Wichita eagle., 1889-12-17
ABOUT TIE UMBRELLA.


are manifesting as great penchant for
umbrellas as their almond-eyed neigh
bors to the north have for the fan. Last
year 270, 900 umbrellas were received by
importation in Calcutta alone, This
calls to mind the very interesting and
attractive feature of Bellamy's Looking
Backward" in reference to the twentieth
century reformation in the matter of
weather protection. In his improved
condition of affairs, be it recalled, the
sudden appearance of heavy rain storm
implied no Inconvenience or discomfort
to the people; and it was considered an
extraordinary imbeciIity to permit the
weather to have any effect upon their
social plans or movements. The ladies
Of the story appeared to go out in rain
without either rubbers or umbrellas. and
the mystery was explained by the hero
finding upon the street a continuous
waterproof covering, which had been
let down so as to inclose the sidewalk
and turn it into a welI-lighted and per-
fectly dry corridor, filled with stream
of ladies and gentlemen dressed for din
ner. 1t was regarded by the communi-
ties of that advanced day as a strange
fable that. in the nineteenth century
Boston, the streets had been i'm
passable, except to persons pro-
tected by umbrellas, boots and heavy
clothing; and the art galleries of that
time presented as curiosities nineteenth
century paintings, representing a crowd
of people In the rain, each one holding
his umbrella over himself and wife, and
giving his neighbor the benefit of the
drippings
Nevertheless, and Notwithstanding the
prospective benefits promised by the
innovation of continuous waterproof
street covering, man will still cling, for
a time, to the old umbrella; but as its
disappearance is contemplated, its giaces
of character and conduct shine out radi-
antly. Tears shall bedim its vacant
chair, for what can take its place? No
other of mans belongings can so per-
sistently be uptown when wanted down
town, and vice versa. or can SO mis-
chievously linger behind on counters, in
street cars, and in hall ways. Nothing
born of invention can so unexpectedly
collapse when most needed. or look
SO provokingly ugly and disrep-
utable on occasions when its ap-
pearance should be commee il fault.
Nevertheless, in rain or shine, it has been
useful; it has served to push refractory
windows up and down, to prod cans
from the pavement and unobservant
street car drivers to their duties, and
whatever may be advanced or Wanted
of Bellamy's improved invention, in
spirited chase under the bureau for an
clipping collar button, or for sparkling
purposes, the old, old umbrella, the UNI
brella of our grandfathers, will always
come out ahead, despite its ephemeral
character as to ownership, which by
common consent rests with the person
having it in actual possession.
This last point is clearly set up by the
verdict of Virginia jury, which decid-
ed that it is not stealing to take an UNI
brella for which the taker has not ac-
quired a title by purchase. The culprit
would have been convicted had
not his lawyer told story Of an
umbrella beng left near the dining
room door of the Spottswood hotel, IL
Richmond, but safely anchored by being
tied, for the purpose of seeing how many
persons would undertake to carry it
away. The result was that every guest
who left the dining room laid violent
hands on the umbrella, and relin4uished
it only when he found it was anchored.
The Jury seemed to conclude that if the
guests of the first hotel in Virginia
would take an umbrella not their own,
nothing better could be expected of a
colored boy.
1t is not expected, however, that the
Hindoo will catch the twentieth century
departure in the weather protection
idiom offered by Bellamy, nor yet that
they will grasp the iberality of the Vir-
ginia idea, for the orientals adhere tena-
cously to their notions of honesty; that
is, the natives do SO long as they remain
citizens of the fiowery kingdom.