Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1890-10-26
BIRDS ON WOMAN'S HAT
Relic of Barbarism-Our American
Women Resemble Barbaric Chiefs.
What Would be a Bfrdlass Esrtbs-A Keen
and Strong Arraignment of
Feminine Practice.
copyrighted, 1890. by the Author. J

any sensltlveness TO associations can endure tC
decorate herself with the dead bodies of bird!
Is problem am unable to solve. Yet 1 have
seen 1t done by gentle women, loving mothers
10 whom believe a cruel act is impossible.
1t Is imperative, think that women shall
know why they should not thus adorn them
selves.
My own feeling is OF absolute repulsion. /
could no more wear bird than any other dead
BODY. The mere sight of one brings before me
ne terror and distress OF the little sufferer bird
| hearts oereaved, homes made desolate, infants
! iett to perish; and worse--if worse can be-the
! human monster whose hands are red with limo
! to depict.
Any article of dress with disagreeable or pain
| Iul associations is abhorrent to me. The hear t.
| rendlng pictures inseparable from sealskin
makes its use intoerable to me. l could as soon
wrap myself in living horrors
shall be called sentimental, and if senitive-
ness 10 theSe things merits that name, why,
| snail have to plead guilty.
| But there are other reasons, not sentimental,
that should positively answer the question.
! should women wear birds on their hats?
FIRST, the 8sthetic- Consider how greatly the
| beauty and delight of nature depends upon these
| living ana moving creatures. Think of the
Flowers unvisitel. mornings unsung,
oea-ranges bare OF the wings tRat o. erswung.'
Conceive of the meadow without its bobolinks,
the dawn without its robin chorus the twilight
without the hymn of the thrush Fancy the
wood silent, empty of bird life; the shrubbery
deserted by yellow bird and song sparrow
Picture the desolation Of glorious June it'll no
voice to express it, bird to set it to music
II there we're no result more unpleasant than it's
emptiness, that were enough indeed to make
one hesitate. A birCless summer can hardly hs
imagined.
Then. again, wearing the skins of bird and
beast Is relic of barbarism, a survival from the
Times when our savage ancestors were forced to
use them for warmth and decoration. The
nearer to savagery the people, the greater I
neneve, their use of feathers and furs If it is
true that wealthy American woman wears a
chiefs of certain wild African tribes, whose
principal glory is cloak OF the same.
ms robbery of our little brothers ~ whom
we are pleased to call the Flower orders - is
rendered entirely unnecessary in our compare
tivey enlightened day by he BEAUTIFUL products
ges ing fortunes and death to be attired more
gorgeousy than Solomon in all his glory if
mat Is an important o ject in life.
For persons unmoved by aesthetic considera-
tons, who yet are not wIliully ignorant or ut
terly selfish, there is moral side to the ques-
lon. HOW can thoughtful woman, feeling
some responsibility in the training of her chill
dren or some desire to leave the world if not
Delter.wnlch should be her sim-at least not
worse Tor her living in it. how she reco ncile
her conscience to the constant object lessons in
cruelty wnicn the wearing of murdered birds |
holds up before her children? How dare she !
tuus endorse ana tacitly approve the cruelty and |
barbarity which she annot but know are an in. !
dlspensable part of this Infamous trade? Is she
not also morally responsible for the cultiyatinn |
OF hardness of heart and brutality in those who
are engaged in it?
She may, say-is is the only excuse and
Always READY TO her lips-that the birds she
bought were already killed she couldn't nrao
vent IT. 1t wouldn' add to their sufferiugs if she
u seq them; II she didn t somebody else would.
