An unusual ceremony took place in Chicago on Saturday, September 14, 1918, at 11:30 A.M. The date is veritable historic, for on that day the flag of reborn Poland waved from the city hall, and the city which has the largest settlement of [emigrant] Poles in the world accepted the greatest treasure that Poland is capable of offering.

At 11:30 A.M. distinguished Polish leaders gathered on the fifth floor of the city hall and proceeded to the Mayor's office. Among those present were Mrs. A. Neuman, president of the Polish Women's Alliance, Miss E. Napieralski, general secretary of that organization, Polish women of other organizations, the alderman of the Seventeenth Ward, Messrs. Stanley Adamkiewicz and Stanley Walkowiak, Judge Edmund K. Jarecki and Dr. W. Kuflewski, representing the World War Exhibition Polish Day committee, [two] officers of the Polish army, Messrs. Stanley Krzywonos and A. Zub, and numerous city officials and representatives 2of the press. The flag presented to the city in the gift of the Polish Women's Alliance, but the administration of that organization donated it not as the exclusive gift of that organization but rather as that of all Polish women. The flag made by the well-known Polish concern conducted by Mrs. S. Chmielinski. Its staff alone is twelve feet long, and the flag itself is six feet wide and six feet ten inches long. It is of heavy silk, and on each side there is a picture of the emblematic Polish white eagle painted in waterproof colors.

The entire retinue was led into the Mayor's office by Alderman Adamkiewicz. Here it was greeted by the commissioner of public works, Mr. Francis I. Bennett, in the absence of Mayor Thompson (now resting after the recent hotly contested political campaign). Mr. Bennett was attended by many city and state officials. Mr. Joseph Chmielinski was the flag-bearer. Alderman Adamkiewicz made a brief speech, explaining the purpose of the visit. He then introduced Miss Napieralski as the next speaker.

"On behalf of the suffering Polish women, on behalf of the Polish children in Europe now exposed to hunger and deprivation under the brutal heel of the tyrant of humanity, the German aggressor, in the name of the true and loyal Polish element that has so strong a representation in the city", said the general secretary of the Polish Women's Alliance, Miss Napieralski, "we present to the city of Chicago our national standard, a banner representing our liberty and our sufferings. We feel certain that the city will accept this flag as a manifestation of the sincerity and loyalty of all [its] Polish-American citizens, and that it will concede to our people an honorable position among other free nations. "

Commissioner Bennett, visibly moved, replied to the inspired words of Miss Napieralski. He expressed his gratitude for the gift, the flag of a people that brings honor to the city. He assured her of the honor and respect which the Polish element enjoys in the city and also expressed his deep sympathy for the Polish nation, a nation that has suffered as no other 4nation in the world, hoping some day to liberate itself from its three oppressors, Austria, Germany, and Russia.

"But today", the Commissioner stated, "the time is not so far distant when your sufferings will end, and a well-deserved freedom will compensate you for all the injustice that you have experienced in the past."

The next speaker was Alderman S. Walkowiak. In emphatic words and in excellent English he briefly described the Polish nation's great struggle to regain its former liberty and to free itself from oppression.

"With respect to the loyalty of the Poles toward America", the speaker continued, "who could have any doubt of it? The blood of American soldiers of Polish descent, shed upon the battlefield, has written in gilded letters in American history the loyalty of the suffering Polish nation, its loyalty to the Star-Spangled Banner. The list of Polish soldiers killed in action 5will serve as an eternal monument to the love of the Polish nation for its traditions of the past and for the watchwords and the ideals of our adopted country, America".

Then for the first time in the history of the city the Polish national hymn reverberated through the city hall, sung by the gathering under the direction of Mrs. Rose Kwasigroch. After this Mrs. Kwasigroch sang, as a solo, the American national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner".

This brief but inspiring ceremony was concluded with a group photograph of those present.