The Dickinson press., 1888-12-01
THE FEATHER TRADE.
THE OSTRICH, OF COURSE, is THE
PRIME FAvORlTE.

WV
Not the Only Bird Under Contribution.
Magnitude Of tho Industry-America's
Annual Production of Live" Goose
Tcathcrs-No Good Substitute.
The ostrich is now, as it ever has been
where known. prime ~favorite. The best of
these come from Magadore, those next best
from Egypt and Barbary; but the South
African are not much inferior in quality,
and it is these. what arc known as the Cape J
of Good Hope, that are most used in Amer
lea. There is the vulturc plume or bustard
ostrich feather, also; but being greatly i'll.
ferior in beauty, it dcccivcs only those who
have not seen and examined the genuine arti-
Gle. The ostrich of California is said to DO
inferior to the South African bird, and being
subject to fatal attacks of diseases of the
liver, which have reduced its numbers, it has
not rs yet to any great extent entered tho
market. The number of African feathers
used is enormous, one firm in this city EN-
ploving 1000 girls in their manufacture, and
there are several other houses engaged ex.
ciusively in this industry. The larger mum
her are used on hats and bonnets worn by
the ladies, and yet no inconsiderable number
of the larger and more expensive feathers
crown tho cooked hats worn by members Of
secret societies. The narrower and lighter
feathers near to and on the legs of the great
bird are made into pompons which surmount
the caps of the military.
FEATHERS OF ALL IND
Yet the ostrich is not tho only bird under
contribution. Although trade in other plu-
mage has been greatly abridged because of
tho many voices and pens directed against
the slaughter Of the innocent, yet useful song
and other birds for the qualification of wo-
mans vanity only, yet the house already re-
ferred to shows feathers from, it would seem,
nearly every bird that flies, from the tiny
humming bird to the majestic eagle. There
arc tho long, slender tail flaments of thu
bird of paradise, tho bright feathers Of tho
red ibis, of the ptarmigan, peacock, tro'
gan, paroquet, argus, pheasant, white vul-
tire, owl, heron, gull and pigeon. Tho
groupings of these feathers into a single hat
alornment, such as is seen occasionally,
would set a naturalist wild with rage, it being
no uncommon thing to see such a combina-
ton as the head and neck of n tanager, tld
wings of q gull and the tail feathers Of u pea
cock and heron. So, too, the coloring of ma
turcs own is lost in tho multiple dyes of the
chemist.
Nor do the interest and Importance of til.
feather end here, its utility being fully equal
10 its beauty. Daily, or nightly rather, doa
it minister to mans comfort, and it is the
object upon which he lays his head when the
vital spark is leaving its clayey teuament.
OF late years there have been many substi-
,utes offered for tho feather bed, but it roy
ally holds its own in popular demand, despite
the Wire wove, horsehair, WOODEN and tho
numerous vegetable mattresses that are made.
Mans ingenuity finds 10 substitute for fcath-
crs i'll pillows and holsters, so that with the
demand for their use in beds for the thouand
who will have no other, and for tho head
rests named, the trade in these. as a manufac.
,urer declares, is constantly OH the increase.
Some idea of tho magnitude of this industry
may be had when it is stated that W. manu-
facturers in Chicago sell nearly three millions
of p unds annually.
Most of the feathers used in this way, say
from 60 to 70 per cent, are pluckca from live
geese of the gray and white varieties. They
com mainly from Kentucky. Tennessee ant
points farther south, and from portions %
Ohio, Indiana. Illinois and Missouri. Feathers
pluckcd from dead geese ave no value, ant
itlc uOU pulCuuScO. III oOlllc lOCStlll'co luc u
lustry is very large indeed, there being in
lividual farmers who own as many as 1000
'.irds. Tho plucking process might he hui
..ianc but for the avarice of the growers
who insist on picking tho feathers an,
lore they are "ripc." All feathers receive,
by the manufacturers contain n numbe
with the lower parts of the quilts filled wit
Il,,J ., c;r, 41ot t1,ni,. ,v;fL1,,,y,l ,,,tni1,
suffering upon the birds. Still it is nc
taken much to heart, for it does not abridg
life, there being famous old geese which hav
undergone this ordeal for Il full score {
wears, and that yet can pasture as lively /,
those that have lived but two seasons. tt
average of goose life, however, is scarcel
more than from eight to ten years.
! YIELD OF EACH BIRD.
, The quantity of feathers yielded in q yes
, varies somewhat. Some have given as mue
, as two pounds; the average is fully a pour
+ to each bird. Nashville and Louisville u
I the chief headquarters for goose feather
which nrc shipped there to commission me
chants and sold by them to manufacture
0 hero and all over the country. They arri'
I in somewhat bad shape, but of late their CO
4 dition has been greatly improved. When /
GplNeu III lut ldClOElcS UueS uI0 SIetiueu Ill
n deolorizcd and the unripe separated from t
ripe feathers.
Besides the goose, the domestic chicke
1T turkey and duck furnish material for bee
S. holster and pillow. These, differing from I
10 goose, come invariably from dead bir,
st which are picked in u dry state. Illino
- Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin supply t
Chicago factories i'll great part. TIL
feathers are much inferior to those of t
is goose, and are sold largely to boarding. hou
on the frontier and to those whose circu
stances will not permit investment in
:. more desirable. 1t is just possible, as a c
. cago dealer said, that some boarding no,
y keepers nearer home buy the inferior goo
~ Besides being subject to the same treatm'
~, ~ as tho goose feathers, they arc ''crushed'
~ add to their elasticity.
- Tho total of trade in these feathers {
=, scarcely be estimated, but it is very la
~ and growing. Tho older manufactur
- show constant increase in business, wi
- new ones arc coming in from time to til
- At tho south and among tho Germans
w feather bed is preferred before any otl
" Many of the latter sleep under Us well
IN upon one, the upper one, however, being
II. ~ heavy. Down, which is very fine, is
>, used for beds. Whether of the goose o.
~. cider, it is imported. 1t has much gree
~ ~ power to retain heat than the feathers,
- - hence is used mainly in comforts for the
-. Chicago Herald.