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diff --git a/old/mbrll10.txt b/old/mbrll10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5d934a4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/mbrll10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2148 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Umbrellas and their History, by William Sangster + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Umbrellas and their History + +Author: William Sangster + +Release Date: October, 2004 [EBook #6674] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on January 12, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII, with some ISO-8859-1 characters + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UMBRELLAS AND THEIR HISTORY *** + + + + +Avinash Kothare, Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. +This file was produced from images generously made available by the CWRU +Preservation Department Digital Library + + + + + + +UMBRELLAS AND THEIR HISTORY + +BY + +WILLIAM SANGSTER. + + +"Munimen ad imbres." + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE UMBRELLA + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE UMBRELLA IN ENGLAND + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE STORY OF THE PARACHUTE + + +CHAPTER V. + +UMBRELLA STORIES + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE REGENERATION OF THE UMBRELLA + + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +INTRODUCTORY. + + +Can it be possibly believed, by the present eminently practical +generation, that a busy people like the English, whose diversified +occupations so continually expose them to the chances and changes of +a proverbially fickle sky, had ever been ignorant of the blessings +bestowed on them by that dearest and truest friend in need and in +deed, the UMBRELLA? Can you, gentle reader, for instance, realise to +yourself the idea of a man not possessing such a convenience for +rainy weather? + +Why so much unmerited ridicule should be poured upon the head (or +handle) of the devoted Umbrella, it is hard to say. What is there +comic in an Umbrella? Plain, useful, and unpretending, if any of +man's inventions ever deserved sincere regard, the Umbrella is, we +maintain, that invention. Only a few years back those who carried +Umbrellas were held to be legitimate butts. They were old fogies, +careful of their health, and so on; but now-a-days we are wiser. +Everybody has his Umbrella. It is both cheaper and better made than +of old; who, then, so poor he cannot afford one? To see a man going +out in the rain umbrella-less excites as much mirth as ever did the +sight of those who first--wiser than their generation--availed +themselves of this now universal shelter. Yet still a touch of the +amusing clings to the "Gamp," as it is sarcastically called. 'What +says Douglas Jerrold on the subject? "There are three things that no +man but a fool lends, or, having lent, is not in the most helpless +state of mental crassitude if he ever hopes to get back again. These +three things, my son, are--BOOKS, UMBRELLAS, and MONEY! I believe a +certain fiction of the law assumes a remedy to the borrower; but I +know of no case in which any man, being sufficiently dastard to +gibbet his reputation as plaintiff in such a suit, ever fairly +succeeded against the wholesome prejudices of society. Umbrellas may +be 'hedged about' by cobweb statutes; I will not swear it is not so; +there may exist laws that make such things property; but sure I am +that the hissing contempt, the loud-mouthed indignation of all +civilised society, 'would sibilate and roar at the bloodless poltroon +who should engage law on his side to obtain for him the restitution +of a--lent Umbrella!" + +Strange to say, it is a fact, melancholy enough, but for all that +too true, that our forefathers, scarce seventy years agone, meekly +endured the pelting of the pitiless storm without that protection +vouchsafed to their descendants by a kind fate and talented +inventors. The fact is, the Umbrella forms one of the numerous +conveniences of life which seem indispensable to the present +generation, because just so long a time has passed since their +introduction, that the contrivances which, in some certain degree, +previously supplied their place, have passed into oblivion. + +We feel the convenience we possess, without being always aware of +the gradations which intervened between it and the complete +inconvenience of being continually unsheltered from the rain, without +any kind friend from whom to seek the protection so ardently desired. + +Fortunately a very simple process will enable the reader to realise +the fact in its full extent; he need only walk about in a pelting +shower for some hours without an Umbrella, or when the weight of a +cloak would be insupportable, and at the same time remember that +seventy years ago a luxury he can now purchase in almost every street, +was within the reach of but very few, while omnibuses and cabs were +unknown. + +But, apart from considerations of comfort, we may safely claim very +much higher qualities as appertaining to the Umbrella. We may even +reckon it among the causes that have contributed to lengthen the +average of human life, and hold it a most effective agent in the +great increase which took place in the population of England between +the years 1750 and 1850 as compared with the previous century. The +Registrar-General, in his census-report, forgot to mention this fact, +but there appears to us not the slightest doubt that the introduction +of the Umbrella at the latter part of the former, and commencement of +the present century, must have greatly conduced to the improvement of +the public health, by preserving the bearer from the various and +numerous diseases superinduced by exposure to rain. + +But perhaps we are a little harsh on our worthy ancestors; they may +have possessed some species of protection from the rain on which they +prided themselves as much as we do on our Umbrellas, and regarded the +new-fangled invention (as they no doubt termed it) as something +exceedingly absurd, coxcombical, and unnecessary; while we, who are +in possession of so many life-comforts of which those of the good old +times were supremely ignorant--among these we give the Umbrella +brevet rank--can afford to smile at such ebullitions as we have come +across in those books of the day we have consulted, and to which we +shall presently have an opportunity of referring. + +We can happily estimate the value of such a friend as the Umbrella, +the silent companion of our walks abroad, a companion incomparably +superior to those slimy waterproof abominations so urgently +recommended to us, for, at the least, the Umbrella cannot be accused +of injuring, the health as _they_ have been, as it appears, with +very good reason. In fact, so long as the climate of England remains +as it is, so long will Umbrellas hold their ground in public esteem, +and we do not believe that the clerk of the weather will allow +himself to be bribed into any alteration, at least for trade +considerations. + +Another remarkable proof of the utility of the Umbrella may be found +in the universality of its use. It has asserted its sway from Indus +to the Pole, and is to be met with in every possible variety, from +the Napoleon blue silk of the London exquisite, to the coarse red or +green cotton of the Turkish rayah. Throughout the Continent it forms +the peaceful armament of the peasant, and no more curious sight can +be imagined than the wide, uncovered market-place of some quaint old +German town during a heavy shower, when every industrial covers +himself or herself with the aegis of a portable tent, and a bright +array of brass ferrules and canopies of all conceivable hues which +cotton can be made to assume, without losing its one quality of "fast +colour," flash on the spectator's vision. + +The advantages of the Umbrella being thus recognised, it must be +confessed that it has hitherto been treated in a most ungrateful and +step-motherly fashion. We fly to the Umbrella when the sky is +overcast--it affords us shelter in the hour of need--and the service +is forgotten as soon as the necessity is relieved. We make abominable +jokes upon the Umbrella; we borrow it without compunction from any +confiding friend, though with the full intention of never returning +it--in fact, it has often been a matter of surprise to us that any +one ever does buy an Umbrella, for where can the old Umbrellas go to? +Although that question has often been asked concerning the fate of +pins, the fact as regards the former, looking at their size, is more +curious--and yet, for all that, we treat it with shameful neglect, as +if ashamed of a crime we have committed and anxious to conceal the +evidences of our guilt. + +Let us then strive to afford such reparation as in our power lies, +by giving a slight description of THE UMBRELLA AND ITS HISTORY, +making up for any deficiencies of our pen by the assistance of the +artist's pencil. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE UMBRELLA. + + +The Umbrella is derived from a stately family, that of the Parasol, +the legitimate use of the Umbrella, though sufficiently obvious, +being almost ignored in those countries whence it derives its being, +since it was as a protection against the scorching heat of the sun +that it was first used. The Parasol, then, or Umbrella--since for all +practical purposes the two are really identical--dates from the +earliest ages, some commentators on the Bible fancying they can +discover it in places where a shade protecting from the sun is +mentioned. This is not unlikely, but it is certain that the Parasol +has been in use from a very early period. + +Chinese history goes a very long way back, inasmuch as it places the +invention of these elegant machines many thousand years anterior to +the Mosaic date of the world's creation. Their antiquity among the +Hindoos is more satisfactorily proved by the following passage from +the dramatic poem of _S'akuntâla_, the date of which is supposed +to be the 6th century of the Christian era:-- + +("The cares of supporting the nation harass the sovereign, while he +is cheered with a view of the people's welfare, as a huge Umbrella, +of which a man bears the staff in his own hand, fatigues while it +shades him. The sovereign, like a branching tree, bears on his head +the scorching sunbeams, while the broad shade allays the fever of +those who seek shelter under him.") + +The origin of the Parasol is wrapped in considerable obscurity. Some +profound investigators have supposed that large leaves tied to the +branching extremities of a bough suggested the first idea of the +invention. Others assert that the idea was probably derived from the +tent, which remains in form unaltered to the present day. Dr. +Morrison, _however_, tells us that the tradition existing in +China is, that the _San_, which signifies a shade for sun and +rain, originated in standards and banners waving in the air. As this +is a case in which we may quote the line--"Who shall decide when +doctors disagree?"