Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1883-04-08
OUT OF THE RAIN.
Umbrellas Historically and Play
fully Considered.
ANCIENT ORIGIN OF THE PARACHUTE.
Egyptian, Grecian, Simese and Chinese Gus
toms-Anecdotes Of Borrowers and
Leaders A Universal
Language.

u-rinei ~ hard that got scared,
aud my new kaliker all got teared-
Way down in Maine. -OH song.
| have seen an oil English picture
representing Jonas Hanway, the first
Englishman who ever carried an um-
brella. He is represented as walking
along the street, holding the umbrella
in his right hand. His face betokens
that he is performing an experiment,
and that he is rather nervous over the
proceeding. And well he may be; for
n short distance from him are a couple,
seemingly man and wife, who are gazing
at him with look of the utmost con-
tempt. In front is man who has
turned around and is laughing outright
in his face, and on one side, but a short
distance behind him, are two street
gamins, who have struck most ridicu-
Ions attitude and seem to be crying:
.Oh, my. just look at him" This oc'
currence is said to have been about the
year 100.
Though the umbrella was slow in
coming into general use, it is of very
snclcat origin. 1t developed, or, to use
= rrt modern word, "evOlutiOnized"
from the para>ol, and Chinese history
speaks of the parasol many thousand
years anterior To the Mosaic date Of the
worlds creation. The idea of such
us,fu. little article may have been sug-
rr,t,d by twining leaves together to
atlur,, a protection from the sun, or the
shape, of the tent may have suggested
IL. In a HndOO poem written IN the
sixth century, the author speaks OF
sovereign beng hIraSSed by the cares
uia nation, while at the same time he
/, Cheervd with viewing his peoples
wrliare-'as a mug umbrella, OF which
a man bears the II; IN his own hand,
fatIruc~ while il AIDES him; SO tue
sovereign, like a b: ,nching tree, bears
on his head the scU'ching sunbeamS,
while
The Broad Shade AIlaJs Ihe Fever
Ofthose who seek shelter under him."
I'm the Ninevite sculptures, we see
king i'm his chariot, with an attendant
holding an umbrella over his head. In
Egypt We find note of a princess travel
ling in a chariot, with q kind of UNI
brella fastened TO stout pole rising in
the centre. In Persia the paraSol is
repeatedly found in the carved work OF
PersepOlis. Umbrellas and parasOls are
referred to in books printed about y. ID.
500, and in n very ancient Chinese book
of ceremonies we find a description OF
how the diaS or umbrella for they are
identicaD should be made. Among
many ancient nations it is represented
as shading the gods, and in HmdOO
mythology it is said that Nishnu paid a
visit 10 the Internal regions, carrying an
umbrella over his head. The apprO-
priateness of this act cannot be made
manifest, for although it was a place
where the hardest showers would nave
been welcomed, it was nevertheless a
. locality where the residents had little
reason 10 expect il.
In Greece the paraSOl was considered
i Indispensable by all women of fashion.
& an one of the Greek festivals the foreign
i female residents were compelled To
F. carry parlsUls over the Athenian wO-
men. a. mark of InferiOrlty. In Ar
i,tuphauCs, hp speaks Of some ones
ear - being stretched out like par
a~ol. and now again smut up" For q
man 10 carry one was considered ettem-
! mate. AuaCreOu writes: "He carries
an ivory paraSOl, rs women do" Ovid
advises Il lover to make himself agree
able 10 his sweetheart by carrying her
para>ol. Among the Romans it was
used in the theatre, which was open at
the top, tue wind sometimes blowing
50 hard that the canvas covering
Stretched Across In Case Of - shower,
could not be put up. But, strange to
say, they were not used generally. The
! only reason 10 account for this is that
only the rich could afford to have
] them.
In the kingdom of Siam the use of
i the umbrella was granted to some only
az the subjects of the King. The Kings
! umbrella looked like two or three um-
irellas fastened on the same stick Some
! Siamese monks had umbrellas made of
! = palm leaf cut and folded so that the
i stem formed a handle. An Eastern
4 traveller says that on each side Of the
! Mogups throne there were two umbrel-
4 las, and speaks of one of the Mahratta
princes who had the title, Lord Of the
Umbrella" At another Eastern court
. they had an officer who was called,
"Klng of the White Elephant and Lord
4 L
! ~ the King Of Burmah, writing to
+ the Marquis of DalhOusie, styled him.
! self "his great, glorious and most eX-
cellent majesty, etc, reigning over all
the great umbrella-wearing chiefs of
the Eastern countries"
la China the umbrella has long been
used by all classes, though there would
seem to be some peculiar distinction in
carrying, for we read of twenty-fOur
umbrellas being carried before one of
7 the emperors when he went out hunt
& ing. The poorer people wear water
prOOfdress in the rainy season, the coat
4 generally made of straw and the hat OF
4Straw aud bamboo. Among the Arabs
s the umbrella was a mark of distinction,
Only princes of the blood being allowed
to use it. In Morocco the umbrella is
A Distinguishing Sign OF the SOyer-
eign.
land only he and his family are allowed
no Use il, though it is said he is rash
.enOugh to occasionally lend it to his
,sens or his brothers. In Turkey it Is
carried by all classes, though up to
within few years back everybody who
passed the palace of the Sultan was re-
Aluired To lower it as an act Of respect.
An old writer, abiding to the habit
-Dfcarrying umbrellas in hot countries,
10 avoid the "beames of the sunpe,"
bays that their employment is danger
pus. because they gather the heat into
D pyramidal point, and thence cast II
blown perpeudieularly upon the head,
Except they know how to carry them
= fOr avoiding that danger" As late as
7OS the umbrella began to be used in
England, though mostly by women.
One of the dictionaries Of that time
speaks Of as "a screen commonly used
-by women to keep OFT rain"
Gay, the poet, says:
IL Persian danes tn umbrellas rich dis
play,
1OguHrd their beauties from the sunny ray,
u sweating slaves support the shady load,
hen Eastern monarchs show their state
abroad;
britain in winter only knows its aid
20 guard fIOm chilly showers the walking
maid.
And Dean Swift wrote in the Tat