The Grenada gazette. (Grenada, Miss.) 1885-18??, 1886-11-06

10 carry a faded one. Although there
arr umbrellas of blue, green and buff,
the fayorite hue seems to be black.
And now that we have all the ma.
terials together to make an umbrella,
let lis 90 into the manufactory and see
exactly how all the pieces are put to-
cether. First. here is the stick. which
must be mountcd-that is. there arc
two springs to he put in. the fcrule is
to be put OF the top end. and if the
handle is of other material than the
stick. that must be pn. on. The ugliest
OF all the work is the cutting Of the
slots in which the springs are put.
These are first cut by a machine; hut
il the man who operates il is not care.
full he will get some of his fingers cut
of. Even after the slot cutting me-.
chine has done its work. there is Vet
something to be done by another MAJ
with 4 knife before the spring can he
put in. After the springs arc set the
teru!e is put on. and whom natural
sticks arc used. as all are of different
sizes, it requires considerable time and
care 10 find a ferule to fit the stick, as
well a in the whiting of the end OF
the stick to suit the ferule. And before
going further we notice here that all
the counters IN the various work-rooms
are carpctcd. The carpet prevents the
polished sticks from being scratched
and the dust from sticking to the un-
brclla goods. After the handle is put
on the stick and the band put on for
finish or ornament the stick goes to
the frame maker. who ta.tens
the strctchcrs to the ribs, strings the
top cord 10 the ribs on a wire which is
fitted into the runner notch. then
he strings the lower ends OF the
"stretchers on a wire and fastens in
the "runner.' and then. when both
runners are securely fixed the UNI
brella is ready Tor cover. As this is 4
very important part OF the umbrella.
several men end women are employed
in making it. In the room where the
covers are cut You will at first notice n
great number of V shaped things hang
ing against the wall on either side OF
the long room. These letter VS. are
usually made OF wood. tipped all
around with brass or some other fine
metal, and are of a great variety Of
sizes. They are the umbrella cover
patterns, a. yol soon make out. 10
begin with. the cutter lays his silk or
gingham very smoothly out Oh Il long
counter, foldingit back and forth until
the fabric lies eight or sixteen times in
thickness, the layer, being several wards
in length. Both edges of the material
have been hcmmcd by q wOmau on a
sewing machine before it is spread out
on the counter. When the cutter finds
that he has the stuff smoothly arranged,
with the edges even, he lays on his
pattern, and with a sharp knife quickly
draws along two sides OF it and in a
~twinkling the pieces for perhaps two
umbrellas are cut out: this is % when
the mat rial is sixteen layers thick and
the umbrella cover i. to have but eight
pieces.
After the cover is cut, each piece i
carefully examined By a woman to see
that there are no holes nor defect, in
it, FOR one bad piece would spot Il
whole umbrella. Then a man takes
the pieces and s(rethes the cut edges.
hi. stretching must be 50 skIlliully
done that the whole length of the edge
be evenly stretched. and it is necessary
in order to secure 4 good fit on the
frame. After this the pieces 20 to the
sewing.room, where they are sewsd
together by Il woman on Il sewing
machine in what is called a pudding.
bag seam. The woman must have
the machine tension just right or the
thread of the seam will break when thl
cover is stretched over the frame. The
next step in the work is to fa'ten the
cover to the frame, which is done by Il
woman. After the cover is fastened
at the top and bottom, She half hoistz
the umbrella, and has a small too.
which she uses to keep the umbrella in
that position; then she fastcns the
seams TO the ribs. and a quick work
woman will do all this in five minutes,
as we'll as sew on the tie, which ha.
been made by another pair Of hands.
Then the cap is put on md the UNI.
brclia is completed. But before it is
sent to the sa!csvoom, n woman
smooths the edge OF the umbrella all
around with Il warm fiat iron. Then an.
other woman holds it up to a window,
where there is n strong light, and