--we may with safety assume that all are in the +right, and that the Parasol owed its origin to all or any of the +above-mentioned fortuitous circumstances. + +In the Ninevite sculptures the Umbrella or Parasol appears +frequently. Layard gives a picture of a bas-relief representing a +king in his chariot, with an attendant holding an Umbrella over his +head. It has a curtain hanging down behind, but is otherwise exactly +like those in use at the present time, the stretchers and sliding +runner being plainly represented. To quote the words of that +indefatigable traveller:-- + +"The Umbrella or Parasol, the emblem of royalty so universally +accepted by eastern nations, was generally carried over the king in +time of peace, and sometimes even in time of war. In shape it +resembled, very closely, those in common use; but it is always open +in the sculptures. It was edged with tassels, and was usually +ornamented at the top by a flower or some other ornament. On the +later bas-reliefs, a long piece of embroidered linen or silk falling +from one side like a curtain, appears to screen the king completely +from the sun. The parasol was reserved exclusively for the monarch, +and is never represented as borne over any other person." + +In Egypt again, the Parasol is found in various shapes. In some +instances it is depicted as a _flabellum_, a fan of palm-leaves +or coloured feathers fixed on a long handle, resembling those now +carried behind the Pope in processions. Sir Gardner Wilkinson, in his +work on Egypt, has, an engraving of an Ethiopian princess travelling +through Upper Egypt in a chariot; a kind of Umbrella fastened to a +stout pole rises in the centre, bearing a close affinity to what are +now termed chaise Umbrellas. To judge from Wilkinson's account, the +Umbrella was generally used throughout Egypt, partly as a mark of +distinction, but more on account of its useful than its ornamental +qualities. + +The same author is rather doubtful whether, in the picture given by +him of a military chief in his chariot, the frame which an attendant +holds up behind the rider is a shield or a screen, but the latter is +the more probable supposition, as it has all the appearance of an +Umbrella without the usual handle. In some paintings on a temple +wall, an Umbrella is held over the figure of a god carried in +procession, and altogether we may, perhaps, consider it decided, +beyond dispute, that the Umbrella in its modern shape was used in +Egypt. [Footnote: To silence captious critics, who may find fault with +the designs of our artist, we may once for all remark that an idealised +conception of the figures only is given. The style of the ancient +draughtsmen was by no means so perfect that we, who live in a more +civilised age, should be entirely fettered by their conceptions, and +the records of ancient life are not nearly full enough to justify any +one who may Assert that the pictures in our pages are not as accurate +as those in the British Museum. Anyhow, what they ought to have been, +rather than what the ancient were, our artist has striven to +delineate.] + +In Persia the Parasol is repeatedly found in the carved work of +Persepolis, and Sir John Malcolm has an article on the subject in his +"History of Persia." In some sculptures--of a very Egyptian +character, by the way--the figure of a king appears attended by a +slave, who carries over his head an Umbrella, with stretchers and +runner complete. In other sculptures on the rock at Takht-i-Bostan, +supposed to be not less than twelve centuries old, a deer-hunt is +represented, at which a king looks on, seated on a horse, and having +an Umbrella borne over his head by an attendant. + +This combination of business and comfort forcibly reminds us of a +certain wet day in Carlsruhe, where we witnessed from the window of +the Hôtel d'Angleterre a stout, martial-looking national guardsman +marching to the exercising-ground with an Umbrella over his head, and +a maid-servant diligently tramping through the mud behind him, +bearing his musket. + +As in Assyria, so in most other Eastern countries, this use of the +Parasol carried with it a peculiar and honourable significance. The +tradition relating to its origin in China has been already alluded +to, and we can trace notices of its use a very long way back indeed. + +According to Dr. Morrison, Umbrellas and Parasols are referred to in +books printed about A.D. 300, but their use has been traced still +further back than this. A very ancient book of Chinese ceremonies, +called "Tcheou-Li, or The Rites of Tcheou," directs that upon the +imperial cars the dais should be placed. "The figure of this dais +contained in the Chinese edition of Tcheou-Li, and the particular +description of it given in the explanatory commentary of Lin-hi-ye, +both identify it with an Umbrella. The latter describes the dais to +be composed of 28 arcs, which are equivalent to the whalebone ribs of +the modern instrument, and the staff supporting the covering to +consist of two parts, the upper being a rod 3/18ths of a Chinese foot +in circumference, and the lower a tube 6/10ths in circumference, into +which the upper half is capable of sliding." + +In the second Tartar invasion of China the emperor's son was taken +prisoner by the Tartar chief, and made to carry his Umbrella when he +went out hunting. + +Starting from the royal significance attached to the Umbrella, came +a feeling of veneration for it, very different from the contempt with +which we are now-a-days too apt to regard it. It was represented by +many ancient nations as shading their gods. In the Hindoo mythology +Vishnu is said to have paid a visit to the infernal regions with his +Umbrella over his head. One would think that in few places could an +Umbrella have been less appropriate, but doubtless Vishnu knew what +he was about, and had his own reasons for carrying his _Parapluie_ +under his arm. Perhaps like Mrs. Gamp he could not be separated from +it. So much for the ancient history of our subject in the East. We may +now go on to countries about which we know a little more than of ancient +China and Assyria. + +In Greece, as Becker tells us in his "Charicles," the Parasol was an +indispensable adjunct to a lady of fashion. It had also its religious +signification. In the Scirophoria, the feast of Athene Sciras, a +white Parasol was borne by the priestesses of the goddess from the +Acropolis to the Phalerus. In the feasts of Dionysius (in that at +Alea in Arcadia, where he was exposed under an Umbrella, and +elsewhere) the Umbrella was used, and in an old has-relief the same +god is represented as descending ad _inferos_ with a small +Umbrella in his hand, like Vishnu before mentioned. + +There was also another festival in which they appeared, though +without any mystical signification. In the Panathenæa, the daughters +of the Metceci, or foreign residents, carried Parasols over the heads +of Athenian women as a mark of inferiority, + + "tas parthenons ton metoikon skiadaephorein en tais rompais + aenankazon." + --_OElian, V. H._, vi. 1. +[Footnote: "They compelled the maidens of the Metceci to act as +umbrella-bearers in the processions."] + +Its use seems to have been confined to women. In Pausanias there is +a description of a tomb near Pharæ, a Greek city. On the tomb was the +figure of a woman-- + + "themapaina de autae prosestaeke skiadeion pherousa." +--_Pausanias_, lib. vii., cap. 22, Section 6. +[Footnote: "And by her stood a female slave, bearing a parasol."] + +Aristophanes seems to mention it among the common articles of female +use-- + + "aemin men gar son eti kai nun tantion, o kanon, oi kalathiokoi, + to skiadeion." +--_Aristophanes, Thesmoph._, 821. +[Footnote: "For now our loom is safe, our weaving-beam, our baskets +and umbrella."] + +It occurs frequently on vases, and is in shape like that now used. +It could be put up and down. + + "ta d' ota g'an son, nae AL', exepetannuto osper skiadeion, kai + palin xunaegeto." +--_Arist. Eq._, 1347. +[Footnote: "But your ears, by Jove, are stretched out like a +parasol, and now again shut up."] + +Which the Scholiast explains, _ekteinetai de kai systelletai pros +ton katepeigonta kairon._ [Footnote: "Are opened and shut as need +requires."] For a man to carry one was considered a mark of +effeminacy, as appears from the following fragment of Anacreon:-- + + "_skiadiskaen elephantinaen phorei gunaixin autos._" + _Athenaeus_, lib. xii., cap. 46, Section 534. +[Footnote: "He carries an ivory parasol, as women do."] + +Plutarch makes Aristides speak of Xerxes as sitting under a canopy +or Umbrella looking at the sea-fight-- + + "_kathaeenos hupd skiadi chrysae._" + _Plut. Therm., c. 16_ (p. 120), +[Footnote: "Sitting under a golden canopy."] + +and of Cleopatra in like manner-- + + "_upo skiadi chrysopasto._" + _Plut. Anton., c. 26_ (p. 927). +[Footnote: "Under a gold-wrought canopy."] + +From Greece it is probable that the use of the Parasol passed to +Rome, where it seems to have been commonly used by women, while it +was the custom even for effeminate men to defend themselves from the +heat by means of the _Umbraculum_, formed of skin or leather, +and capable of being lowered at will. We find frequent reference to +the Umbrella in the Roman Classics, and it appears that it was, not +unlikely, a post of honour among maid-servants to bear it over their +mistresses. Allusions to it are tolerably frequent in the poets. +Virgil's "Munimen ad imbres" [Footnote: "A shelter for the shower."] +probably has nothing to do with Umbrellas, but more definite mention +of them is not wanting. Ovid speaks of Hercules carrying the Parasol +of Omphale:-- + + "Aurea pellebant rapidos umbracula soles, + Quæ tamen Herculeæ sustinuere manus." +--_Ov. Fast._, lib. ii., 1. 31 I. +[Footnote: "A golden umbrella warded off the keen sun, which even +the hands of Hercules have borne."] + +Martial speaks of a servant carrying the Parasol:-- + + "Umbellam lusca, Lygde feras Dominæ." +--_Mart._, lib. xi., ch. 73. +[Footnote: "Mayst thou, Lygde, be parasol-carrier for a publind +mistress."] + +Juvenal mentions an Umbrella as a present:-- + + "En cui tu viridem umbellam cui succina mittas" +--_Juv._, ix., 50. +[Footnote: "See to whom it is sent a green umbrella and amber +ornaments"] + +Ovid advises a lover to make himself agreeable +by holding his mistress's Parasol:-- + + "Ipse tene distenta suis umbracula virgis" +_Ov. Ars._ Am., ii., 209. +[Footnote: "Yourself hold up the umbrella spread out by its rods"] + +This shows that the Umbrella was of much the same construction as +ours. + +A very common use for it was in the theatre, whenever, from wind or +other cause, the _velarium_ or huge awning stretched over the +building (always open to the air) could not be put up:-- + + "Accipe quæ nimios vincant umbracula soles, + Sit licet, et ventus, te tua vela tegont." +--_Mart.,_ lib. xiv., Ep. 28. +[Footnote: "Take this, which may shield you from the sun's excessive +rays. So may your own sail shield you, even should the breeze blow."] + +By _tua vela_ is to be understood "your own Umbrella." And +elsewhere the same writer gives the advice:-- + + "Ingrediare viam coelo licet usque sereno + Ad subitas nunquam scortea desit aquas." +--Man'., lib. xiv. Ep. 130. +[Footnote: "Though with a bright sky you begin your journey, let +this cloak ever be at hand in case of unexpected showers."] + + +It will be noticed from the above extracts that the Umbrella does +not appear to have been used among the Romans as a defence from rain; +and this is curious enough, for we know that the theatres were +protected by the _velarium_ or awning, which was drawn across +the arena whenever a sudden shower came on; strange that this +self-evident application of the Umbrella should not have occurred to a +nation generally so ingenious in the invention of every possible +luxury. Possibly the expense bestowed in the decoration of the +_umbraculum_ was a reason for its not being applied to what we +cannot but regard as its legitimate use. + +After the founding of Constantinople, the custom of great people +carrying an Umbrella seems to have arisen, but in Rome it appears +only to have been used as a luxury, never as a mark of distinction, +Pliny speaks of Umbrellas made of palm-leaves, but from other sources +we may gather that the Romans--at all events in the days of the +empire--lavished as much splendour on their Umbrella as on all the +articles of their dress. Ovid (as above quoted) speaks of an Umbrella +inwrought with gold, and Claudian in the same way has:-- + + "Neu defensura calorem + Aurea submoveant rapidos umbracula soles." +--_Claud._, lib. viii., De. iv. cons. Honorii, 1. 