pu thIS Is tne weakest OF arguments for as |
she ought to know, every woman who bnvs n |
bird this year ensures the death OF another next
bility for that murder
moreover, how does all this agree with the les
20 o bus ana mercy she is trying to i'm
mo theirs and earnest sunday school teachers
reconcile Ihelr coun enance of this cruel trada
WIN the gentle TEACHINGS of Jesus Christ which
'hey labor TO instill into the CROWN and LET
care? ~ "'uei 'ner
Thev may, indeed, shut their ewes IN facts
inu naTGen their hearts against arguments Int
ne cniid goes not. What his teacher is and |
ynat she does has far greater weight with him
nan .N wnat she says He can draw conclusions,
siu ulouRn ne NAV say nothing, they influence
us whole life. This is no fancy of mine he
ieVe me- ihe life stories of man that have been |
'iven to the world full OF proofs of the trntb
" nv statement. "
While we are on the subject Of morals. there's
nnothe point TO he spoken of. What right have
we TO take these lives? Long usage and the ser- ,
nsh doctrine which man has made in his oyv,
all the living inhabitants OF the eartb
ere re t thsatea iGr ms sole use.have accustomed
$ 10 THINK we have right to kill them for food
hitting aside this question. which neyertbeIess
capable OF argument, and which has whole
atoms in onpo -ition to our yiaw will asL
hat authority have men, save their own NV
erous wills, for taking lives for pleasure: either
,lve' with perty thus obtain-d?
This will seem to manv an absurd ouestion no. !
lnsa we nave so confirmed ourselves in our own |
III h oeie[s that we a. blind to the truth
lals IS a living one. Men have in the mast aa- +
imed the right to torture their horses, bu han il
liz sense of JUST is growing and We 49,,
ave laws TO protect these unfortunates from the !;
, Sc OF their masters, whom to cali brutes ia a
bel upon fou--footed creatures
For the utterly sa16ab ~, Z
le earth and the happ ness of it's inbabitsnts
e nothlng, who are not moved BY the suffer
rs OF innocent Creatures nor disturbed BY The
sponslblllues OF the lessons they are TEACHING
ere is still another al gument against this ms.
BIRDS before which every lip must be sealed
IL un7nswerable. ieu'
Man could not i've on the earth without tbe
rvlce OF birds SAYS wise man and a
ouShtfui student. And the results of eTner;
m the statement. ~ 'oi-
Putting entirely aside the responsibilities of
op,s anu .ne rignts OF animals, it is a simple
re aI.ernative that is presented to us Shall
e birds be allowed to live, or shall the eartb
reduced to barren wildernessP ~
One OF the two is certain to be for tho h;-5 :;
r only protector from the insect To ona vbo
S not informed herself it may seem like a wild
.teinent' out It IS nevertheless true that the
sect Is one OF the most powerful forces nm
rth, and one against which man. with ali hi.
asted ability, is helpless. 1t comes in innn.
,bne armies a;s too minute to be handled:
IL muitlpiies by millions; it preys upon
cry vegetable and animal subs apce nnCier |
aven. In a world aban Toned to the ;nsat
green thing could grow and without $50
Ion mel Their man nor beast could exist
The bird. and the bird only, can cone ,-,,h
,se fearful hosts of our most fatal foe and IL
res unceasing labor on their part to do II
creatures have such appetites-ssincar,ata in
-acity'' Ruskin calls them-none reouira snob
lstant supplies. SUCH n
Watch the birds with an intelligent eve MT "a
rely glance at them, and see how almost ~ I'M
sanity they work. The crow-an ontca., 20.
ong men-follows the plough and destrons To
usands OF grubs and worms that left 10 thar In
yes would eat every vestige Of the crop. 80.
to say right here that nv statements az. NJ | Ad
cy sketch. but are derived from the scienti6c | 80
orts OF government officers who have fn,a. 2
ated the matter thoroughly. The orioIs
wing quietly about on the trees puts an 80
ry day to hundreds. perhaps thousands ~
enemies OF our foliage. and is reviled for
ing an occasional bee. The vireo, honnine
N branch to branch with his constant warhias
ps up ali injurious insect at every sten Woo5'
kers drag from their hiding places the d.
'yers OF our fruit trees, and are saddl ed with
insulting name because q little san eI
8. The cedar bird clears half our orchard ~
pests, and Is hunted to death for aati, y.
OF tie cherries he has saved for us SwsI
$ in their beautiful flight are constantiv a.
ring the hosts OF the air, creatnrssy ,bet
Id otherwise hide the sky from n . with tba; 2.
IS. The beautiful warblers fitting incest q
tly about the trees are xo-Si q
ost every instant in our intar But
yet we-some of us-wear their 1i,,ia stol
! bodies in clusters and wreaths and the u
cts increase and muItinlv sHc