New-York tribune., 1873-05-23
TIE UMBA-RELL.

TIE UM-BA-RELL.
Comes now the season OF the percolatng
parasol and the bristing "umbarell." The
bursting bud. the carOlling lark, the res
urrccted dandelOn, the modest violet, the fra
grant arbutus, and the tOiling worm whose
| span of life is but the cast of die between
the early bird and hungry perch,-these
all have had their tributes in prose and verse
Tones upon tones have been written over ana
about them. More need not be said. Let
Us reflect q moment on the umDarel
upon the civilizing and amelioratlng
! influences Of the average cotton umbarell
| There be those who call 1t "umbrella"-dl-
minutiye of umbrd-ittle shade-but that S
| 10 word for u.s. Ours be the photography and
pronunciation of the early BabylOnian times,
! when the prophet was distinguished from the
roaring lions that surrounded him by the
green cotton umbarell under his arm. In that
day. the civizing influence by which Daniel
was as clearly identified as though he had
been payee of q sight-draft, was called um-
| ba-rell with the accent on the last syllable; |;
and Daniels, if there's any truth in history or
in panoramas, was a green cotton one. The
sound matches the sense it opens INTO the
face and eyes of people with snap. 1t IS
pronunciation that has the flavor of vital
piety, as well as the elevating effect of cunei-
form writings. By that token the attenuated
delegate to the pluvious anniversaries, miss
ing the companion of his travels just as the
last echo of the benediction dies, shoots
wildly from his pew, and with strident shriil
conundrum seeks his own. 1t was by this
name that the female whom the poet-whose
| first name escapes us, as does also his last, ana
he had no middle name-has immortalzed, de-
scrbed her assets in the last melancholy in
ventory of her estate, when she remarked, In
accents wild:
"If must perish save my Um-ba-rel."
Let us reflect then upon the umbarel,
and incidentally upon the parasol, which is of
the same family, and in the hands of the
female of the period has come to be pretty
much of the same size. The umbarell is a
civilizer and humanizer, besides having en-
riched the vocabulary with profane language
of the most polysyllabic and interesting char
acter. 1t is related that on one occasion an old
lady crossing the Desert of Sahara in the middle
of the day alone and unattended with the excep-
| ton of an umbarell was follOwed-there being no
policeman in sight--by a fierce and venge-
! full tiger, or some such dreadful animal-it
may have been a rhinoceTos or chimpanzee
it is immateral The animal was
about to spring upon her-if it was the kind
! of animal that springs, which we forget about
when, with great presence of mind, she
opened her umbarell sudden and unexpected,
| like right in his face and eyes-just as you
may have seen a middle-aged woman burst
out of dry goods store sometimes with an
umbarel in front Of her, which she opens
into the face Of some gentlemanly- appearing
person who isn't expecting her. The wild
beast was 80 exasperated that he turned
round and went away. Since then old ladies
crossing the Desert of Sahara habitually carry
umbarells, whatever the weather probabilities
are.
The umbarell is delightful travelling COM
paniOn. 1t keeps the mind of its owner occu-
pied, whether open or shut, and though it be
a temptation to the sordid, is a comfort and
consolation to the watchful wayfarer. The
umbrella may be of silk the umbarell is al
ways of more democratic and economical mate
rial, and its colOrs are as of the rainbow. 1t
bristles all over with good points, and happy
the man who in a crowded place does not get
some of them in his eyes or ears. The man
who does MT wear an umbrella has no rights
that the man or woman who wears one is
bound to respect They are the boon of Prov
idence to the human race, and although people
who have had them opened suddenly on them
or have lodged them in crowded thorough
fare may have spoken of them harshly and
profanely, it cannot be doubted they are a
means of grace. Else why are they so fire.
quent, SO utterly pervading, at tho ami
versaTies and at camp meetings They
defend against the sunshine and the rain as
weapons they are offensive and defensive as
heirloOms priceless and as an outlet for the
furtive propensites of the race, they are safety
valve and deliverer. Is there any higher
Joy than to walk under one to whose shelter
friend kindly invites you and have the sweet
dews of heaven distil gently of the edges of
it Just inside Of your c0at-colar3 What is
more delightful than the pleasing prod of the
parasol, or the wild, exuberant thump' with
which the blue cambria Of the rapt, exhilarated
delegate falls on the back of the unwary by
standerf Or who so attaches his fellow men
to himself as the unwavering hero who carries
his umbareu under his arm, as Daniel did
and in crowd turns round frequently with
fervor and suddennessf
All, the umbarell the umbarell Who shall
embalm it in verse; The early bird and the
belated worm have had their laureate; who
sings the umbarell