340. +[Footnote: "Nor. to protect you from the heat, let the golden +umbrella ward off the keen sun's rays."] + +From this we may conclude that the carrying an Umbrella was in some +sort a mark of effeminacy. In another place carrying the Umbrella is +alluded to as one of the duties of a slave:-- + + "Jam non umbracula tollunt + Virginibus," etc. +[Footnote: "_Now_ they do not carry girls' parasols."] + +Gorius says that the Umbrella came to Rome from the Etruscans, and +certainly it appears not infrequently on Etruscan vases, as also on +later gems. One gem, figured by Pacudius, shows an Umbrella with a +bent handle, sloping backwards. Strabo describes a sort of screen or +Umbrella worn by Spanish women, but this is not like a modern +Umbrella. + +Very many curious facts are connected with the use of the Umbrella +throughout the East, where it was nearly everywhere one of the +insignia of royalty, or at least of high rank. + +M. de la Loubère, who was Envoy Extraordinary from the French King +to the King of Siam in 1687 and 1688, wrote an account entitled a +"New Historical Relation of the Kingdom of Siam," which was +translated in 1693 into English. According to his account the use of +the Umbrella was granted to some only of the subjects by the king. An +Umbrella with several circles, as if two or three umbrellas were +fastened on the same stick, was permitted to the king alone, the +nobles carried a single Umbrella with painted cloths hanging from it. +The Talapoins (who seem to have been a sort of Siamese monks) had +Umbrellas made of a palm-leaf cut and folded, so that the stem formed +a handle. The same writer describes the audience-chamber of the King +of Siam. In his quaint old French, he says:--"Pour tout meuble il n'y +a que trois para-sol, un devant la fenêtre, a neuf ronds, & deux à +sept ronds aux deux côtéz de la fenêtre. Le para-sol est en ce Pais-la, +ce que le Dais est en celui-ci." + +Tavernier, in his "Voyage to the East," says that on each side of +the Mogul's throne were two Umbrellas, and also describes the hall of +the King of Ava as decorated with an Umbrella. The Mahratta princes, +who reigned at Poonah and Sattara, had the title of Ch'hatra-pati, +"Lord of the Umbrella." Ch'hatra or cháta has been suggested as the +derivation of _satrapaes_ (_exatrapaes_ in Theopompus), and +it seems a probable derivation enough. The cháta of the Indian and +Burmese princes is large and heavy, and requires a special attendant, +who has a regular position in the royal household. In Ava it seems to +have been part of the king's title, that he was "King of the white +elephant, and Lord of the twenty-four Umbrellas." Persons of rank in +the Mahratta court, who were not permitted the right of carrying an +Umbrella, used a screen, a flat vertical disc called AA'-ab-gir, +carried by an attendant. Even now the Umbrella has not lost its +emblematic meaning. In 1855 the King of Burmah directed a letter to +the Marquis of Dalhousie in which he styles himself "His great, +glorious, and most excellent Majesty, who reigns over the kingdoms of +Thunaparanta, Tampadipa, and all the great Umbrella-wearing chiefs of +the Eastern countries," &c. + +Thus we see that the same signification which was attached to the +Umbrella by the ancient people of Nineveh, still remains connected +with it even in our own time. + +In the Great Exhibition of 1851 was the splendid Umbrella belonging +to his Highness the Maharajah of Najpoor. The ribs and stretchers, +sixteen in number, divided the Umbrella into as many segments, +covered with silk, exquisitely embroidered with gold and silver +ornaments. The upper part of the design was complete in each +department, but at the lower, it was formed into a graceful running +border, to which a fringe was attached. The handle was hollow and +formed of thick silver plates. + +In Bengal it appears that no distinction is attached to the +Umbrella, since the poorer classes there use a cháta or small +Umbrella, made of leaves of the _Licerata peltata_. These are of +conical form and have numerous ribs and stretchers. The higher class +in Assam use a similar Umbrella. + +In China the use of the Umbrella does not appear to have been +confined, as in India and Persia, to royalty; but it was always, as +it is now, a mark of high rank, though not exclusively so. There +seems to have been no particular rule about it, but it carried with +it some peculiar distinction; for, on one occasion at least, we hear +of twenty-four Umbrellas being carried before the Emperor when he +went out hunting. Here it is, what it appears to be in no other +Eastern country, a defence against rain rather than sun, and while +the richer people do not go out much while it is wet, the poorer +classes wear a dress that protects them from the weather. In the +rainy season, for instance, a Chinese boatman wears a coat of straw, +and a hat of straw and bamboo. Such a dress, of course, renders an +Umbrella superfluous, and it matters little to the wearer how hard +the rain may pelt. Nevertheless great numbers of Umbrellas are +exported from China to India, the Indian Archipelago, and even South +America. In the 1851 Exhibition two only were shown. Of them the +report says, "They present nothing remarkable beyond the great number +of ribs, which amount to forty-two. The ribs are formed of wood; and +instead of being embraced by the fork of the stretcher, as in the +case of European Umbrellas, they have a groove cut out in the middle +of their lengths, into which the stretcher is secured by a stud of +wood. The head of each rib fits into a notch formed in the ring of +wood, which is fastened on to the top of the stick, there being a +separate, notch for each rib. The slide is of wood, and has forty-two +notches, namely, one for each stretcher, which like the ribs, is +formed of wood. The covering of the Umbrellas exhibited is of oiled +paper coarsely painted." + +But the use of the Umbrella travelled westward, and with it the +custom of regarding it as a mark of dignity. + +Amongst the Arabs the Umbrella was a mark of distinction. Niebuhr, +who travelled in Southern Arabia, describes a procession of the Iman +of Sanah. In it the Iman and each of the princes of his numerous +family, caused a _madalla,_ or large Umbrella, to be carried by +his side; and it is a privilege which, in this country, is +appropriated to princes of the blood, just as the Sultan of +Constantinople permits none but his vizier to have his caique, or +gondola, covered behind, to keep him from the heat of the sun. The +same writer goes on to say that many independent chiefs of Yemen +carried _madallas_ as a mark of their independence. + +In Morocco, according to a passage quoted by a writer in the +_Penny Magazine_ from the Travels of Ali Bey, the emperor alone +and his family are allowed to use it. "The retinue of the Sultan was +composed of a troop of from fifteen to twenty men on horseback. About +a hundred steps behind them came the Sultan, who was mounted on a +mule with an officer bearing his Umbrella, who rode by his side also +on a mule. The Umbrella is a distinguishing sign of the sovereign of +Morocco. Nobody but himself, his sons, or his brothers dare to make +use of it." In Turkey the Umbrella is common. A vestige of the +reverence once attached to it remains in the custom of compelling +everybody who passes the palace where the Sultan is residing to lower +his Umbrella as a mark of respect. And--at all events some years +back, before the Crimean war had introduced so many Europeans to +Constantinople--any one neglecting to pay the required reverence, +stood in considerable danger of a lively reminder from the sentry on +duty. + +Before concluding this chapter, it may not be out of place to make a +few remarks as to the origin of the word Umbrella, as we have done +regarding the thing itself. The English name is borrowed from the +Italian _Ombrella_. The Latin term _Umbella_ is applied by +botanists to those blossoms which are clustered at the extremities of +several spokes, radiating from the common stem like the metallic +props of the Umbrella. The name, as is seen, does not give the +slightest idea of the use of the article designated, as is often the +case with words we practical folk employ; and we might well take a +lesson from our cousins German or French, who have invented distinct +names for the weapon used to ward off the rays of the sun, and that +employed against rain, namely,--Regenschirm, _parapluie;_ +Sonnenschirm, _parasol._ These are better than our names, even +though both the French words labour under the disadvantage of being +hybrids, half Greek and half Latin. + +Such, then, is the ancient history of the Umbrella, as far as our +research has enabled us to trace it, and, indeed, we are now not a +little surprised at the result of those labours which have enabled us +to discover so much. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE UMBRELLA IN ENGLAND. + + +As a canopy of state, Umbrellas were generally used in the south of +Europe; they are found in the ceremonies of the Byzantine Church; +they were borne over the Host in procession, and formed part of the +Pontifical regalia. + +A mediæval gem represents a bishop, attended by a cross-bearer, and +a servant who carries behind him an Umbrella. + +In the Basilican churches of Rome is suspended a large Umbrella, and +the cardinal who took his title from the church has the privilege of +having an Umbrella carried over his head on solemn processions. It is +not, altogether impossible that the cardinal's hat may be derived +from this Umbrella. The origin of this custom of hanging an Umbrella +in the Basilican churches is plain enough. The judge sitting in the +basilica would have it as part of his insignia of office. On the +judgment hall being turned into a church, the Umbrella remained, and +in fact occupied the place of the canopy over thrones and the like in +our own country. Beatiano, an Italian herald, says that "a vermilion +Umbrella in a field argent symbolises dominion." + +References crop up now and then throughout the middle age records, +to Umbrellas; but the extreme paucity of such allusions goes to show +that they were not in common use. In an old romance, "The Blonde of +Oxford," a jester makes fun of a nobleman for being out in the rain +without his cloak. "Were I a rich man," says he, "I would bear my +house about with me." By this very valiant joke he meant, as he +afterwards explained, that the nobleman should wear a cloak, not that +he ought not to forget his Umbrella So it is clear, we find, that our +forefathers depended on their cloaks, not on their Umbrellas, for +protection against storms. + +Careful research has enabled us to light on a solitary instance of +an ancient English Umbrella, for Wright, in his "Domestic Manners of +the English," gives a drawing from the Harleian MS., No. 603, which +represents an Anglo-Saxon gentleman walking out attended by his +servant, the servant carrying an Umbrella with a handle that slopes +backwards, so as to bring the Umbrella over the head of the person in +front. It probably, therefore, could not be shut up, but otherwise it +looks like an ordinary Umbrella, and the ribs are represented +distinctly. + +Whether this earliest Jonas Hanway (the reputed first importer of +the Umbrella, of whom more hereafter) was