THE UMBRELLA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20005, 23 November 1927, Page 2

THE UMBRELLA

ANCIENT AND MODERN. Though not introduced into England till the reign of George 111., umbrellas are very ancient. They were used as a part of the pomp of the kings of Nineveh and Egypt. Later they were usad by the ladies of Greece and Rome. The first to use an umbrella in England was a man named Jonas Hanway. He attracted much attention. Little boys shouted after him, and older people passed remarks which were not always complimentary; nevertheless he went on carrying his umbrella, finding it a shade from the heat and a shelter from the snow and rain. Good; Jonas Hanway, a kind-hearted gentleman, was a friend of poor children, and an inaugurator and supporter of many good causes for the benefit of his fellows. With their covers of oiled cloth and ribs of cane, umbrellas must have been very clumsy things (says a contributor to the Newcastle Weekly Chronicle). Later whalebone was used for the ribs. Some had them covered with feathers, thinking, no doubt, that the rain would; iud off them like water from the back of a duck. Improvements followetd. however. In 1848 a certain maker

gut the idea of using alpaca for covers, and in 1852 the paragon ribs were invented by Fox. Thus our modern umbrellas became possible.