Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1891-10-13
JUST TO KEEP DRY.
New Workers Spend Four Million
Dollars Yearly.
Interesting Particulars OF tho Umbrella
Trade by Dcalor - Enormous
Prices Paid for tho
Article.

"They cost this city n deal Of money
every year." said tho fat umbrella man
to New York Recorder reporter as the
former dcftly rolled silk umbrella
and placed it back in the case. "Thc
amount must run so far up in tho
thousands it would seem an cxaggcrn-
ton to one who didn't know anything
nbout 1t. If the amount was expended
N charity no one in this town need
ever be hungry. The average life of q
good umbrella is about Il year. some
times an umbrella will wear four or
i've years. You can tell nothing about
them. There is nothing more unccr-
tain. The man who will guarantee an
umbrella is foolish. Tho sevcrcst tests
Will not reveal anything, because every
good umbrella is carefully examined
before it is put on sail. Every part of
1t passes through the hands of an OK
pert. As said before, the average life
of an umbrella is about q year, if the
owner can keep it as long as that,
which is seldom the case. The average
Life OF an umbrella and the average
service of an umbrella arc two very
different things. / suppose that the
latter Is about six months. AS nearly
as l can arrive at it from close obscrva-
ton about seven hundred thousand
people in New York carry umbrellas
That Is 4 good many, but / think the
estimate is under rather than over the
exact truth. For mind you, there arc
many who have two or three umbrellas
TT once. You can buy an umbrella for
utmost any price. The average of the
good cheap umbrella is about two
dollars. The average of the good sill,
umbrella is five dollars. The general
average is about three dollars.
snow You can readily arrive at an
estimate Of the amount Of money which
New Workers spend for umbrellas every
year. You will remember that I said
that the average service OF an umbrella
il about SIX months, so that every one
of these seven hundred thousand people
have to spend six dollars every year to
supply themselves with umbrellas. just
multiply that andyou win find that this
Zig town spends four million two hun
dred thousand dollaGsi q year. Mind,
that is not cXaggcrCtiny in tho least.
And tho umbrella habit is growing.
There is one firm in Philadelphia alone
which turns out ten thousand umbrellas
day.
"There is something strange about
umbeallcs. To begin with their gen
cral contrarincss about wearing Then
they have u curious effect upon human
nature. l wouldn't trust my brother
with an umbrella and lie is as honest a
man as ever lived. He could have all
the money have but not my umbrella.
man cannot be honest about them!
1t is hard work to sell umbrellas.
People always rcbel against having to
buy them. They seem to think that
they arc being lmposca upon and resent
1t accordingly. You have to. answer
n1ore Questions than 4 man at IN infor-
nation bureau md guarantee the
WeatEcr for the next ten years.
IF you over buy umbrellas yourself
let me tell you something as q guide.
You can buy the best umbrella that in
made for six dollars and fifty cents.
When you pay moro than that You are
piiyinE for the handle or q name. If
you want to spend o. lot Of money you
can go uptown to one of the biz Jewell
~ houses and spend anywhere from
twenty-five to one hundred dollars for
en- umbrella, and the umbrella itself is
shc same old Elk dollar and fifty cents
1mbrAlla. And If you don't want nm
N"lhrGlla Of that kind you can get one
tor three dollars, which will out,year
%uy silk umbrella tllat was ever made. :"