peculiarly sybaritic in his +notions, or whether, like the mammoth of Siberia, he is the one +remaining instance of a former "umbrelliferous" race, must, at least +for the present, remain undecided. The general use of the Parasol in +France and England was adopted, probably from China, about the middle +of the seventeenth century. At that period, pictorial representations +of it are frequently found, some of which exhibit the peculiar broad +and deep canopy belonging to the large Parasol of the Chinese +Government officials, borne by native attendants. + +John Evelyn, in his Diary for the 22nd June, 1664, mentions a +collection of rarities shown him by one Thompson, a Catholic priest, +sent by the Jesuits of Japan and China to France. Among the +curiosities were "fans like those our ladies use, but much larger, +and with long handles, strangely carved and filled with Chinese +characters," which is evidently a description of the Parasol. + +In the title-page of Evelyn's "Kalendarium Hortense," also published +in the same year, we find a black page represented, bearing a closed +Umbrella or Sunshade. It is again evident that the Parasol was more +an article of curiosity than use at this period, from the fact that +it is mentioned as such in the catalogue of the "_Museum +Tradescantium_, or Collection of Rarities, preserved at South +Lambeth, by London, by John Tradescant." + +In Coryat's "Crudities," a very rare and highly interesting work, +published in 1611, about a century and a half prior to the general +introduction of the Umbrella into England, we find the following +curious passage:-- + +After talking of fans he goes on to say, "And many of them doe carry +other fine things of a far greater price, that will cost at the least +a duckat, which they commonly call in the Italian tongue umbrellas, +that is, things which minister shadow veto them for shelter against +the scorching heate of the sunne. These are made of leather, +something answerable to the forme of a little cannopy, & hooped in +the inside with divers little wooden hoopes that extend the umbrella +in a pretty large cornpasse. They are used especially by horsemen, +who carry them in their hands when they ride, fastening the end of +the handle upon one of their thighs, and they impart so large a +shadow unto them, that it keepeth the heate of the sunne from the +upper parts of their bodies." + +Reference to the same custom, of riders in Italy using umbrellas, is +made in Florio's "Worlde of Wordes" (1598), where we find "Ombrella, +a fan, a canopie, also a festoon or cloth of State for a prince, also +a kind of round fan or shadowing that they use to ride with in sommer +in Italy, a little shade." + +In Cotgrave's "Dictionary of the French and English Tongues," the +French Ombrelle is translated, "An umbrello; a (fashion of) round and +broad fanne, wherewith the Indians (and from them our great ones) +preserve themselves from the heat of a scorching sunne; and hence any +little shadow, fanne, or thing, wherewith women hide their faces fro +the sunne." + +In Fynes Moryson's "Itinerary" (1617) we find a similar allusion to +the habit of carrying Umbrellas in hot countries "to auoide the +beames of the sunne." Their employment, says the author, is +dangerous, "because they gather the heate into a pyramidall point, +and thence cast it down perpendicularly upon the head, except they +know how to carry them for auoyding that danger." This is certainly a +fact not generally known to those who use Parasols too recklessly. + +"Poesis Rediviva," by John Collop, M.D. (1656), mentions Umbrellas. +Michael Drayton, writing about 1620, speaks of a pair of doves, which +are to watch over the person addressed in his verses:-- + + "Of doves I have a dainty pair, + Which, when you please to take the air, + About your head shall gently hover, + Your clear brow from the sun to cover; + And with their nimble wings shall fan you, + That neither cold nor heat shall tan you; + And, like umbrellas, with their feathers + Shall shield you in all sorts of weathers." + +Beaumont and Fletcher have an allusion to the umbrella (1640);-- + + "Now are you glad, now is your mind at ease, + Now you have got a shadow, an umbrella, + To keep the 'scorching world's opinion + From your fair credit." +--_Rule a Wife and Have a Wife_, Act iii, sc. I. + +Ben Jonson, too, once mentions it (date 1616), speaking of a mishap +which befel a lady at the Spanish Court:-- + + "And there she lay, flat spread as an umbrella." +--_The Devil is an Ass_, Act iv., SC. I. + +Of the fact that Umbrellas' were known and used in Italy long prior +to their introduction into France, we find a confirmation in old +Montaigne, who observes, _lib_. iii. _cap_. ix. :--"Les +Ombrelles, de quoy depuis les anciens Remains l'Italie se sert, +chargent plus le bras, qu'ils ne deschargent la teste." + +Kersey's Dictionary (1708) describes an Umbrella as a "screen +commonly used by women to keep off rain." + +The absence of almost all allusion to the Umbrella by the wits of +the seventeenth century, while the muff, fan, &c., receive so large a +share of attention, is a further proof that it was far from being +recognised as an article of convenient luxury at that day. The +clumsy shape, probably, prevented its being generally used. In one of +Dryden's plays we find the line:-- + + "I can carry your umbrella and fan, your Ladyship." + +Gay, addressing a gentleman, in his "Trivia, or the Art of Walking +the Streets of London" (1712), says:-- + + "Be thou for every season justly dress'd, + Nor brave the piercing frost with open breast: + And when the bursting clouds a deluge pour. + Let thy surtout defend the gaping shower." + +And again:-- + + "That garment best the winter's rage defends + Whose shapeless form in ample plaits depends; + By various names in various countries known, + Yet held in all the true surtout alone. + Be thine of kersey tine, though small the cost, + Then brave, unwet, the rain, unchilled, the frost." + +These passages lead us to the belief that the Umbrella was not used +by gentlemen for a long time after its merits had been recognised by +the fair sex. + +The following lines from the same author have often been quoted:-- + + "Good housewives all the winter's rage despise + Defended by the riding-hood's disguise: + Or underneath the umbrella's oily shed + Safe through the wet on clinking pattens tread. + Let Persian dames th' umbrellas rich display, + To guard their beauties from the sunny ray, + Or sweating slaves support the shady load, + When Eastern monarchs show their state abroad, + Britain in winter only knows its aid + To guard from chilly showers the walking maid." +--_Trivia_, B. 1. + + +Dean Swift, also, in the _Tatler_, No. 228, in describing a +City shower, thus alludes to the common use of the Umbrella by +women:-- + + "Now in contiguous drops the floods come down, + Threatening with deluge the devoted town: + To shops in crowds the draggled females fly, + Pretend to cheapen goods, but nothing buy: + The Templar spruce, while every spout's abroach, + Stays till 'tis fair, yet seems to call a coach: + The tucked-up sempstress walks with hasty strides, + While streams run down her oiled umbrella's sides." + +About this time the custom obtained of keeping an Umbrella in the +halls of great houses, to be used in passing from the door to the +carriage. At coffee-houses, too, the same was done. + +That the use of the Umbrella was considered far too effeminate for +man, is seen from the following advertisement from the _Female +Tatler_ for December 12th, 1709:--"The young gentleman borrowing +the Umbrella belonging to Wills' Coffee-house, in Cornhill, of the +mistress, is hereby advertised, that to be dry from head to foot on +the like occasion, he shall be welcome to the maid's pattens." + +Defoe's description of Robinson Crusoe's Umbrella is, of course, +familiar to all our readers. He makes his hero say that he had seen +Umbrellas used in Brazil, where they were found very useful in the +great heats that were there, and that he constructed his own +instrument in imitation of them, "I covered it with skins," he adds, +"the hair outwards, so that it cast off the rain like a pent-house, +and kept off the sun so effectually, that I could walk out in the +hottest of the weather with greater advantage than I could before in +the coolest." We may also add, that from this description the +original heavy Umbrellas obtained the name of "Robinson," which they +retained for many years, both here and in France. + +In the "Memoir of Ambrose Barnes," published for the Surtees +Society, under date 1718, appears an entry, "Umbrella for the +Church's use, 25s." A similar entry is also found in the +churchwarden's accounts for the parochial chapelry of Burnley, +Surrey, for A.D. 1760, "Paid for Umbrella 2_l_. 10_s_. +6_d_." Both these Umbrellas were in all likelihood intended for +the use of clergymen at funerals in the churchyard, as was that +alluded to in Hone's _Year-Book_ (1826) which was kept for the +same purpose in a country church. This last had "an awning of green +oiled canvas, such as common Umbrellas were made of, forty years ago." + +Bailey's _Encyclopædia_ (1736) has "Umbrello, a sort of wooden +frame, covered with cloth, put over a window to keep out the sun; +also a screen carried over the head to defend from sun or rain." Also +"Parasol, a little umbrella to keep off sun." + +There is at Woburn Abbey a picture, painted about 1730, of the +Duchess of Bedford, with a black servant behind her, who holds an +Umbrella over her, and a sketch of the same period attached to a song +called "The Generous Repulse," shows a lady seated on a flowery bank +holding a Parasol with a long handle over her head, while she gently +checks the ardour of her swain, and consoles him by the following +touching strain:-- + + "Thy vain pursuit, fond youth, give o'er, + What more, alas! can Flavia do? + Thy worth I own, thy fate deplore, + All are not happy that are true." + + * * * * * + + "But if revenge can ease thy pain, + I'll soothe the ills I cannot cure, + Tell thee I drag a hopeless chain, + And all that I inflict endure!" + +Rather cold consolation, but an unexceptionable and moral sentiment. + +The idea, therefore, that the Duchess of Rutland devised Parasols in +1826 for the first time is obviously incorrect, whatever her grace +may have done towards rendering them fashionable. Captain Cook, in +one of his voyages, saw some of the natives of the South Pacific +Islands, with Umbrellas made of palm-leaves. + +We have thus seen that the use both of the Umbrella and Parasol was +not unknown in England during the earlier half of the eighteenth +century. That it was not very common, is evident from the fact that +General (then Lieut.