Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1893-04-18
MONEY In UMBRELLAS.
WHAT 1T COSTS NEW WORKERS
EVERY YEAR TO KEEP DRY.

! 4 Dealer Estimates That 1900 900 Il
| Spent Yearly for Umbrellas by the Peo-
About Umbrella Stealing.
"They cost New York a good deal of
money every year." said the fat umbrella
man as he deity rolled silk mbrella
and placed it back in the case. '"The
amount must run SO far up in the thou
sands 1t would seem an exaggeration to
one who didn't know anything about It
Ii the amount was expended in charity no
one In this town need go hungry
THE ratio OF people who carry umbrellas
is larger in this town than in any other in
America. | suppose it is because we have
80 many rainy days. Probably so per cent
OF the adult population Of New York carry
umbrellas, and 10 per cent OF the children
over twelve years Of age ! have been in
the umbrella business for twenty years
and have watched it pretty closely
THE average life Of good umbrella is
about a year. Sometimes an umbrella
will wear four or five years. You can tell
nothing about them There is nothing
more uncertain The man who will guar
antee an umbrella is foolish The severest
tests will not reveal anything because
every good umbrella is carefully examined
before it is put on sale. Every part of it
passes through the hands Of an expert,
The silk is passed upon, the framework
and the stick. II anything is found not
up to the standard it Is sent back, and yet
1t Ia very common thing for an umbrella
to go all to pieces inside Of three weeks
The best umbrella expert in this town can
tell nothing about them
PRICES or UMBRELLAS
AS said before. the average life of an
umbrella is about year. If the owner can
keep 1t as long as that, which is seldom the
case. There seems to be many men who
make 1t business to lose umbrellas as
fast as they buy them. while others never
lose an umbrella The average life of an
umbrella and the average service Of an
umbrella are two very different things.
suppose that the latter is about six
months. AS nearly as can arrive at II
from close observation about 700. 600 people
In New York carry umbrellas
THAT is good many, but | think the s.
innate is under rather than over the exact
truth For, mind you. there are many
who have two or three umbrellas at once,
You can buy an umbrella for almost any
price The average of the good cheap um-
brellas is about two dollars The average
Of the good silk umbrellas is five dollars
The general average is about three dollars
Nov you can readily arrive at an esti
mate OF the amount of money which New
Workers spend for umbrellas every year
You will remember that | said that the av
erage service Of an umbrella is about six
months, SO that every one of these 700, 900
people have to spend six dollars every year
to supply themselves with umbrellas Just
multiply that and you will find that this
big town spends "a, 100000 year. Mind
that Is not exaggerating in the least. And
the umbrella habit is growing. There is
one firm in Philadelphia alone which turns
out 10000 umbrellas day
There is something strange about um
brellas. To begin WITH is their general con
trariness about wearing. Then they have
a curious effect upon human nature |
wouldn't trust my brother with an umbrel
Ia and he is as honest q man as ever lived
He could have all the money have, but
not my umbrella, A man cannot be honest
about them. | don't know what there is in
the things, but | do know that is the effect
they have upon people There is not day
passes but man comes in here and wants
the stick and handle in an umbrella
changed when both are perfectly good We
know well that the umbrella belonged to
somebody else, but. of course. we never say
anything
MEN AND UMBRELLAS.
II remember once that a man bought an
umbrella from us, and remembered it be
cause of peculiar mark
mot long after another man brought it
in and had another handle put in it. We
put in two other handles for different men,
and then the original owner brought in
the umbrella. We put in the handle that
was first in it, and he never discovered it
| never saw man who would not appro
pirate an umbrella if there was any posi-
BILE excuse for so doing A man who will
withstand all other temptations Is utterly
helpless at the sight of an umbrella |
don't pretend to offer any explanation for
it; simply know that it is fact, and that
the man who takes the umbrella is no
more to blame than the kleptomaniac who
steals from dry goods stores.
ut is hard work to sell umbrellas. Peo
pie always rebel against having to buy
them. They seem to think that they are
beingimposcd upon, and resent it accord
ingly. Iou have to answer more questions
than a man ut an information bureau, and
years And we do meet the crankiest lot
of cranks The other day man came in
here and spent an hour and a half looking
over the stock. After he had inspected
everything he looked at his watch and
said he was much obliged He bad about
that much time to put in before his train
left, and he had spent it very protitably
IF you ever buy umbrellas yourself let
me tell you something AS a guide, You
can buy the best umbrella that is made for
81 30 When you pay more than that you
are paying for the handle or name If
you want to spend lot of money you can
go up town to one of the big jewery
houses and spend anywhere from SIS to
800 for an umbrella, and the umbrella it.
self is the same old &c. so umbrella And
II you don't want an umbrella of that kind
you can get one for 50 which will outwear
any silk umbrella that was ever made ~
New York Recorder
Derivation of Hurrah,