Show LANTERNS AND UMBRELLAS I How and Why They Arc So Generally Used In China Chinese lanterns are made of paper silk horn crystal and many other materials I ma-terials Those made of silk are usually richly embroidered with figures of animals ani-mals birds or flowers thoso of horn are prettilydecoratod paintings Some of tho most ornamental and expensive lanterns are mounted on beautifully I carved frames of wood and ivory If a Chinese loaves his homo after night without taking with him a Ian tern such as is assigned to the use of the class to which ho belopgs he is liable lia-ble to arrest by tho police As soon as it is dark every city seems ablazo with lanterns They light up tho homes of the rich and poor they are attached to the angles of the pagoda they are seen at every port and on every river In fact they make their appearance appear-ance everywhere and to call China the land of lanterns is by no means a misnomer Umbrellas too are of much impor ttancein China because there tho umbrella um-brella is a markof rank Two large red silk umbrellas signal the approach of the governor general of a province A red silk umbrlla with three ruffles on it is the kind assigned to the four highest ranks of mandarin Tho nobility of lower rank are entitled to an umbrella of red silk but may have only two ruf tIcs The two highest ranks of gentlemen commoners aro entitled to a red state iumbrella surmounted by a knob of tin the third and fourth ranks have the knob of wood instead of tin but it is al wayspaiuted red An umbrella of blue cloth with two ruffles and surmounted by a red painted wooden knob distinguishes distin-guishes the fifth zankD V F in Now York Advertiser |