Excerpt from Umbrellas and Their History We can happily estimate the value of such a friend as the Umbrella, the silent companion of our walks abroad, a companion inco'mparably superior to those slimy water-proof abominations so urgently recom mended to us; for, at least, the Umbrella cannot be accused of injuring the health as they have been, as it appears, with very good reasons. In fact, so long as the climate of Yankeedom 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. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.