, 1890-12-18
LOTS Of FEATHERS.
In Unusual Demand for Ornamentation
This Season.
TNou Nnrk Gpp


This Season.
New York Sun.
The present trade I'm ostrich feath-
crs IL almost unprecedented. For a
number OF years the demand was
so small that the raising of the os-
trich decreased to the extent of 40
per cent, and feather workers had
channels of industry. But now the
demand for skilled labor far exceeds
the supply. During the spring and
summer manufacturers were serious
ly embarrassed by the lack of com.
petent help.
"A glace at women's toilets just
now is sufficient to explain the un-
usual demands. Hats ure piled with
feathers. One shown In n Broad
way jobbing house supported forty
two tips. Bonnets are edged with
bands and trimmed with clus-
ters of varying size; boas and collar
cites of every length, thickness and
color are shown in all the millinery,
dressmaking and dry goods houses,
and recent importations of COS
tunes disclose the facts that not
only are cloaks, wraps and jackets
trimmed with feathers, but gowns
also. Carriage cloaks have huge
yokes, collars and cuffs of feathers,
supplemented with wide bands of
the same bordering tho front and
lower edge. frequently they are
faced inside, some distance from
the front edge, with ostrich feath-
ers, the fronts being rolled back
from tight-fitting vest. Included
In the decoration of jackets and
gowns Is the wide Medici collar,
covered with feathers. Even in
ball dresses tho delicate fab
brics are festooned around
the feet and fastened to other parts of
the skirt with punches of tips, long
plumes are coiled about the upper
part of the arm TO take the place of
u sleeve, while the Others garnish
the corsage.
The garments for little folks also
have their share of the popular
trimming, aud faces are almost hid
den under huge felt aud beaver flats
. covered with plunes and with
feather rufis. Besides, there are
feather fans by the thousands, and
countless pretty conceits for the dec
Grafton of the hair.
, Perhaps more than one-half of the
feathers used in Anne rica are inn
ported in the natural state and pre-
pared here. South Africa is the
principal Breeding place of the os-
trich. Ostrich farms have been
started In Australia and in San
: Diego county, Cal, but the supply
of feathers from these sources sent to
the New York market IL scarcely
perceptible. The great distributing
4 market Is London, where auction
e sales are held every other month,
@ and are attended by buyers from all
: parts of the world. Feathers sell
: from Sl5 to $3.50 II pound, the high
= est price representing rblood
s primes"-ieathers taken from the
: wing and tail OF the male bird when
, 4 or years old. The plumage of
= the female bird Is considered less
choice than that of the male. At
the present time values in ali grades
are 80 per cent. in excess of those
= prevailing for several years.
The past season was so prosperous
that many manufacturers in this
city employed between 400 and 500
hands most of the time since last
: April. A feather mandatory is
: not very inviting place, with
t great watts, sloppy floors, intense
@ heat, and steam, but the work is
: interesting through the heroic
: measures necessary to evolve from
the feather In Its natural state the
dainty thing of beauty. In the
natural state most of the feathers
J. are of dirty gray color, shading to
e black, and are of all lengths-from
, three to perhaps twelve or more
: inches. The quill Is thick, and the
; flew (the curly part) straight and
lustreless. The darker shades are
9 sorted for black feathers, and the
D lighter for those of colorcd tints,
tied in punches of about couple of
; dozen, and strung IA few inches
apart in sections about one and one
, half yards In length. To remove
the natural oil the feathers are
> soaked for several hours in strong
solution of soda and soap, and then
, scrubbed and thoroughly rlnsed.
| Those for light colors are bleached
, with chemicals before being dyed,
but those for black are only sub
.ected to a triple dip In jet dye.
Shaded feathers ure made by en-
closing parts in rubber shields after
the solid color has been acquired,
and dipping them IN n contrasting
/ dye aud combing while wet. They
| are dried out OF doors and in the
, sun, if possible, and in n room where
the THERMOMETERS registers $50 de.
grees. After the starching and
another drying each string of
. feathers is beaten against wooden
| tables, or partitions, TO remove super
+ fluous starch. 80 violent is this
, process that one expects to see the
plumes fall apart In IA hundred or
more pieces. The only effect, how
/ ever, OF the rough usage is To make
T them look clearer and fluifler than
ever. AT this point the work,
which thus far has been done by
men, is turned over to women, who,
in another part of the factory, begin
the more delicate operations.
Feathers of all hues, In different
stages of development, are scattered
over long tables. The bunches are
separated, and the quill of each
feather is scraped thin by n bit of
glass.
i Afterward they are sewed together