Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1891-05-22
IT LOOKS LIKE NINE.
PEOPLE HAVE OFTEN SAID THIS
ABOUT AN UMBRELLA

They Were Right In the Main. but the
Inventor of Modern Industry Had
FIXED" tho Handie--Why tho identity
of Canos and Parasols ChangeS-
A dingy shauty within the shadow OF
the city hall shelters a singular industry
the leading feature of the establishment
being the exchange of umbrella handles.
A visit to the thrifty proprietor I'M
ravels the mystery of where unreturned
and otherwise missing umbrellas go to.
You lose, in any of the too numerous
methods by which the feat can be ac-
complished. the shield which art inter
poses between civilized humanity and
the weaping heavens. You scan the
procession that passes your window the
next wet day in the hope of detecting
the man with perverted morals who has
appropriated your property In vain.
You may see handle like that attached
TO the umbrella that once was your
brown silk. but the covering is black,
hence the hope raised by the sight of the
peculiar form of the silver or ivory top
is dispellcd when your eye travels to the
dripping cover
VISIT TO THE "FIXER."
And yet you may have been right in
your first guess, though the man who
was saving his silk hat from the dam
aging effect of the downpour may have
been innocent of wronging you directly
utI hn IL
bly ornamented by handle of totally
different pattern when it left the shop
and was subsequently loaned or left in a
corner of the saloon where the proud
purchaser "set EN- up for his fellow
clerks on the strength of his investment.
The peculiar handle was too easy of
| Identification attached to its original
silken superstructure and the aforesaid
dingy shanty WAS hastily visited and an
exchange effected The visit was made
subsequently to that of the successor to
your property and that is how you came
| to have that evanescent ray of hope flash
through your frame.
This is no fancy sketch. The EEK
change" was visited in all innocence OF
its real character by man whose lack
of opportunity has hitherto preserved
his honesty pure and undefiled in the
matter of umbrellas, the temptation Il
absorb which seems to be irresistible t
the average mortal, and he is no better
| than his fellows in other respects, anC
given the right conditions he might witt
his fellows fall beneath the influence Of
lonesome but lovely specimen.
But this time he was n victim, not K
the loss of his rain defer, but its meta
handle Unequal expansion between i
and the stick, combined with faulty ce
ment, had caused divorce fatal to TIN
good looks of the relict.
"Aber wo list der anderer griff?' asket
the ''repairer, his gesture supplying TIN
meaning of what otherwise would hav
been unintelligible to his visitor
"The other handle? Why. lost it, an,
that's why came to you to get neV
one.
"Ach, that vas all very veil, but loo
In your pocket and don't mind me.
know all about dat business. Day al
lose dose handles until dey find oud hoy
to know de ropes little bit Look again
: now"
"DEY YOOSr MAKES HIM"
The visitor being innocent was impel
vious to the implication. What do yo
meant? he asked the grinning proprieto
OF the by shop
"What means? Wy, dat you mad,
, dot regenschirm-you know what dc
means-and you wants to change dc
handle for another, SO de oder ma
knows him not again alretty, ehY
do look like thief"
/ "a tief, is it? Wy you must be dunn
: nopody schteals einen regenschirm, de
! yoost makes him He is lying arour
r and you cooms along or some oder ma
/ cooms along and takes him up. Den de
3 all oooms here by me and puts a me-
/ handle on and de next Sauntag dot +,
3 genschirm to der kirche goes NIT de ma
and de handle stops nit me.
"Aber if you are SO dretfully particl
lar | put you "A new handle in him fC
teventy fife cents or half tollar an
e you keeps de oder handle and puts hi
in the stove alretty, ehf'
4 Not knowing at this stage of the pr
e ceedings but that the handle he shoul
g select might have come from an un
Q brella of the same shade and general al
, pearance as his own. and thus lead
= awkward complications with the loser
+ the one it originally graced, and not ca
4 ing particularly to do business with
r man who had such loose ideas of Il
$ rights OF property even in umbrella
. the would be customer was backing OF
/ there was scarcely room to turn.
You needn't be feared dot gife V,
i away put you a handle dot vas on
+ black one, and de Won you hat is brow
3 eh?"
4 But the comparatively fresh air of Il
\ alley leading to the novel fence" h;
e been reached ere this last inducemel
+ had been offered. and the Job went to
1 more honest or cautious man. --Chica,
/ Times
How Chamberlain Won His " life.
a A story is now going the rounds abo
:. Mr. Joseph Chamberlain recent wooii
and marriage that may interest Anne
lean readers BY u romantic coincide
Mr.. Chamberlain son, Austin, play
q an important part in his fathers IN;