The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-12-13


 when it rained, and others soon had the i courage to follow his example. At the time of his death, 17S4, all England was carrying umbrellas.
 Montaigne's objection to the weight of umbrellas was, in his time and for { two centuries afterward, quite justi- fable one. It was a small umbrellt then which weigher three and half pounds. Instead of the thin, rain-proof fabrics which now form the covering of um- brellas, nothing better was known than leather or oilcloth. The ribs were or wood or whale bone, and such a thing as a steel rod was, of course un- known. The stick was suually of heavy oak. Many umbrellas had the addition al ncumbrance of feathers over the top, on the theory of shedding water off ducks back" But the oilcloth and leather umbrellas, notwithstanding the feathers, were apt to leak.
 Properly speaking, there are no such | things as umbrellas factories The umbrella maker puts the parts of the umbrella together. Only that. it has not been many years since almost every thing used in making an umbrella 1 came from the Old World. The steel rod rod, which by progresses discovered about three years ago was made possl- l ble for the cheaper as well as the high 1 priced umbrellas, was up to that time l always an imported article. Two years 1 ago it began to be extensively manufac- 1 tured in America, and, like the other component parts of the umbrella, is now sold in this country in better qual- i ity and at lower price than it can be obtained across the sea. The factories ] which make umbrella steel rods make 1 the rods and nothing else. The manu- 1 featuring of umbrella steel frames is an entirely separate industry. There are four large steel frame factories in America. 1t was great discovery whe. steel frame manufacturers found that hollow steel ribe were just as good | as solid ones. As the smallest umbrella | has at least seven ribs, this discovery lesened tn weight of umbrellas very materially. The common paragon frame has eight ribs. Some umbrellas, the kind that are called family umbrel- las," and are good to go fishing with, have as many as iXteen ribs. It is not ! quite fifty years since the paragon | AidlilC was lllNGIlltd IL was Dtlclllto py Samuel Fox, an Englishman, in 1852, and has had more to do with imparting strength, lightness and elasticity to the umbrella than anything else,
 A book could be written about tn va | rious materials from which umbrella handles are made. The partridge, or lorie, as it is called in France, is one of the best natural woods. It comes from a tree of Africa, and is hard on the out side and soft on the inside. The Arabian vine is a beautiful, extremely hard wood Another is the Weichsel. When 1 a young lady comes in and says she wants an umbrella handle that smells like ice cream" said MT. Louis Oni- mus, South Broadway umbrella mak- CT, T imediately know that she wants l Weichsel." Congo pieces are distin- guished for the natural wood knots, which occur at exactly regular inter vals. The Malaga is a shining. straight, smooth stick susceptible of very high polish. Bamboo is used a great deal and also rattan. Ebony, pearl, rosewood, sil- i yer Dresden china, pear and ivory are some of the popular materials for high priced umbrella handles.
 Solid gold handles are never found in the ordinary umbrella or jewelry store, and are made only when special l ly ordered M Nat Sebastian owns a solid gold handle, which he now has on cane, that cost $500. He takes great pride in his rare possession, and has won enough bets on it to more than pay for the cost of the cane. On one occasion, in a large umbrella store in New York city he made a wager of $200 with the proprietor that there was no umbrella handle in the establishment equal in value to his. A chemist decided the bet and the umbrella dealer was $200 poor CT. The cane which matches this handle is of thin transverse sections of corn, in all oclors, laid on top of one another around a steel rod
 Many curious umbrellas come to the l umbrella mender's shop. One which is being mended just now can be taken apart and put in one's pocket. The stick is of wood, about an inch in diameter The cover can be turned inside out and folded into a small bundle. By touching a spring the ribs come off, straighten out and may be placed in hollow of the stick which is then a presentable walk ing stick. It is found very convenient by it's owner, who is a drummer. An other that was lately mended is still
 more ingenious The handle is curved and when spring is pressed a pipe flies out The ribs are slowed away ir the center, and the owner has a walk ing stick, but in the center there is also a rapier, which may be drawn out. An other neat invention is a hollow stick which contains a camp chair. Three steel supports are pressed out of tht top of the stick, triangular piece ol canvas put on, and seat is had whicf is at least as comfortable as a bicycle
 saddle. All of these strange umbrella! come from the Old World. The umbrel
 la makers say that Europeans talk much more pride in their umbrella: than do people of this country. Man! little jokes are concealed in the um
 brella handles there. A handle may pre-
 sent the appearance of the head of ,
 monkey or a cat or some other animal and a secret spring will cause the little
 creature to open it's mouth and spit {
 drop of cologne on the beholder.
 } A crescent-shaped handle in very t common use is known among dealers u l the "Prince of Wales crook" This il : not so remarkable as the insignia whicf l the King of Siam has conferred or