-Colonel) Wolfe, writing from Paris in 1752, +speaks of the people there using Umbrellas for the sun and rain, and +wonders that a similar practice does not obtain in England. + +Just about the same time they do seem to have come into general use, +and that pretty rapidly, as people found their value, and got over +the shyness natural to a first introduction. Jonas Hanway, the +founder of the Magdalen Hospital, has the credit of being the first +man who had the courage to carry one habitually in London, since it +is recorded in the life of that venerable philanthropist, the friend +of chimney-sweeps and sworn foe to tea, that he was the first man who +ventured to dare public reproach and ridicule by carrying an +Umbrella. He probably felt the benefit of one during his travels in +Persia, where they were in constant use as a protection against the +sun, and it is also said that he was in ill health when he first made +use of it. It was more than likely, however, that Jonas Hanway's +neatness in dress and delicate complexion led him, on his return from +abroad, to appreciate a luxury hitherto only confined to the ladies. +Mr. Pugh, who wrote his life, gives the following description of his +personal appearance, which may be regarded as a gem in its way:-- + +"In his dress, as far as was consistent with his ideas of health and +ease, he accommodated himself to the prevailing fashion. As it was +frequently necessary for him to appear in polite circles on +unexpected occasions, he usually wore dress clothes with a large +French bag. His hat, ornamented with a gold button, was of a size and +fashion to be worn as well under the arm as on the head. When it +rained, a small _parapluie_ defended his face and wig." + +As Hanway died in 1786, and he is said to have carried an Umbrella +for thirty years, the date of its first use by him may be set down at +about 1750. For some time Umbrellas were objects of derision, +especially from the hackney coachmen, who saw in their use an +invasion on the vested rights of the fraternity; just as hackney +coaches had once been looked upon by the watermen, who thought people +should travel by river, not by road. John Macdonald, perhaps the only +footman (always excepting the great Mr. James Yellowplush) who ever +wrote a memoir of himself, relates that in 1770, he used to be +greeted with the shout, "Frenchman, Frenchman! why don't you call a +coach?" whenever he went out with his "fine silk umbrella, newly +brought from Spain." Records of the Umbrella's first appearance in +other English works have also been preserved. In Glasgow (according to +the narrative in Cleland's "Statistical Account of Glasgow ") "the +late Mr. John Jamieson, surgeon, returning from Paris, brought an +Umbrella with him, which was the first seen in this city. The doctor, +who was a man of great humour, took pleasure in relating to me how he +was stared at with his Umbrella." In Edinburgh Dr. Spens is said to +have been the first to carry one. In Bristol a red Leghorn Umbrella +appeared about 1780, according to a writer in _Notes and +Queries_, and created there no small sensation. The trade between +Bristol and Leghorn may account for this. Some five-and-thirty years +ago it is said that an old lady was living in Taunton who recollected +when there were only two Umbrellas in the town, one of which belonged +to the clergyman. When he went to church, he used to hang the +Umbrella up in the porch, to the edification and delight of his +parishioners. + +Horace Walpole tells how Dr. Shebbeare (who was prosecuted for +seditious writings in 1758) "stood in the pillory, having a footman +holding an umbrella to keep off the rain." For permitting this +indulgence to a malefactor, Beardman, the under-sheriff, was punished. + +It is difficult to conceive how the Umbrella could come into general +use, owing to the state in which the streets of London were up to a +comparatively recent period. The same amusing author to whom we owe +the description of Jonas Hanway, gives the following account of them +at the time his work was published:-- + +"It is not easy to convey to a person who has not seen the streets +of London before they were uniformly paved, a tolerable idea of their +inconvenience and uncleanliness; the signs extending on both sides of +the way into the streets, at unequal distances from the houses, that +they might not intercept each other, greatly obstructed the view; +and, what is of more consequence in a crowded city, prevented the +free circulation of the air. The footpaths were universally +incommoded--even when they were so narrow as only to admit one person +passing at a time--by a row of posts set on edge next the carriage-way. +He whose urgent business would not permit of his keeping pace +with the gentleman of leisure before him, turned out between the two +posts before the door of some large house into the carriage-way. When +he perceived danger moving toward him, he wished to return within the +protection of the row of posts; but there was commonly a rail +continued from the top of one post to that of another, sometimes for +several houses together, in which case he was obliged to run back to +the first inlet, or climb over, or creep under the railing, in +attempting which, he might be fortunate if he escaped with no other +injury than what proceeded from dirt; if, intimidated by the danger +he escaped, he afterwards kept within the boundary of the posts and +railing, he was obliged to put aside the travellers before him, whose +haste was less urgent than his, and, these resisting, made his +journey truly a warfare. + +"The French are reproached, even to a proverb, for the neglect of the +convenience of foot-passengers in their metropolis, by not providing +a separate path for them; but, great as is the exposure to dirt in Paris, +for want of a footpath, which their many _porte-cochères_ +seem likely for ever to prevent, in the more important article of +danger, the City of London was, at this period, at least on a par. +How comfortless must be the sensations of an unfortunate female, +stopped in the street on a windy day under a large old sign loaded with +lead and iron in full swing over, her head? and perhaps a torrent of +rain and dirty water falling near from a projecting spout, ornamented +with the mouth and teeth of a dragon. These dangers and distresses +are now at an end; and we may think of them as a sailor does of a +storm, which has subsided, but the advantages derived from the +present uniformity and cleanliness can be known only in their +full extent by comparing them with the former inconveniences." + +When to this description is added the fact that the hoop petticoat +and another article of dress monopolised the whalebone, it will be +seen how much had to be got over before an Umbrella could be carried +out by the citizens of London, as a walking-staff, with satisfactory +assurance of protection in case of a shower. The earliest English +Umbrellas, we must also remember, were made of oiled silk, very +clumsy and difficult to open when wet; the stick and furniture were +heavy and inconvenient, and the article very expensive. + +At the end of the century allusions to the Umbrella are not +infrequent. Cowper, in his "Task" (1780), twice mentions it, but +seems to mean a Parasol:-- + + "We bear our shades about us; self-deprived + Of other screen, the thin umbrella spread, + And range an Indian waste without a tree." +--B. i. + +And again:-- + + "Expect her soon, with footboy at her heels, + No longer blushing for her awkward load, + Her train and her umbrella all her care." +--B. iv, + +The Rev. G. C. Renouard, writing in 1850 to Notes and Queries, says:-- + +"In the hall of my father's house, at Stamford, in Lincolnshire, +there was, when I was a child, the wreck of a large green silk +umbrella, apparently of Chinese manufacture, brought by my father +from Scotland, somewhere between 1770 and 1780, and, as I have often +heard, the first umbrella seen at Stamford. I well remember, also, an +amusing description given by the late Mr. Warry, so many years consul +at Smyrna, of the astonishment and envy of his mother's neighbours, +at Sawbridgeworth, in Hants, where his father had a country house, +when he ran home and came back with an umbrella, which he had just +brought from Leghorn, to shelter them from a pelting shower which +detained them in the church porch, after the service, on one summer +Sunday. From Mr. Warry's age at the time he mentioned this, and other +circumstances in his history, I conjecture that it occurred not later +than 1775 or 1776. As Sawbridgeworth is so near London, it is evident +that even then umbrellas were at that time almost unknown." + +Since this date, however, the Umbrella has come into general use, +and in consequence numerous improvements have been effected in it. +The transition to the present portable form is due, partly to the +substitution of silk and gingham for the heavy and troublesome oiled +silk, which admitted of the ribs and frames being made much lighter, +and also to the many ingenious mechanical improvements in the +framework, chiefly by French and English manufacturers, many of which +were patented, and to which we purpose presently to allude. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE STORY OF THE PARACHUTE. + + +In giving an account of the Umbrella, it would not be right to omit +mentioning another, and far from legitimate use in which it has been +employed by notoriety-hunting _artistes_--we allude to the +Parachute; and a short narration of its origin and progress may not +be uninteresting to our readers. + +The Parachute commonly in use is nothing more or less than a huge +Umbrella, presenting a surface of sufficient dimension to experience +from the air a resistance equal to the weight of descent, in moving +through the fluid at a velocity not exceeding that of the shock which +a person can sustain without danger or injury. It is made of silk or +cotton. To the outer edge cords are fastened, of about the same +length as the diameter of the machine (24 to 28 feet). A centre cord +is attached to the apex and meets the cords from the margin, acting, +in fact, as the stick of the Umbrella. The machine is thus kept +expanded during descent. The car is fastened to the centre cord, and +the whole attached to the balloon in such a manner that it may be +readily and quickly detached, either by cutting a string, or pulling +a trigger. Consequently, in the East, where the Umbrella has been +from the earliest ages in familiar use, it appears to have been +occasionally employed by vaulters, to enable them to jump safely from +great heights. Father Loubère, in his curious account of Siam, +relates, that a person famous in that country for his dexterity, used +to divert the King and Court by the extraordinary leaps he took, +having two Umbrellas with long slender handles, fastened to his +girdle. In 1783 M. le Normand demonstrated the utility of the +Parachute; by lifting himself down from the windows of a high house +at Lyons. His idea was that it might be made a sort of fire-escape. + +Blanchard was the first person who constructed a Parachute to act as +a safety-guard to the aeronaut in case of any accident. During an +excursion he made from Lille, in 1785, when he traversed, without +stopping, a distance of 300 miles, he let down a Parachute with a +basket fastened to it containing a dog. This he suffered to fall from +a great height, and it reached the ground in safety. + +The first Parachute descent from a balloon, however, was made by +Jacques Garnerin, on the 22nd of October, 1797, in the Park of +Monceau. De la Lande, the celebrated astronomer, has furnished a +detailed and highly interesting account of this foolish experiment. + +Garnerin resided in London during the short peace of 1802, and made +two ascents with his balloon, in the second of which he let himself +fall, at an amazing height, with a Parachute of 23 feet diameter. He +started from an enclosure near North Audley Street, and descended +after having been seven or eight minutes in the air. After cutting +himself away, he floated over Marylebone and Somers Town, and fell in +a field near St. Pancras Old Church. The oscillation was so great, +that he was thrown out of the Parachute, and narrowly escaped death. +He seemed a good deal frightened, and said that the peril was too +great for endurance. One of the stays of the machine having given +way, his danger was increased. The next person who tried this +dangerous experiment was his niece, Eliza Garnerin, who descended +several times in safety. Her Parachute had a large orifice in the +top, in order to check