Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1889-05-23

raises the wing and. drawing it toward
him over the body of the bird. he sc.
lects the deathers which he considers
marketable and, grasping them one By
one firmly in his hand, gives them q
good hard pull and out they come.
First the great white plumes, then the
smaller whites. and then the larger
blacks. It must be a somewhat pain
full operation for the bird, as the
feathers have a tight hold. and the
wing bleeds more Or less at most points
from which several feathers adjoining
one another have been drawn. Every
| now and then a renewed struggle on
the part of the ostrich, and an effort
| not always unsuccessful, to shake off
the sack which is over his head. bears
| witness to his not relishing the situa-
ton. /,
As fast as the feathers are pulled,
| and this is done very quickly, they are
handed over the fence to a man stand
ing close by with box. Then the
ladies have their chance. The amount
of discussion which is required before
the on-lookers can decide which of the
feathers. is most worthy to be chosen
to remind them of the occasion is sur
prising. First, nothing less than one
of the great white plumes at the end
of the wing is good enough. and as
these are selling to-day at from one
dollar to two dollars they are cheap
enough. But when looked at in the
hand it is found surprising fact!-that
the feathers do not grow curled and
washed. and ready to be worn on hats,
and presently a smaller feather OF
white and gray prettily blended is
espied falling into the box. These
vary in price from twenty-five to fifty
cents, or in the case of very fine ones
reach one dollar; but just as the pur-
chase is on the point of completion,
and the fair buyers hand is searching
among the small coins in lengthy
purse for one of just the right dimen-
sions, she becomes aware that her next
neighbor has secured quite pretty
little feather for ten cents; Greatly
quite good enough to keep as me-
mento." And so the struggle ends and
economy is triumphant.
Meanwhile the two wings have been
plucl1ed and the tail, which produces
feathers shorter than the best wing
plumes but much wider-such as are
used for the best tips. Then the sack
is removed, and the board which in
closes the party having been swung
back, the bird is set loose, a queer,
monster, shorn OF
his glory, but probably in day or
two much more comfortable--in hot
at any rate-for being freed
from the burden of his great. heavy
plumes. Care has to be taken again,
as the sack is removed. that he does
not reward his tormentors with kick,
which, if we'll delivered. would easily
break a bone, but his inability to kick
any except straight in front of him
makes it no very difficult matter.
Then the chase is renewed. and the
royal cOnsOrt is. in her turn, humiliat-
ed by having her proud head enveloped
in the sack. and so the game goes on
till all the birds which are ready for
plucking have been dealt with.
1t is very hard work on a hot day, as
not only have great agility and consid-
cradle courage and perseverance to be
displayed in catching the birds. but
even holding them in the corner while
the plucking is going on involves an
almost continuous struggle, more or
less severe. The operation takes per-
haps twenty minutes for each bird
after it has been caught. and in this
time some POO to $50 feathers of vari-
Gus sizes are pulled. Each bird is
plucked twice year, the plumes re-
quiring growth of about seven months
to reach perfection. The feathers, if
not retailed on the premises or in Los
stores. are sold by weight. A
short time ago they went as low as $50
pound. but they are now going up,
the wearing of ostrich feathers in hats
having again become fashionable. A
full-grown bird will give rather more
than pound of feathers between his
two plucks. but as they are voracious
feeders there is not much profit to be
made out of keeping them when
feathers are fetching low prices. They
are fed mainly on alfalfa, supplement-
ed by corn and aim Ost any vegetable
food that comes handy.-Los Angeles
Letter in San Francisco Chronicle