The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-08-29
RENT UMBRELLAS
 ON RAINY DAYS
Ingenious Scheme of Boys to Extract Money From Pedestrians Caught
 Out in the Wet

On rainy days there are now to be found at many uptown elevated and subway stations boys waiting with umbrellas on the chance that they can rent them, says the New York Sun. The days best for this come unexpectedly.
 When this business was originally start ed. which was only few years ago, tne first boys to engage in it let their patrons fix the prices. When they got to the house woman customer would give the boy a nickel or a dime, or maybe more, according to the distance. If the feathers on her hat were particularly valuable and the distance great she might give him a quarter.
 Now with so many boys out with um- brellas the renting of them has come to be a more cold-blooded business proposL- ton and you bargain for one or discover that the boy has fixed price. A Wash ington Heights woman on a recent rainy day found four boys with umbrellas lined up at the subway exit, droning "Um- brellas, umbrellas.'
 How much?" this woman asked of the first boy she came to. and How far?' he asked her; and then he said, ''9O cents '' which she thought was too much. The other boys heard all this and none of fered an umbrella for less; in fact one of the boys said under his breath Let her chokev'
 Here, you see, was sort of youthful umbrella trust, or at least combination and they let this woman go away with out an umbrella rather than cut the price, The woman had it in mind to say to them that 1t would be more profitable to them to do lot of business at a low price rather than limited business at a high price. but she didn't and if she had they 1f<x1.t H.xr |. rush of people lasted only a short time and that they had to get out of it all they could while 1t lasted
 This same woman had another experi- ence with an umbrella boy that was quite different. Descending from an elevated train at One Hundred and Twenty fifth street to take there a car up Amsterdam avenue she found heavy rain falling, and though the distance to the surface car was short she wanted an umbrella
 How much to an Amsterdam avenue carr" she said to an umbrella boy at the foot of the elevated stairs
 His price was cents-fair and reason- able--and he was straightway engaged.
 The boy held an umbrella over her care fully on this short trip and continued to hold 1t for the minute or two they had to stand in the street waiting for the car to come along, as he did also while she was getting aboard. Then the woman discov- cred that she had nothing but dime and she offered that to the boy and wanted him to take it. But he insisted on giving her back cents change-on sticking to his contract.
 Here was boy who showed a proper, agreeable spirit, and doubtless there are more boys just like him; but on the whole 1t might probably with truth be said that the boy umbrella business is now quite different from what 1t was when first started. Then. with the nice boy protect ing the nice young lady from the station to her home and trusting to her wholly for his reward there was little touch of romance in it. Now, with so many boys in it and with fixed prices and tendency to charge all the traffic will bear 1t has come to be just plain. straight. ordinary business.