the oscillation, and this appears to have been +tolerably successful. + +The next experimentalist was a person of the name of Cocking, who +ended his days in a manner unworthy his talents, through a series of +lamentable mistakes. His Parachute was constructed on the opposite +principle, of a wedge-like form, and was intended to cleave through +the air, instead of offering a resistance to it. It has not yet been +proved that the principle was wrong, but the defect lay in the +weakness of the materials employed in the formation of the Parachute. + +On the 29th July, 1837, Mr. Cocking ascended in his new Parachute, +attached to the Great Nassau Balloon. Mr. Cocking liberated himself +from the balloon, the Parachute collapsed and fell, at a frightful +rate, into a field near Lea, where poor Cocking was found with an +awful wound on his right temple. He never spoke, but died almost +immediately afterwards. It is much to be regretted that the descent +was ever allowed to take place. The aeronauts themselves were for +some time in a state of imminent peril. Immediately the Parachute was +cut away, the balloon ascended with frightful velocity, owing to the +ascending power it necessarily gained by being freed from a weight of +nearly 500 pounds; and had it not been that its occupants applied +their mouths to the air-bags previously provided, they must have been +suffocated by the escaping gas. When the re-action took place, the +balloon had lost its buoyancy, and fell, rather than descended, to +the ground. + +Mr. Hampton was the next person who attempted the experiment, and +made three descents in a Parachute in succession without injury. +Undeterred by the awful fate of his predecessor, this gentleman +determined on making a Parachute descent which should prove the +correctness of the theory, and the Montpellier Gardens at Cheltenham +were selected as the scene of the exploit. Owing to the censure which +was attached to the proprietors of the Vauxhall Gardens, for +permitting docking's ascent, the owners of the Gardens at Cheltenham +would not suffer the experiment to be made, and Mr. Hampton was +obliged to have recourse to stratagem. As he was permitted to display +his Parachute in the manner he intended to use it, the idea suddenly +flashed across his mind that, he could carry out his long-nursed +wishes. He suddenly cut the rope which kept him down, and went off, +to the astonishment of the spectators: the last cheering sound that +reached him being--"He will be killed to a dead certainty!" + +After attaining an altitude of nearly two miles, Mr. Hampton +proceeded to cut the rope that held him attached to the balloon. He +paused for a second or two, as he remembered that it would soon be +life or death with him, but at length drew his knife across the rope. +The first feelings he experienced were both unpleasant and alarming; +his eyes and the top of his head appeared to be forced upwards, but +this passed off in a few seconds, and his feelings subsequently +became pleasant, rather than disagreeable. + +So steady and slow was the descent that the Parachute appeared to be +stationary. Mr. Hampton remembered that a bag of ballast was fastened +beneath the car, he stooped over and upset the sand, he also noted by +his watch the time he occupied in descending. The earth seemed coming +up to him rapidly; the Parachute indicated its approach to _terra, +firma_ by a slight oscillation, and he presently struck the ground +in the centre of a field, where he was first welcomed by a sheep, +which stared at this visitor from the clouds in utter amazement. Mr. +Hampton repeated the experiment twice in London, though on both +occasions with considerable danger to himself, the first time falling +on a tree in Kensington Gardens, the second on a house, which threw +him out of the basket. + +After this experiment there was a lull in the Parachute folly until +some twenty years ago, when Madame Poitevin startled the Metropolis +from its propriety by her perilous escapes both in life and limb. +Although considerable ingenuity was displayed in the plan of +expanding the Parachute by the sudden discharge of gas from the +balloon; still the very fact of a woman being exposed to such danger +by her husband, will, we trust, hereafter prevent Englishmen from +countenancing such an exhibition by their presence. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +UMBRELLA STORIES. + + +Who could for a moment suppose that so important an article as the +Umbrella would be without its lighter as well as its more serious +history? Umbrellas are still, we regret to say, regarded rather in a +comic than a serious light; so, if any of the following anecdotes +seem to treat of Umbrellas in too mocking or frivolous a vein, it is +the fault of the bad taste of the British public, not ours, who have +merely compiled. However, we may commence with a very neat little +French riddle. + +"Quel est l'objet que l'on recherche le plus quand on s'en dégoûte?" + +A mysterious inquiry, and all sorts of horrible but needful +abominations occur to the mind in answer. But the answer is not so +bad after all. Change the spelling without altering the +pronunciation, and you get _quand on sent des gouties,_ and, lo! +you have it at once--le Parapluie--the faithful friend whose presence +we most desire when we wish least for the necessity of it; the burden +of our fine days, the shelter of our wet ones. + +Or again, would you like a verse or two on the same subject? + + "Pour étrenne, on veut à l'envie + Du frais et du neuf et du beau, + Je dis que c'est un parapluie, + Que l'on doit donner en _cas d'eau._" + +The author of these two _jeux de mots_ unhappily we do not +know, or we would thank him for them. The English poet of the +Umbrella has yet to be born. + +The next story relates to the early history of the Umbrella in +Scotland, and may probably be referred to the time when good Dr. +Jamieson was walking about Glasgow with his new-fangled sheltering +apparatus, which he had brought with him on his return from Paris. As +it was the first ever seen in that city, it attracted universal +attention, and a vast amount of impudence from the "horrid boys." The +following anecdote, then, which we borrow from a Scotch paper, most +probably refers to the same period, or thereabouts :-- + +"When Umbrellas were first marched into Blairgowrie, they were +sported only by the minister and the laird, and were looked upon by +the common class of people as a perfect phenomenon. One day Daniel M-- +went to Colonel McPherson, at Blairgowrie House; when about to +return, a shower came on, and the colonel politely offered him the +loan of an Umbrella, which he gladly accepted, and Daniel, with his +head two or three inches higher than usual, marched off. Not long +after he had left, however, the colonel again saw Daniel posting +towards him with all possible haste, still o'ertopped by his cotton +canopy (silk Umbrellas were out of the question in those days), which +he held out, saluting him with--' Hae, hae, Kornil, this'll never do! +there's nae a door in all my house that'll tak it in; my very +barn-door winna' tak it in.'" + +In the veracious "History of Sandford and Merton," if our memory +serves us aright, there is an instance quoted of remarkable presence +of mind relating to an Umbrella and its owner. The members of a +comfortable pic-nic party were cosily assembled in some part of +India, when an unbidden and most unwelcome guest made his appearance, +in the shape of a huge Bengal tiger. Most persons would, naturally, +have sought safety in flight, and not stayed to hob-and-nob with this +denizen of the jungle; not so, however, thought a lady of the party, +who, inspired by her innate courage, or the fear of losing her dinner +--perhaps by both combined seized her Umbrella, and opened it suddenly +in the face of the tiger as he stood wistfully gazing upon brown +curry and foaming Allsop. The astonished brute turned tail and fled, +and the lady saved her dinner. Not many years ago the Umbrella was +employed in an equally curious manner, though not so successfully as +in the former instance. In the campaign of 1793, General +Bournonville, who was sent with four commissioners by the National +Convention to the camp of the Prince of Saxe-Coburg, was detained as +a prisoner with his companions, and confined in the fortress of +Olmütz. In this situation he made a desperate attempt to regain his +liberty. Having procured an Umbrella, he leaped with it from a window +forty feet above the ground, but being a very heavy man, it did not +prove sufficient to let him down in safety. He struck against an +opposite wall, fell into a ditch and broke his leg, and, worse than +all, was carried back to his prison. + +One of the most remarkable instances on record, in which the +Umbrella was the agency of a man's life being saved, occurred, +according to his own statement, to our old friend Colonel Longbow. Of +course our kind readers know him as well as we do, for not to do so +"would be to argue yourselves unknown." At any Continental watering +place, Longbow, or one of his family--for it is a large one--can be +met with. He is, indeed, a wonderful man--on intimate terms with all +the crowned heads of Europe, and proves his intimacy by always +speaking of them by their Christian names. + +He is at once the "guide, philosopher, and friend" of every stranger +who happens to form his acquaintance--a very easy task, be it +remarked--and, though so great a man, is not above dining at your +expense, and charming you by the terms of easy familiarity with which +he imbibes your champagne or your porter, for all is alike to him, so +long as he has not to pay for it: he can take any given quantity. + +Well, the other day we happened to meet the Colonel, and he speedily +contrived to discover that we were on the point of going to dine, and +so invited him to share our humble meal, as a graceful way of making +a virtue of necessity, for had we not done so, he would have had no +hesitation in inviting himself. During dinner, conversation, of +course, turned upon one all-engrossing subject, the war, and the +Colonel proceeded to give us his experiences of former wars, +including his adventures in the Crimea, and the miraculous escape he +owed to an Umbrella. + +It appeared that he had gone out with his friend, Lord Levant, on a +yachting excursion in the Mediterranean, and they eventually found +their way into the Black Sea. Stress of weather compelled them to put +into the little port of Yalta, on the north coast, where they went on +shore. The Colonel, on the Lucretian principle of "Suave mari magno," +&c., proceeded the next morning to the verge of the precipice to +observe the magnificent prospect of a sea running mountains high. As +it was raining at the time, he put up a huge gingham Umbrella he +happened to find in the hotel. Suddenly, however, a furious blast of +wind drove across the cliff, and lifted the Colonel bodily in the +air. Away he flew far out to sea, the Umbrella acting as a Parachute +to let him fall easy. + +Now to most men this would only have been a choice of evils, a +progress from Scylla to Charybdis: not so to our Colonel. On coming +up to the surface after his first dip, he found that swimming would +not save him; so he quietly emptied out the water contained in the +Umbrella, seated himself upon it, and sailed triumphantly into the +harbour, like Arion on his dolphin. + +Our face, on hearing this anecdote, must have betrayed the +scepticism we felt, for the Colonel proceeded to a corner of the +room, and produced the identical Umbrella. Of course, such a proof +was irresistible, and we were compelled to do penance for our +unbelief by lending the gallant Colonel a sovereign, for "the Bank +was closed." We thought the anecdote cheap at the price. + +There is a story told of one of our City bankers, that he owed an +excellent wife to the interposition of an Umbrella. It appears that +on returning home one day in a heavy shower of rain, he found a young +lady standing in his doorway. Politeness induced him to invite her to +take shelter under his roof, and eventually to offer her the loan of +an Umbrella. Of course, the gallant banker called for it the next +day, and the acquaintance thus accidentally made, soon ripened into +mutual affection. This species of Umbrella courtship has been +immortalised in more than one song, none of which, however, are quite +worth quoting. + +A worthy little Frenchman of our acquaintance was ordered by his +medical man to take a course of shower-baths. Such things being +unknown to him in his fatherland, he of course found the first essay +remarkably unpleasant, but with native ingenuity he soon discovered a +remedy. On our asking him how he liked the hydropathic system, he +replied, "Oh, mais c'est charmant, mon ami; I always take my +parapluie wid me into de bath." + +Douglas Jerrold, in his well-known "Punch's Letters to his Son," +gives an anecdote of which we can only say, si non _è vero, è ben +trovato_. It at all events illustrates the frightful morality that +exists with regard to borrowing Umbrellas. + +"Hopkins once lent Simpson, his next-door neighbour, an Umbrella. You +will judge of the intellect of Hopkins, not so much from the act of +lending an Umbrella, but from his insane endeavour to get it back again. + +"It poured in torrents, Hopkins had an urgent call. Hopkins knocked +at Simpson's door. 