The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-23
sTORYOF THE UMBRELLA.
The Chinese Date tho First One Back
Thousands Of Years Before
the Creation.
In Early Times ar Emblem of
Royalty-The Poor Did
Not Possess 1t.

Hanway First introduced It Into Englan'
The Great Improvements Made
In the Last Forty Years.
The oft-told tale Of the introduction o
the umbrella into England 10 n of tn
lcast features OF its interesting story, say
the Clothier and Furnisher. Mr.. Jona
Hanway, the distinguished philanthropis
and founder OF hospitals. was the chosen
instrument of fortune. In his early day
he was a great trsyelsr, and visited not
only the principal sights of Europe, bu
pushed his way far into Asia, voyagini
through India and Persia to the confines o.
Chinese Tartary. 1t was of course, thHe-
fore, impossible that he should have eszapee
being impressed by the Importance attached
to the umbrella in the far Orient, ant
doubtless enjoyed the comfort of II in the
lands where it was ommon 1t was abou'
tho year 1850 that he made his memorable.
sally into Chsapside with the outlandisf
continuance which brought upon him thu
Gerison of the populace, and upon tina
evsntful occasion il proved quite as usefu
in warding of defunct felines, over-ripe
egss and assorted vegetables as in divertinl
the shower which it was opened against
Had Hanway been other than a man OF
character the Christian world might have
waited another half century for the price
less boon bestowed pom it, but, as it was,
he stuck to that umbrella for thirty years,
finally dying in 1776 full OF honors and
with the satisfaction of leaving his cher
ished fad master of the situation. A small
street near the British museum now bears
his anne.
The antiquity of the umbrella is undis-
puted. The Chinese who, in their lavish
notions of antiquity, credit their institu-
tions with centuries galore, think nothing OF
dating the first umbrella back to four or
five thousand years anterior to the Mosaic
date of creation. Many distinguished
scholars have claimed to discover in the
Bible reference to the existence Of a shield
against sun and rain, whilst the Sanscrit
poets, writing when Latin was young, are
full of illusions to it. Various have been
the spsculations as to the origin of the UNI
brella. Some say hat the introducing of
leafy branches into a sort of bower hrst
suggested it, as the fg-leaf of father
Adam gave the first mighty impulse to the
clothing trade. Others, that tho nomadic
tent WAS the only natural prototype of what
60 strong resembles it in miniature. In
the Chaldaic sculptures of Nineveh the
umbrella is of frequent occurrence, as
shown by the excellent reproductions of
Layard, who wrote concerning 1t: The
umbrella or parasol. that emblem of roy
atty 20 universally adopted by eastern ma
<;opo = nopera1lv carried over fha king
in time of peace and sometimes even in
war. In shape 1T resembled very closely
those in common use; but it is always
open in the sculptures. 1t was edged with
~tassels, and WAS usually ornamentea at the
top with a flower or some other ornament"
The Chinese book of ceremonies "Icheou-
Lii" dated about 300 A.. D. gives directions
for the use OF an umbrella to be borne over
the Imperial car. In Hindoo mythology, it
was with an umbrella borne over his head
that Visknu visited the internal regions.
The use of the umbrella in ancient Greece
and Rome as an adjuncs to the toilets of
people of fashion and in several ceremonies
such writer's as Gillian, Pausanias, Aristo.
planes, Aristotle, Plutarch, Ovid, Martial,
Juvenal. Pliny and others. The Greeks
called it ''skiadeion," and the Romans
''umbella'' and ''umbracula." The Roman
umbrella was formed of skin and leather
ENrRbCDGU Oh IOuB anu COulu W l0W6FOu
when not in use. The honor of bearing it
over the owner was reserved to the ~favorite
slave or servant. Umbrellas formed part of
the Injuries of wealthy ByZantines and Ro-
mans. The Emperor Claudian carried a
golden umbrella with a carved ivory handle.
Gorius, a Roman writer, says that tho Ro-
mans got it originally from the Etruscans.
In Siam the king grants the right to en-
ploy an umbrella as a patent of nobility.
The Indian and Persian title of satrap
comes from the words CHI hatra-pati, or
''lord of tie umbrella" the Hindoo and
Burmese for umbrella being "Chata." The
King of Ava was liking of the white ele-
plant and lord Of the twenty-four umbrel-
las The umbrella is, in fact, all over the
east a mark of high rank.
The English word umbrella ia very like
the Latin coming through the Italian ON
brella or slistle shade" The French, Cor
man. Spanish and others give it q distinc-
tive name, such as parapluie, rsgenschirm
and paraguas.. Umbrella" and "parasol''
thing, but custom has given them the dis
tinctions that Wa understand to-day.
Umbrellas have always been intimately
associated with religious services in Catho-
lie churches. They were introduced in the
church services of the Byzantine church,
are borne over the host in procession, and
form part of tho Pontiical regalia, as we'll
as that of a cardinal. Its quite likely that
the Cardinals hat is derived from the UNI
brella. In italian heraldry a vermilion um-
brella in a field argent signifed dominion.
The Harleian MSS. has at least ono draw
ing of al Anglo-Saxon gentlemen whose
servant shades him with a sort of umbrella
having a curved handle, and evidently not
meant to close. The use of the parasol or
sunshade far antedates that of the UNI
hrella in France and England. where it was
introduced, probably from China, in the
seventeenth century, whcnce some Jesuit
missionaries sent several, among other
curiosities, to their friends in Paris.
Robinson Crusoe's famous umbrella
was, of course. a pleasant fiction emanatinp
from the brain of his genial creator, but
Daniel Defoe had probably seen umbrellas.
as he says Crusoe did, in Brazil, where thew
have been in great popular use from the
first settlement of that country to the
present day. Umbrellas were early IN use
in England in the form of Il large, unwieldv
canopy, which stood just inside the door of
great manaions, and was used by the foot
men to shelter their masters in wet weather
from door to carriage. Such were also held
over clergymen conducting burial services
under like circumstances. Gen. Wolfe, the
hero of Quebec, when a young man, visited
Paris in 1852 and remarked the then grow
ing use of umbrellas. He approved of
them, and wrote to a friend that he won
dered they were not adopted in England, in
viaw of their great utility. 1t was about
this epoch, in fact, that Hanway introduced
them.
All has not been said, however.
The umbrella of HsnwRy's day, clumsy,
unwieldy and unlovsly, has undergone a