The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1892-07-22
FACTS ABOUT FEATHERS.
SOME ouRIous USES TO WHICH
THEY ARE PUT.
Cloth That is Made Out OF Feathers
Down From the Elder Duck
Value Of the Ouills.

((D I'D you ever see cloth that
was made out of feathersa"
said an upholstersr to q
writer s.-,fhe Washington
Star. "Very hesusif6as fabrics are COM
posed of such material One method is
to clip the barbs from tho feathers with
ordinary scissors, putting than into q
bag and kneading them fq awhile. As
a result they are transforned into mass
of very light and HOMOGENEOUS down.
Thus prepared they are manufactured
into felt by the same PROCESSES as are ap-
piled to wool. One pouid and half Of
feathers make one squate yard Of q
fabric which is warm, light and durable
and will take any dye. By weaving the
feather down with cotton or wooden yarn
soft and beautiful cloth is produced,
with feather 'fur' on 10th sides.
"The most expensive down, utilized
for making quilts and pillows, is OBJ
tanned from the elder duck. In Norway
and Iceland the business of gatherfSS it
constitutes a regular farming induXsy.
The pursuit IS very remunerative, and it
is governed by special legislation re-
specting the collecting Of the crop on
islands of the sea and along the margins
of estuaries. These birds are found
throughout the waters Of the Arctic
Ocean, and they resort in great numbers
yearly for breeding purposes to Nova
zembla, Spitzbergen, Lapland, Green
land, Labrador aud other far northern
shores. Sometimes they appear on the
coast of Maine aud even as far south as
Massachusetts, Bay, but the down yielded
in such low latitudes Is inferior In
quality.
"One of the sights OF Norway Ks an
island that is one great rock rising out
of the sea between Tronso aud Hammer
fest. The nests of cider dncks are 30
thick upon it that its entire surface
seems to be occupied by them, each one
containing at the breeding season its
complement of young ones. So closely
do the nests initiate the gray tint of the
rock that one would not notice them
save for the countless heads of the birds
looking out of them. When steamer
goes by the custom is to fire small can
non, which so frightens the birds that
all those that can fly rise into the air
with mighty whirr of wings, literally
darkening the sky with their myriads,
while the nestlings squawk pitifully in
chorus.
"The nest building Is done in May and
lasts about seven weeks. From four to
six eggs are laid, the nest being lined
with down plucked by the mother duck
from her own breast. Those who pur--
sue the business described remove the
eggs and down, whereupon further sup.
plies Of the latter are furnished by the
maternal bird, which lays a second
'clutch' of eggs. These are removed TO
gether with the down, as before and q
like robbery is committed third time.
After this theft has been accomplished
thrice the drake contributes down from
his own body and more eggs are laid
but if these last are stolen the birds in
variably give it up and fly away. One
nest is made in this manner to supply
during each season about three ounces
of dirty looking brown down. That
which the male supplies is somewhat
whittier.
"The down, after being gathered, is
separated into different qualities and
roughly cleaned, the process resulting in
loss of about one-half its original
weight. 1t is then sewn in small bags
for export, the best being worth Us q
pound where it is collected. The down
obtained from dead birds, not being
elastic, is Of small value comparatively. y.
King ducks, which are vastly abundant
on the coasts OF Spitzbergen, Greenland
and Newfoundland, yield soft down
that is almost equal to that Of the cider
duck. In fact this latter product Il
ordinarily sold under the name of elder.
down. So wonderfully light is the real
article that pound and a half of it is
enough for large bed quilt. Chear
substitutes are very much heavier.
"Few people have any notion of the
enormous value of the feathers yielded
annually by domestic poultry. In Eu
rope especially ode farmers' wives make
a business of collecting and selling the
plumage of chickens, geese and ducks
A machine has been devised whiot
plucks dead fowl at the rate of two a
minute. The bird is laid on table and
wheel bearing India rubber picker
tackles it, the pickers pinching what
ever they meet as they pass across tn,
top of the table aud releasing what the
hold as they pass beneath. The plucked
feathers are sorted roughly by q curren
of air, which blows the light ones into q
receptacle, while the heavier ones fal
into trough beneath. Feathers cas
during the moulting season might b.
very profitably utilized IL women on th,
farms would remove them by hand from
the living birds, as might be done with.
out occasioning much discomfort to the
fowls BY neglecting the opportunity
thus afforded tens of thousands of dol
lars are lost yearly in this country.
'Perhaps you never heard of artiacia
ostrich feathers. They are a Yanke.
invention. The quilts Earo made o
celluloid and the barbs of silk waste
In speaking of the usefulness of bird
plumes one must not forget the quills.
Those utilized for writing, obtained from
geese, are the five outer wing feathers
the second and third being the best
The direction of the curve Of the ief
wing feathers gives them the preference
M II.