'I want my Umbrella.' Now Simpson had also a call +in a directly opposite way to Hopkins; and with the borrowed Umbrella +in his hand, was advancing to the threshold. 'I tell you,' roared +Hopkins, 'I want my Umbrella.' 'Can't have it,' said Simpson. 'Why, I +want to go to the East-end; it rains in torrents; what'--screamed +Hopkins--'what am I to do for an Umbrella?' + +"'Do!' answered Simpson, darting from the door, 'do as I did--BORROW +ONE.'" + +The Umbrella has been most successfully introduced on the stage. +What, for instance, would Paul Pry have been without that valuable +implement for which to inquire with his stereotyped "Hope I don't +intrude?" Or his French successor, the nobleman in "The Grand +Duchess," who inquires, in plaintive accents, for "Le parapluie de ma +mere," just after Schneider has been declaiming about her father's +sabre? Merely to bring a big Umbrella on the stage is an acknowledged +way of raising a laugh. Mrs. Gamp again, with her receptacle for +unconsidered trifles, cannot be realised apart from her Umbrella. And +then, those hired waiters who come into our houses with an Umbrella +of graceful proportions, and emerge towards the small hours with a +most plethoric parapluie, which looks as if it had been regaling on +the good things as well as its master! It used to appear to us a +comical sight, years back, in the old city of Paris, to see the +National Guard going to exercise with a musket in one hand and an +Umbrella in the other, and we dare say it was a very sensible plan +after all, and might have been imitated with success before +Sebastopol. A stout steel Umbrella would offer no contemptible +shelter to a rifleman. This circumstance, too, may throw a light on a +hitherto obscure passage in "Macbeth," where Birnam Wood moves to +Dunsinane--for it is just possible that the soldiers cut down the +branches to serve them as a protection from the rain. We throw out +this as a hint to any enterprising manager. + +In Germany, on the other hand, a soldier is--or used to be--strictly +forbidden from carrying an open Umbrella, unless he is accompanied by +a civilian or a lady. A worthy corporal, on one occasion, was sent to +fetch an Umbrella his Major's lady had left at a friend's house, and +at the same time took her lapdog for an airing. On the road home a +violent shower came on, and, to avoid committing a breach of the +regulations, under his arm he tucked the dog, which was contained, +according to his ideas, in both the above categories, put up the +Umbrella, and marched very comfortably to barracks. + +With one more characteristic anecdote we will close our budget. One +evening, while Rowland Hill was preaching, a shower came on, and his +chapel was speedily filled with devotees. With that peculiar +sarcastic intonation which none could assume so successfully as +himself, he quietly remarked, "My brethren, I have often heard that +religion can be made a _cloak_, but this is the first occasion +on which I ever knew it could be converted into an _Umbrella_." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE REGENERATION OF THE UMBRELLA. + + +Our task is now nearly completed: we have described the history of +the Parasol, and its near relation the Umbrella, as far as our space +permits us to treat of this interesting subject. + +All that remains for us to do is to give an account of the principal +improvements effected in the Umbrella during later years. + +It is certain that France was some way ahead of us with regard to +the use of Umbrellas, for they were comparatively common there before +they were at all known _l'autre côté 'de la Manche_. This was +but natural, considering that they were, as we have seen, used in +Italy, and consequently the folk of southern France would not be +likely to be far behind their neighbours in availing themselves of +the protection from the sun, whether or no they had sufficient genius +to shelter themselves from the rain by the aid of an Umbrella. + +In France Parasols and Umbrellas used to be amongst the articles +made by the corporate body of Boursiers. M. Natalis Rondot quotes +from the _Journal du Citoyen_, of 1754, the price of Parasols. +It ranged from 7s. 3_d_. to 17s. 6_d_., according to the +construction, and to whether they were made to fold up or not. In +Diderot and D'Alembert's Encyclopédic, is figured an Umbrella, which +is described as follows, in the excellent introduction to the +"Abridgements of Specifications relating to Umbrellas," lately +published by the Commissioners of Patents:-- + +"The ribs bear about the same proportion (as in modern umbrellas) as +regards length, to the stick, but the stretchers are much shorter, +being less than a quarter of the length of the ribs. They are double, +each rib having a pair joined, one on each side of the rib, at the +same point. The ribs are joined at the top by being strung on a ring, +as in old English umbrellas, but the runner is made of precisely +similar construction to the modern runner, and seems almost identical +with that described in Caney's Specification (patent No. 5761, A.D. +1829). Ribs and sticks are jointed, the latter in two places. There +is no catch to hold the umbrella closed, but this upper catch is the +ordinary bent wire one. The upper joint of the stick is made with a +screw, the lower of a hinge with a slide, as in a modern parasol. The +slide has a catch, resembling the ordinary runner catch. At the top +is a ring for carrying or suspending the umbrella." + +Such was the old French Umbrella, and that used in England was of +much the same sort. The old French folding Parasol is thus described +in the "Report of the Jurors for the Exhibition of 1851:"-- + +"The folding parasol was constructed with jointed ribs so as to fold +back, and was likewise self-opening. The rod was a metallic tube, and +contained a spiral spring which acted upon and pressed upwards an +inner rod. To this inner rod were jointed the stretchers, which in +this construction were placed above the ribs instead of below, as in +the ordinary form, beside which they were much shorter, so as to +admit of their being concealed by the covering. By the elasticity of +the spiral spring contained in the hollow stem, the inner rod was +pressed outwards and lifted the stretchers, and by their means raised +the ribs also, so that in its ordinary or natural state the umbrella +was always open, and would continue so unless constrained to remain +closed by a catch. On releasing the catch it consequently sprang +open. In order that it might be easily closed, four cords were +attached to four of the ribs and passed to the handle; and a loop +embracing these cords passed down by the side of the handle, and +enabled the possessor to close his umbrella without difficulty. From +the authority already quoted, we learn that whalebone was employed +for the ribs, and that their number varied with their length; for +example, when 24 inches long the number employed was 8; when 25 +inches, 9; and when 26, 28 and 30 inches, 10 were used. Calico was +employed to cover umbrellas, and silk to cover parasols. The use of +parasols was common in Lyons at that period (1786); they were carried +by men as well as women; they were rose-coloured, white, and of +other colours, and were so light as to be carried without +inconvenience." + +The "Encyclopedic Méthodique" gives some interesting particulars as +to the manufacture of Parasols and Umbrellas at the end of the +eighteenth century. From it, it appears that the ribs were +occasionally made of metal. "On étend cette couverture portative par +le moyen de quelques brins de baleine, ou de fils de cuivre ou de fer +qui la soutiennent." This is interesting, as showing that metal ribs +are not a very modern invention. + +The following statement of the comparative weights and sizes of +Umbrellas was prepared by M. Farge for the French Exposition of +1849:-- + + Umbrellas Length of ribs. Weight, + of inches. Lb. oz. + + 1645 31 1/2 3 8 1/2 + 1740 29 1 13 + 1780 28 3/4 1 8 1/2 + 1840 27 1/2 0 13 1/4 + 1849 27 0 8 3/4 + + +From 1808 to 1848, eighty patents were taken out in France for +inventions, three of importation, and forty-one for improvements in +Umbrellas. + +In England, after their first introduction, the manufacture of +Umbrellas increased rapidly. The first patent is dated 1780, and was +taken up by Mark Bull for "A machine for supporting an Umbrella, +which may be fixt to any saddle or wheel'd carriage, being far more +compleat than any hitherto invented." The invention is described in +the following words :-- + +"There is a ball and socket of steel or iron, or any other metal or +composition. The ball moves in any direction, and is fixed by one, +two, three, or more points, which are forced against it either by a +screw or spring, The ball is made with small cavities to receive the +points which press against it. In order to secure it the more +effectually in the ball, there is a hole which receives the one end +of the staff of the umbrella, which is secured in it either by a +spring or screw, or a sliding or a spring bolt. The umbrella may be +taken away from the staff; and either put under the seat of the +saddle, or fix'd before the rider. The staff may be made whole or in +two pieces, the one to slide within the other, in order to raise or +lower the umbrella, and be fix'd either by a spring or screw. They +are fix'd in the head of the saddle and cover'd by a top, without +making the saddle appear in the least different to what they are now +made." + +The next is of the date of 1786, and was taken out by John Beale for +"An umbrella with joints, flat springs, and stops, worm springs and +bolts, slip bolts, screws, slip rivet, and cross stop and square +slips, and the manner in which the same are performed is particularly +described in the several plans, figures, or drawings annexed." The +drawings referred to are not easily intelligible, from the briefness +of the explanation attached, but show an Umbrella