The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1881-06-30
Umbrellas.

The early umbrellas were small, with
very long handle. They were not used
for walking, and consequently, instead
of the ferule, had q ring ut the top by
which they were hung up. The stretch
ers were Of cane, and the ribs of cane or
whalebone. Instead of the present top
notch and runner, both ribs and stretch
ers were simply strung on ring of wire,
and the ineq uality of the friction, and
the weakness of such an arrangement
caused the umbrella to be always getting
out of order. The ribs and stretchers
were iointed together very roughly by q
pin passing through the rib, on
which the forked end of the stretcher
hinged.
The first Improvement in this respect
was by Caney, an Englishman, in 1929,
who invented top-notch and runner
in which each rib or stretcher has sep
arate hinge. The top-notch was
made of notched wheel or disc, into
each slot of which an axis fixed on the
top of the stretchers worked. The
runner was made on q similar principle.
At the point of the rib where the
stretcher Joined it, Caney fixed middle
bit, consisting of small fork, in which
the end of the stretcher was hinged
This construction was much stronger,
and the forked ED of the stretchers
were thus prevented from wearing out
the cover as before. With notifications,
more or les important, this construction
is the same as that now in general use.
The oiled silk of the first umbrella
soon gave way to ginghams, first of vari-
ous colors, then generally brown. The
expense of Lutte. string and silk prevented
their being generally used.
In 1851. Messrs. Sangster introduced
in the English market new fabric
called alpaca, made from the wool of
the Peruvian and Gillian sheep. This
wore better than silk, being of coarser
thread, and looked better than old cot
ton or bingham, which is almost wholly
superseded. The cheapness of silk
somewhat lessened the demand for
alpaca.
In 1851, Fox's paragon" frames were
introduced. The great weight of the
umbrella furniture had long been a
stumbling-block to manufacturers. A
Swiss watch spring maker, named San
guinede. had discovered q secret OF tenn
pering steel. which gave it great strength
and he had made some very light UNI
Urelius, OuJ tucy WClS iihhShoSA. NS"A'
On his death the secret died with him,
and Fox went to work to find method
which should combine strength and
lightness. After many trials in which
he made his ribs and stretchers T.
shaped, tublar, and other forms, he was
led by the construction of Menai Bridge,
to adopt the trough like shape in which
the "paragon" ribs are made. This was
decidedly the most important improve
ment that had been made in umbrella
furniture since the employment of metal
for ribs had been introduced by Holland
in 1850, to superside the whalebone or
cane of the older umbrellas. The light
ness of the frame naturally permitted
lighter material to be used for the cover.
As far as regards the Improvements in
other parts of the umbrella they consist
merely in Supplying either their shape,
or the manner of their construction. The
tips are now made in one piece with the
rib, instead of being made OF bone,
iapanned metal, or other material, and
then fastened on. The long runners
have given way to short ones, and the
ferules are also much shorter than for
merly. The older sticks were like those
used now for wagon umbrellas, straight,
with knob at the end. Brass tubes
were once used. and little later on,
tubes of japanned iron.. TO keep the
umbrella closed, the old-fashioned way
was a ring fastened to string. A tape
and button superseded this, and in its
tnrn gave Way to elastic.