The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1901-10-28
ANCIENT UMBRELLAS
NHEY FIGURED IN CHURCHES IN THE
EARLY CHRISTIAN DAYS.

IN tne early Christian cnurcneS u
large umbrella usually hung over the
priest, aud II is said that from this
custom IL became one of the attributes
OF cardinals appointed from basilican
churches. For years the doges OF
Venice carried umbrellas of state. and
in 1888 Pope Alexander III. declared
that these should be surmounted by
golden statistics Of the annunciation.
Michael Moroslni was the first Nene-
nan layman TO carry an umbrella,
'thich consisted Of n small, fiat square
6f green stun. over which was cop
per spiral. Soon after the umbrella
was adopted by fashionable Venetian
danes. According to Coryat's "Crudi-
ties" G61D, the Italian umbrella was
small canopy and was made of leath
er extended by n series OF wooden
hoops. He says umbrellas were used
10y horsemcn. who. resting the handles
on the thigh as they rode, bore them
SO that they should minister shadow
unto them for shelter against the
scorching sun"
In the IIarleian manuscripts. now In
tle British museum. there is in manu-
Script No. COB crude illustration
showing the figure of a yoelnan hold
ing an umbrella over his lord, which
leads me TO infer that umbrellas were
known in England even in the early
Anglo-Saxon period.
Beck, as quoted in the Draper's Die
tionary, asserts that at the time that
Stephen usurped the crown of England
Nf In
common use among the English. The
first mention of the umbrella in Eng
lish literature is In Florio's World of
Wonders" QJ9S), where it is described
as a kind of round fan or shadowing
that they use 10 ride with in summer
in Italy; little shade"
In 1856 an umbrella was exhibited In
the Museum Tradescantianum; or
Collection Of Rarities Preserved at
South Lambeth, Near London. by John
Tradescant," which was known as
"ene of the wonders Of the ark"
, In the church of Cartmell, in Lanca-
shire, England, there was preserved
until few years ago an umbrella said
to be over 800 years old. which was
used chiefly to protect the host.
References TO the umbrella are TO be
found also i'm Blount's "Glossographia"
O074) and Phillips New Worlde Of
Words" QG7S). In the first the refer
ence reads: "Umbrello, fashion of
round and broad fans, wherewith the
Indians (and from them our great onesl
preserve themselves from the heat of
the sun, and hence any little shadow,
en- guard their faces from the sun"
The second runs: "Umbrello, n screen
against the suns heat, used chiefly by
tSe Spaniards, among whom it is known
1the name quitasole."
fhe imaginative Dean Swift In the
"Tale of Tub" OG9G depicts Jack, an
ever resourceful type, making use Of n
parchment copy of his fathers will as
nightcap when he went TO bed ana as
an umbrella In rainy weather. Did
the worthy Hanway take his cue from
this or from Kersey, according to whom
the umbrella was n "broad fan or
lreen commonly used by women to
shelter them from rainT" The last ref
erence, made In 1909. is the first men
tion of IL as n protector from the rain.
Later Bailey. who In his dictionary
Q73O called II a parasol, defined It as
"a sort of small canopy to keep off the
rain"
Small, light umbrellas came ito
fashion among the ladies of the French
court in 1915, and these We're carried
by attendants. Richelet tells us that
Ney were made of oilcloth or leather
N all. %. haI
! hey found favor with the men.
W rried red umbrellas, with edges
\ fri with gold lace.
} ~ precise date when Jonas Han
way. who died in 17SG, introduced the
umbrella into England is not recorded
in any of the encyclopedias | have at
hand, but they all state that he was
popularity known as its lntroducer
With the Dutch, as with the Indian
grandees, the umbrella was first an at
tribute of dignity, and well it might
be, for the prices paid for them at The
Hague in 1850 ranged from SO to $12C
each. The Dutch colonists who settled
at the Cape of Good Hope were not
slow TO insist on preserving the dignity
of the umbrella. for Ryk van Tulbagh
governor Of Cape Colony in 1852. en-
acted tLat NO one less in rank than
junior merchant or those among the
citizens Of equal rank. and the wives
4 and daughters only of those who are ol
}have been members Of any council
shall venture 10 use umbrellas, and
those who are less In rank than mer
chants shall not enter the castle in fine
weather with an open umbrella. -
Frank III. vizetelly In New Yorl
Tines.
A Nongolfer's o Union of Golf.
Imagine n great fat creature who