Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-06-04
FUNNY EAcrs ABOUT FEArnEHs.
Curious ices to which They Ar. Pu,-Vaias
OF the Quiils.

Curious Uses to which They Ar. Pu,-v.ias
Of the Quirs.
ND You EVER SEE CLOTH THAT
~ was made out OF feathersp" said an
upholsterer TO . writer for rHn sran. "very
beautiful fabrics are composed Of such ma
terial One method is TO clip the barbs from
the feathers with ordinary scissors, putting
them into bag and kneading them for awhile.
As a result they transformed into a mass OF
very light aud homogeneous down. Thus pre-
pared they are manufactured into Gel, by the
same processes n are applied 90 wool One
pound and half Of feathers make one square
yard OF fabric which is warm. light and dur
able and win take any dye. BY weaving the
feather down with cotton OF wooden yarn n soft
and beautiful cloth is produced, with feather
fur ON both sides
The most expensive down. utilized FOR max
ing quilts and pillows, is obtained from the
elder duck. In Norway and Iceland the bust
ness OF gathering IL contributes a regular farm
ing industry. The pursuit 10 very remuners-
tive, and il is governed by special Legislation
speeting the collecting OF the crop on islands o.
the sea and along the margins % estuAries
These birds are found throughout the waters OF
bers yearly for breeding purposes 90 Nova
Lembla, spitzbergen, Lapland. Greenland.
Labrador and other far northern shores Some
times they appear on the coast Of Maine and
even as far south as Massachusetts bay, but the
down yielded in such low attitudes lie inferior In
quality.
''one OF the sights OF Norway is an island
that IL one great rock rising out Of the sea be-
tween Tromso and Hammeriest. The nests Of
elder ducks are 90 thick upon IL that it's entire
surface seems TO be occupied by them, each one
containing at the breeding season its compile
ment of young ones. no CLOSELY do the nests
initiate the gray TINT of the rock that one would
not notice them save for the countless hsads Of
the birds looking out OF them. When steamer
goes by the custom is 90 fire a small cannon,
which so frightens the birds that all those that
can ry rise into the air with mighty whirr %
wints. literally darkening the sky with their
myrlsds, while the nestlings squawk Pitfully
The nest building is done in MAY and lasts
about seven weeks. From four 20 six eges are
laid, the nest being lined with down plucked by
the mother duck from her own breast Those
VINO pursue the business described remove the
eggs ana down, whereupon further supplies Of
the latter are furnished by the maternal bird.
which LAYS a second clutch Of eggs These are
removed, together with the down a. before and
like robbery Is committed third time. After
this theft has been accomplished thrice the
more eggs are laid: but If these last are stolen
the birds invariably give il up and fly away.
One nest is made in this manner 90 supply dur
ing each season about three ounces of dirty
looking brown down. That which the male
supplies is somewhat whittier.
The down, after being gathered il separated
into different qualities and roughly cleaned. the
process resulting In a loss of about one-half fts
original weight. II is then sewn in small bag.
for export, the best being worth IS pound
where IL is collected. The down obtained from
dead birds, not being elastic IL Of small value
comparatively. King ducks. which are vastly
abundant on the coasts of Spitzbergen, Green
land and Newfoundland, yield a soft down that
Is almost equal TO that OF the elder duck In
fact this latter product is ordinarily sold under
the name OF eiderdown. 30 wonderfully light
Is the real article that pound and half Of Il j.
enough for a large bed quilt. Cheap substi-
tutes are very much heavier.
Few people have any notion Of the enormous
value of the feathers yielded annually by do
mestic poultry; In Europe especially the farm
ers' wives make business of collecting and
selling the plumage Of chickens, geese and
ducks. A machine has been devised which
plucks dead fowls at the rate OF two q minute
The bird is laid on table and a wheel bearing
India rubber pickers tackles il. the picker-
pinching whatever they meet rs they pass
across the top OF the table and releasing what
they hold as they pass beneath. The plucked
feathers are sorted roughly by a current Of air.
which blows the light into a receptacle
while the heavier ones fall into q trough be-
meath. Feathers cast during the moulting sea-
son might be very proftably utilized IL women
on the farms would remove them by hand from
the living birds, might be done without oc-
cssioning much discomfort TO the fowls. BY
neglecting the opportunity thus afforded tens
of thousands Of dollars are lost yearly in TINS
country.
'Perhaps Won never heard Of artificial ostrich
feathers. They are a Yankee invention. The
quilts made OF oelluloid and the barbs Of
silk waste. In speaking OF the usefulness Of
bird plumes one must not forget the quilts.
Those utilized for writing Obtained from
geese, are the five outer wing feathers. the sec
ond and third being the best. The direction Of
the curve of the left wing feathers gives them
the preference. They are plucked in the spring
from living birds, the quilts Of dead ones being
valueless. To remove the grease and the deli
cate skin which covers the quilts as well as for
the purpose of making them hard and elastic,
they are heated in a bath OF fine sand at a tenn
perature of $50 TO $50 degrees Fahrenheit
This process causes the inner skin 10 shrivel up
and the outer skin of the quill is readily scraped
of. While the quill il soft and warm il NAV be
stamped with any desired design. Quills are
utilized also for toothpicks, for holding artists
brushes, for anglers floats and for many other
purposes"