with a jointed +handle, opening by a spring. + +In the next year (1787) we find an advertisement put out by Thomas +Folgham, of Cheapside, stating that he has "a great assortment of his +much-approved pocket and portable umbrellas, which for lightness, +elegance, and strength, far exceed anything of the kind ever imported +or manufactured in this kingdom. All kinds of common umbrellas +prepared in a particular way, that will never stick together." + +A description of the Umbrellas which, in all probability, Mr. Thomas +Folgham made, we extract from the source mentioned above. + +"The early Umbrellas were made of oiled silk, or glazed cotton +cloth, and were very cumbrous and inconvenient. To judge from a +picture of Hanway, and from the other old pictures mentioned above, +they were small, with a very long handle. They were not used for +walking, and consequently instead of the ferrule had a ring at the +top, by which they were hung up. The stretchers were of cane, and the +ribs of cane or whalebone. Instead of the present top-notch and +runner, both ribs and stretchers were simply strung on a ring of +wire, and the inequality of the friction and the weakness of such an +arrangement cause the Umbrella to be always getting out of order. The +ribs and stretchers were jointed together very roughly, by a pin +passing through the rib, on which the forked end of the stretcher +hinged. The first improvement in this respect was by Caney (patent +No. 5761, A.D. 1829), who invented a top-notch and runner in which +each rib or stretcher has a separate hinge. The top-notch was made of +a notched wheel or disc, into each slot of which an axis fixed on the +top of the stretchers worked. The runner was made on a similar +principle. At the point of the rib where the stretcher joined it, +Caney fixed a middle bit, consisting of a small fork, in which the +end of the stretcher was hinged. This construction was much stronger, +and the forked ends of the stretchers were thus prevented from +wearing out the cover, as before. With modifications, more or less +important, this construction is the same as that now in general use." + +The principal object of all those who have devoted their attention +to the task has been to reduce the weight of the Umbrella without, at +the same time, diminishing its strength. In its primitive form the +ribs were formed of whalebone, which possessed very grave +inconveniences; in the first place, it was cumbersome to a degree, +lost its elasticity after any continuous exposure to rain, and if +dried without very great care, was extremely liable to crack. In the +next place, the price was very high, and, consequently, the masses +remained unrepresented in the Umbrella market. The most important +improvement dates from the introduction of steel instead of +whalebone, which took place about thirty years ago, for although a +few Umbrellas were occasionally made and used of this material prior +to that time, it had not come into general use. Amongst other +improvements have been the following:-- + +The tips are now made in one piece with the rib, instead of being +made of bone, japanned metal or other material, and then fastened on. +The long six-inch runners have given way to the short one two inches +long, and the ferrules are also much shorter than formerly. To keep +the Umbrella closed the old-fashioned plan was a ring fastened by a +string. A tape and cotton superseded this, and in its turn gave way +to the elastic now in use. Sliding caps to fit over the ends of the +ribs and hold the Umbrella closed, have been invented, but until +quite recently do not seem to have come much into use. + +Simple as the construction of an Umbrella may appear, there have +been altogether upwards of three hundred patents taken out for +various improvements in their manufacture, in addition to numerous +alterations which have been registered according to the Act, Vic. 6 +& 7, Cap. 65. With very few exceptions the inventors have not been +repaid the cost of their patents. This has arisen, partly from the +delicacy of their mechanical construction, unfitted for the rough +usage to which Umbrellas are exposed; but chiefly in consequence of +the increased cost of manufacture not being compensated by the +improvements effected. + +The introduction of steel vice whalebone, was opposed by the trade +and the public in general, like many other great improvements; and it +required several years in order to convince purchasers that steel +would not only last much longer than whalebone, but would not be so +liable to break, provided it was properly made and tempered. The +misfortune was that, at the outset, a great number of inferior +articles were introduced, and consequently the public naturally lost +confidence, and it demanded great exertions on the part of the more +respectable members of the trade, ere the merits of the new invention +were recognised. At present, it is generally allowed that a good +steel-rib Umbrella can be as easily procured as a carefully tempered +razor or sword. + +A Swiss watch-spring maker, named Sanguinede, had discovered a +secret of tempering steel which gave it great strength, and he had +made some, very light umbrellas, but they were immensely dear. On his +death the secret died with him, and Mr. Fox set to work to discover a +method which should combine strength and lightness. + +Mr. Fox's Paragon frame, simple in its construction, half the weight +of whalebone, but equally strong, is admitted to be the greatest +improvement yet introduced in the manufacture of an Umbrella. The +ribs are made in the form of a trough with flat sides, by which shape +the greatest amount of strength is obtained. The same principle, as +is well known, has been successfully applied in the construction of +the Great Tubular Bridge over the Menai Straits, from which Mr. Fox +took the idea. + +The weight of the Umbrella having been thus reduced, the next +question was, whether some amendment could not be made in the +covering material. For a long time, Umbrellas were only covered with +two materials--silk and cotton, and the want of some substance, which +would resist the greater friction and consequent wear than an +Umbrella invariably undergoes, formed a subject of anxious attention +to the writer of this little book. Several materials were tried +without success, until a fabric called Alpaca, made of the wool of +the Chilian and Peruvian sheep, presented itself, and for this a +patent was immediately taken out. Of its merits it becomes us not to +speak, but we may be permitted to quote the following remarks from +the Grand Jury Report of the Great Exhibition of 1851:-- + +"SANGSTER, WILLIAM AND JOHN. Prize Medal for Silk Parasols and +Umbrellas of excellent quality, 'and for their application of Alpaca +cloth to the coverings of Parasols and Umbrellas." + +To the above flattering testimonial the following remarks were +appended:-- + +"Alpaca cloth is made of undyed wool of the Peruvian and Chili +sheep, and it is therefore is not liable to fade, nor is it acted +upon by salt water; hence Alpaca Parasols and Umbrellas are much used +at watering-places. + +"The demand for the Paragon Umbrella is so great, that the patentee +is able to supply them at a price not much exceeding the ordinary +sorts. The frames are guaranteed for two years, but in consequence of +the superior quality of the article, the number found to require +repair is much less than the average of other kinds. In the course of +the two years succeeding their introduction, upwards of 50,000 +Paragon Umbrellas mere sold. + +"Nor was the progress of the Alpaca Umbrella less cheering. Though +the material is in some respects inferior to silk, it has been found +to wear so much longer, and to cost so much less, that its use is now +becoming general among that numerous class with whom economy and an +Umbrella are equally indispensable. The sale of Alpaca Umbrellas, in +the year 1854, amounted to upwards of 45,000." + +Since this time W. & J. S. have sold, under their patent, Umbrellas +to the number of nearly four millions. + +These facts we will leave to our readers to draw their own inference +from; but the very kind reception which the Alpaca Umbrellas have +hitherto received, justifies us in asserting, that no material has +yet been brought forward which has so thoroughly fulfilled the +required conditions. The weight of the Umbrella has also been +diminished, and, last not least, the price has decreased in a +corresponding ratio. This latter fact is of the very greatest +importance, when we remember the immense quantity of Parasols and +Umbrellas manufactured during the year in London, and estimated at +the enormous value of 500,000 Pounds. In addition, a very great +number are made in Manchester and Birmingham. + +To those who wish to keep their Umbrellas safe and sound, we may +commend the following extract from Cassell's _Household Guide_:-- + +"Umbrellas are articles which generally suffer more from careless +treatment than from legitimate wear and tear; an Umbrella, when +properly treated, will last twice as long as one that is not so used. +When wet, an Umbrella should neither be distended to dry, which will +strain the ribs and covering, and prevent its ever afterwards folding +up neatly, nor at once rolled and tied up, which would tend to rust +the frame and rot the textile fabric; neither should it, if of silk, +be carelessly thrust into an Umbrella-stand, nor allowed to rest +against a wall, which would probably discolour, and certainly crease +the silk injuriously. It should be shut, but not tied up, and hung +from the handle, with the point downwards, till it is nearly, but not +quite dry. It should then be neatly and carefully rolled up and tied. +In walking with an Umbrella, the hands should be confined to the +handle, and not allowed to grasp the silk; otherwise that portion +which is held will become greased and discoloured, and the material +will be frayed out round the tips, which are points where there is +always much stress, and where if will always have a tendency to give +way. When not in use, the Umbrella should be protected from dust and +injury of any kind by its silk or oilcloth case. When dirty, alpaca +umbrellas are best cleaned with a clothes-brush; but brushing is +useless for those of silk. Ordinary dirt may be removed from a silk +umbrella by means of a clean sponge and cold water, or if the soil +should be so tenacious that this will not remove it, a piece of linen +rag, dipped in spirits of wine or unsweetened gin, will generally +effect the desired end." + +Having thus given our readers all the information on the subject in +our power; even down to the last quoted paragraph, which may teach +them how to preserve their Umbrellas, we may wish them a hearty +farewell, hoping they may--long live to use these promoters of +comfort and of health, and that they may always be as well shielded +by fate from the metaphorical tempests of life, as they are from its +physical storms by a good modern Umbrella. + + +FINIS + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Umbrellas and their History, by William Sangster + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK UMBRELLAS AND THEIR HISTORY *** + +This file should be named mbrll10.txt or mbrll10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, mbrll11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, mbrll10a.txt + +Avinash Kothare, Steve Schulze, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. +This file was produced from images generously made available by the CWRU +Preservation Department Digital Library + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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