The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-09-20
M E N ;, w OM MEN
 A N D T H l N G s


 you little history about the umbrella.
 am not going to dig deep in the origin Iof the names applied to the portable fold ing protector from rain, or the lesser one more frequently carried by ladies as a sunshade, for when you get to deIving into the origins of words you are liable to lose yourself in subterrane and la- bryinths.
 The French term foA umbrella is para pluie,' and mere smattering of the language connects it with rain, while "ombrella," Italian diminutive from Latin urnbra. shade gives forth in nosuncertain terms the nature of the article which is now so widely used around the world, but which at one time. was limited to the east ern countries.
 You can't easily get back of the Chinese. for when you begin to lift the veil of history you'll generally save time if you first learn what these wise old orientals were on to- for many of the things which we moderns claim to have origi- rated were known to them thousands of years before Christian era; for instance, the umbrella was known in China in the eleventh century B. c.
 When told the story Of how the ne- groes at the ball game with umbrellas far outnumbered the whites, 1 could have dwelt on the fact that it was sign of the march of democracy, for in eastern countries from the earliest times the un- brella was one of the insignia of royalty and power while here in this free coun- try of ours, even the slaves who were freed about a half century ago tote urn- brellas at will.
 On the sculptured remains of ancient Nineveh and Egypt there are representa- tions of kings and sometimes of lesser potentates going in procession with an umbrella carried over their heads, and still has something of the same signifi- eahce. The Mahretta princes of India had among their titles lord of the um- brella.' In 1855 the King of Burma, in addressing the governor general of India, termed himself ''the monarch who reigns over the umbrella wearing chiefs of the eastern countries"
 In Burma the King and the white ele- phant were alone permitted white um- brelas, descending graduations of rank being marked by yellow, golden, red, green and brown; the inseparable gold umbrella denoting the grandees as the but think of the wonder of a Burmese prince who should land at Newport and see the parade of society wonAen with parasols of every known solid color or tinted as the rainbow. 1 dare say ha would imagine that<he had landed among queens and princesses.
 
 The umbrella was an emblem of sov- ereignty in Morocco and carried over the Sultan, for in some travel correspondence as far back as 1855 we are told :"The re- tinue of the Sultan was composed of a troop of from fifteen to twenty men on horseback. About 10o yards behind them
  with an officer bearing his umbrella, who rode beside him on mule Nnbody but the sultan himself (not even his sons and brothersJ dares to make use if it, b4t in the 'ole U. s. we can indulge ourselves ad libitum and carry any old color we please without let or hindrance.
 It would appear that the right to tote an umbrella in some eastern countries was about as nigh or higher privilege than to sport the peacock feather in China, and as much coveted by states men and rulers as was the latter by La Hung Chang, that willy old diplomat who came to the shores and behind his n- scrutable face laughed at our western ways and wenA home and wrote some things about us which to say the least of them were an indictment of some of our western ways
 There is reference in the Nineteenth Century, in 1894 in which the writer in referring to Muley Abbas set him down as a direct competitor for the throne. or, ,strictly speaking, for the shereeefiane um- brella. And in 1874 the sacred umbrella of King Keffee kalcaIli, of the Ashantees, was captured. and placed in the South Kensington Museum. London. There was ar account in the Graphic just before the close of the last century saying: ''An um brella is now being made QS9D in Lon don for an African potentate which, when unfurled. will cover space sufficient for twelve persons. The stick is fifteen feet long,
 In ancient Greece the umbrellas use was familiar among women for protection from the sun, and it is frequently repre- scented in paintings and terra cottas. but both in Greece and in Rome the carrying of it by men was regarded as a sign of effeminacy. In Italy the doge of Venice, in the twelfth century. had a state um- brella. which. as akin 70 the baldachin. was also assigned to cardinals of basil- can churches. The baldcaehins erected over ecclesiastical chairs, altars and DOT tals. and the eanopies of thrones and pull !! pits etc, are in their origin closely re- lated to umbrellas. and have the same symbolic significance In each of the basilican churches there stills hangs a large umbrella. But am getting be- yond niy depth in talking of such mat ters and will quit.
 t Takesit from me, there are few things