Signal-Copiahan. (Hazlehurst, Copiah County, Miss.) 1885-1888, 1886-11-25
ABOUT UMBRELLAS.
Observations During n Visit to n
Brooklyn Factory.
The Woods Used In Their Manufacture
silk aud Alpaca Materisi-Cuttlng and
stretching It--A Good Fifteen
Minutes Work.

Minutes Work.
There are several umbrella factories
IN Brooklyn. Twas taken over one of
these factories the other day. and was
soon made TO see that there are many
more different things used in making
an umbrella than had at first sup
posed. There are, first, the stick.
made of wood; ribs. strctchers and
springs OF steel. the runner. runner
notch. the fcrulc, cap, bands and tips
OF brass or nickel; then there are the
covering, the runner guard. which is
OF silk or leather. the inside cap. the
oftentimcs fancy handle. which may
BE- OF ivory, bone, horn. walru> tu>k.
or even mother OF pearl or some kind
of metal, and il YOU look sharply YOU
will find rivct put in deity here and
there.
For the sticks great variety OF wood
Is used; although all the wood must b.
hard, firm, tough and capable of IT.
ceiving both polish ard staining. The
cheaper sticks are sawed out of plank.
chiefly of maple and iron wood They
are thea turned" (lhat is. made
rounD, polished and stained. The
'natural sticks rot very long ago.
were all imported from England. out
that has been changed. and we now
send England part Of our own sup
ply, which consists principally oi haw-
thorn and hucklebcrry, from
New York and New Jersey.
and of oak. ash. hickory aud
wild cherry. TO look ut these
sticks, often crooked and gnarlcd. with
q piece of the root left ON, one would
think they would make very shabby
sticks for umbrellas. but they are sent
10 factory, where they are steamed
and Strengthened. and then toa carver.
who cuts the knarlcd root end into the
image of a dog or horses head. or any
OF the thousand and one design, which
may be- seen, many of which are cN-
cecdingly ugly. OF the imported mat
ural' sticks, the principal are olive,
ebony, furzc, Snakcwood. pimento.
cinnamon. partridge and bamboo. Per-
hapS it is as well here TO explain that
natural stick i one that has been
young tree. having grown to be just
large enough for an umbrella stick,
when it Is pulled up, root and all. or
at least part of the root. When you
buy an umbrella tina; has the stick bent
into deep curve at the bottom for the
handle, you may feel quite sure that
il i of partridge wood. which does not
grow large enough to furnish knob
for handle. but when steamed admits
Oi being bent
The runner. ferulc. cap. band. etc, !
form what is called umbrella furniture. !
and for these articles there i, a special
mandatory. Another factory still |
cuts and grooves wire of steel into the
ribs and strctchers, Formerly ribs were
made out OF cane and whalcbonc, but
these materials are now seldom used.
When the steel is grooved it is called a
paragon frame. which is the iightest |
and best made. II was invented by |
an Englishman named Fox. about !,
twenty years ago The latest improve
ment in the manufacture of ribs is to |
give them an inward curve ut the bot
tom, so that they will fit snugly around |
the stick. and which dispcnses with the |
Zip cup-a cup-shaped piece OF metal
that closes over the tips.
Most of the silk used for umbrella |
covers is brought from France, but we |
make all our umbrella gingham, which
is woven into various widths TO suit |
umbrella frames of different size. and
along each edge of the fabric bor-
der is formed of large cords. AS to
alpaca. "A dyc-houSe has been built
near Philadelphia, on the plan of En-
glish Lighthouses. 40 that our home
made alpacas may be dyed as good
and durable black as the gingham
receives; for although nobody minds
carrying an old umbrella, nobody likes
to carry faded one. Although there
arc umbrellas OF blue, green and buff,
The favorite hue seems TO be black.
And now that We have all the ma
terials together to make an umbrella.
let us 90 into the manufactory and see
exactly how all the pieces are put to-
gether. First. here is the stick. which
must be mountod--that is, there arc
two springs to be put in, the ferule is
10 be put on the top end. and II the !
handle is of other material than tho
stick. that must be put on. The ugliest
OF all the work is tho cutting of the
slots in which the springs are put
These arc first cut BY . machine; but