Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-10-24

Not the Only Bird Under Contribution. |
Magnitude IF the Industry-Amerfca's |
Annual Production of live" Goose
Feathers-No Good Substitute.
The ostrich Is now, as it ever has been
where known, prime favorte 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 are known as the Cane
of Good Hope, that are most used in Amer
lea. There is the vulture plume or bustard
ostrich feather, also; but being greatly in.
ferior in beauty, 1t deceives only those who
have not seen and examined the genuine arti-
Gle. The ostrich of California is said to be
inferior to the South African bird, and being
subject TO fatal attacks o? diseases of the
liver, which have reduced its numbers it has
not as yet to any great extent entered the
market. The number of African feathers
used Is enormous, one firm in this city en-
ploying LOCO girls in their manufacture, and
there are several other bouses engaged ex-
clusively in this industry. The larger num-
Der are used on hats and bonnets worn by
the ladies, and Yet no inconsiderable number
crown the 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 p npons which s,irmount
the caps of the military
| FEATHERS OF ALL KINDS
| Yet the ostrich is not the only bird under
contribution. Although trade in other plu
mage has been greatly abridged because of
the 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
hummlng bird to the majestic eagle. There
are the long, slender tail flarnents of the
uru OF paradise, the bright feathers of the
reu lois, OF the ptarinigan, peacock, tro-
gan, paroquet, argus, pheasant, white vul-
| lure, Owl, heron, gull and pigeon The
! groupings of these feathers into a single hat
aoornment, such as is seen occasionally.
would set naturalist wild with rage, it being
no uncommon thing to see such q combina-
tlon as the head and neck of a tanager, the
| wings OF a gull and the tail feathers of a pea
| COCK and heron. So, too, the coloring OF ma
lures own IS lost in the multiple dyes of the
chemist
Nor do the interest and importance of the
feather end here, its utility being fully equal
TO It's beauty Daily, or nightly rather, does
1t minister to mans comfort, and it is the
object upon which he lays his head when the
vital spark Is leaving its clayey tenament.
VI late years there have been many substi-
tutes offered for the feather bed, but it roy
ally holds its own in popular demand, despite
the wire wove, horsehair, wooden and the
numerous vegetable mattresses that are made.
Mans ingenuity finds no substitute for feath-
ers in pillows and holsters, so that with the
demand for their use in beds for the thouands
who will have no other, and for the head
rests named, the trade in these, as manufac-
turer declares, is constantly on the increase
Some idea of the magnitude of this industry
may be had when it is stated that two manu-
facturers in Chicago sell nearly three millions
| of pounds annually
| Most of the feathers used in this wav. saw
from 6O to 10 per cent, are plucked from live
| geese of the gray and white varieties They
come mainly from Kentucky Tennessee and
| points farther south. and from portions of
| Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Feathers
| plucked from dead geese have no value. and
n
| dustry is very large indeed, there being in
dividual farmers who own as many as 10000
birds The pluckiug process might be hui
name but for the avarlce of the growers
| who insist on picking the feathers and
down from four TO SIX times a year, often be-
fore they are ripe" All feathers received
by the manufacturers contain q number
with the lower parts OF the quills filed with
blood, g sign that their withdrawal entailed
suffering upon the birds Still, it is not
taken much TO heart, for it does not abridge
life, there being famous old geese which have
| undergone this ordeal for a full score Of
| years, and that yet can pasture as lively as
those that have lived but two seasons. The
average of goose life, however, is scarcely
more than from eight to ten years
YIELD OF EACH BIRD.
The quantity Of feathers yielded in a wear
varies somewhat. Some have given as much
as two pounds the average is fully pound
! to each bird. Nashville and Louisville are
/ the chief headquarters for goose feathers,
which are shipped there to commission mer-
| chants and sold by them to manufacturers
| here and all over the country They arrive
| in somewhat bad shape, but of late their con-
| dition has been greatly improved When re-
ceived at the factories they are steamed and
deodorized and the unripe separated from the
! ripe feathers.
| Besides the goose, the domestic chicken,
turkey and duck furnish material for beds.
bolster and pillow. These, differing from the
goose, come invariably from dead birds,
which are picked in dry state. Illinois,
Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin supply the
Chicago factories in great part. These
feathers are much inferior to those of the
goose, and are sold largely to boarding. houses
on the frontier and to those whose circum-
stances will not permit investment in the
more desirable 1t is just possible, as a Chi
cage dealer said, that some boarding house
keepers nearer home buy the inferior goods.
Besides being subject to the same treatment
as the goose feathers, they are crushed" to
add to their elasticity
The total OF trade in these feathers can
scarcely be estimated. but it is very large
and growing The older manufacturers
show constant increase in business, while
new ones are coming in from time to time
At the south and among the Germans the
feather bed is preferred before any other.
Many of the latter sleep under as well as
upon one, the upper one. however, being less
heavy. Down, which is very fine, is not
used for beds Whether of the goose or of
elder, it is imported 1t has much greater
power to retain heat than the feathers and
hence is used mainly in comforts for the bed.
Chicago Herald.