1777, captured the slow Nancy of the 

 Windward Island fleet, which had out- 

 sailed her. Having possessed himself of 

 the Nancy's signal book, Thompson, on 

 sighting the fleet two days later, deter- 

 mined to attack with the Alfred, but as 



