The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1886-12-10
OBSERVATIONS MADE DURING A
VISIT TO A BROOKLYN FACTORY.
A Great Many Different Things Used i'm
Making an Umbreila-SiI< for Covers
Brought from France Processes of
Manufacture.

Making Umbreua-SIk for Covers
Brought from France Processes of
Manufacture.
There are several umbrella factories in
Brooklyn. was taken over one of these fac
tories 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 supposed. There are first, the stick, made
Of wood: ribs, strctchers and springs of steel,
the runner, runner notch, the ferule, CAP,
band, and tips Of brass nickel; then there
ar the covering, the runner guard, which Is
Of ~iis or leather the inside cap, the often
time fancy handle, which may be Of ivory,
bDu,.. horn. walrus tusS, or even mother of
J. ari some kind of metal, and if you look
sharply You viii find n rivet put i'll deity
here ami there For the sticks great va
rirty of wood Is used; although all the wood
must lc har'l, firm, tough ard capable of re-
Coiying both Iolish and staining The cheaper
sticks sawed out of plank, chiefly of ma
pieand iron wood. They are then ''turnedn
that i. made round-polished, and stained
The runner, ferule, cap, band, etc, form
what is caled umbrella furniture, and for
tlie>' .ticlcs there is special manufactory.
Anutlcr factory still cuts and grooves wire Of
steel into the ribs and stretchers. Formerly
riIrs made out OF cane or whalebone, but
thee materials are now seldom used. When
the steel is grnoved it is called a paragon
frame which is the lightest and best made.
Ii WIS invented 10y an EngliShman named
Fox about twenty years ago.
Most Of the silk used for umbrella covers is
brought from France, but we make all our
umbrella gingham, which Is woven into varI-
ous widths to suit umbrella frames of differ
cnt SIR, and along each edge of the fabric
border j. formed of large cords As to al
paca. a dive house has been built near Phila-
dclPhia, on the plan of English dye houses, so
that our home made alpacas may be dyed as
good and durable a black as the gingham re
ccivcs: for although nobody minds carrying
nm old umbrella nobody likes to carry a
faded one. Although there are umbrellas of
blue green and buff, the favorite hue seems
T. be black.
And now that we have all the materials to-
grther 70 mike an umbrella, let us go into a
ntanufactory and see exactly how all the
pic,t-; put together. First, here Ia the
stick which must be mounted-that is there
arr two springs to be put in, the ferule is to
Ic put uu tile top end, and if the handle is of
othcr material than the stick, that must be
put uu The ugliest of all the work is the
cutting Of tine slots i'll which the springs
put These are first cut by machine, but if
the man who operates it is not careful he will
get some Of his fingers cut OFF. Even after
the slot cutting machine has done its work,
there is yet something to be done by another
man with knife before the spring can be
put i'll. After the springs set the ferule is
put on and when natural sticks are used, as
oil are of different sizes, it requires consider
able time and care to find ferule to fit the
stick well as in whiting Off the end OF
the stick To suit the ferule.
Af'er the handle is put on the stick, and a
band put on for finish ornament, the stick
goes 10 the frame maker, who fastenS the
strctchers 10 the ribs. strings the top cord of
the ribs on n wire which Is fitted into the run
nor NOTCH" then he strings the lower ends of
the -Stretchcrs' on wire and fastens in the
@runner," and then. when both runners" are
securely fixed, the umbrella is ready for the
cover. -As this is very important part of
the umbrella, several men and women are
employed in making it. In the room where
the covers are cut you will ut first notice
great number of shaped things hanging
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 great variety of
sizcs They are the umbrella cover patterns,
you soon make out. To BEGIN with, the
cutter lays his silk or Gingham very smoothly
out on long counter, folding it back and
forth until the fabric lies eight or sixteen
times in thickness. the layers being several
yards in length, Both edges of the material
haS been hrmmcd 10y woman on sowing
machine before 1t IL spread out on the coun-
ter. When the cutter finds that ne has the
stuff smoothly arranged, with the edges even,
hc lays on his pattern, and with sharp knife
quickly draws along two sides of it and in
twinkling the pieces for perhaps two umbrel-
las cut out; this i when the material is
sixte-n layers thick ami the umbrella cover is
L. have but eight pieces.
After the. cover Iut each niece il .Drfs-
fully examined hy Il woman to see that there
arr no holes nor defects i'll it, for one bad
piece would spoil a whole umbrella. Then
man takes the pieces and stretches the cut
edges. This stretching must be skillfully
done that the whole length of the edge be
evenly stretched, and IL is necessary i'll order
To- secure "a good tit on the frame. After this
the pr,r-- ~ - the sewing room, where they
are sewc,I together Iy q woman ON a sewing
Inachiu" ia what is called pudding bag
seam Tine woman must have the machine
tcn~Ir-, Iu~t right or the thread of the seam
will l.r a!, whru the cover is stretched over
tho frame.
Tho next step in the work is to fasten the
cover e. the frame, which is done by a
woman. After the cover is fastened at the
top uud bottom. She half hoi>tS the umbrella
and has a small tool which she uses to keep
tine umbrella in that position; then she
fastcus the seams to the ribs, and a quick
wurkwouen VIII do all this in five minutes,
a. well as sew ON the tie, which has been
nlle 10y another pair of hands Then the
cap Is put on and the umbrella Is completed
But before il Is sent to the SaleSroom Il
woman sunntlls the edges Of the umbrella all
around with Il warm fiatirou. Then another
woman holds il up to Il window, where there
is a strong Ii-ht and hunts for holes in it. L.
1t Is found to hc perfect the cover is neatly
arranged about the stick, the tie wrapped
about it and fastened, and the finished UNI
brelll gOes to market for buyer. From the
time the stick Is mounted till the umbrella Is
finished it takes but fifteen minutes-Brook
lyn Eagle
Why They Are Penned Cp.
Omaha Mani understand the arrange
ments for the reception OF immigrants at