Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1894-10-19

ton. They wore kid gloves, and after the
session was over the ladies formed into
little groups, and the most of them began
to talk about furs
One of the ladies, whose soft eyes had
more than once filled with tears while
speaking of the wanton slaughter of birds,
said that she was having long mantle
made of MORE astrakhan. 1t would take
40 of these skins to make her wrap at 50
EACH but it was to be something elegant
when done. ! was not among the speak
ers, or | should have liked to rise and say
something about that beautiful fur called
MORE astrakhan. l wonder how many
women who wear that fur know that it
has cost the life not only of the little ami
nal, but also that of the mother, She is
cruelty murdered just before the time for
her young to be born, and the unborn
creature is instantly skinned before the
hair has chance to curl. 1t is afterward
dyed to that glossy black.
The curlcd astrakhan or Persian is pro-
duced in manner scarcely less cruel.
The animal as soon as it is born is sewed
into IA sack of coarse cloth, with its head
and feet out. 1t may live in this way IA
few miserable weeks, when it is sacrificed.
The hair is by that time kinked up close
y
creatures no larger than ones hand when
living, to make a medium sized wrap, and
thousands upon thousands of other ami
mails are killed to obtain their fur to
adorn beauty. Perhaps these women think
with Lockyer:
You lucky little kid,
You persisted, so you did,
For my sweet.
From the beginning l think women
must have been born cruel. Men as soon
as they could find wool, cotton, flax and
linen left off wearing furs, but no woman
is perfectly happy without something
that costs not only money, but life and
blood. do not blame the tender hearted
ones for saying all they do against the
slaughter Of the birds for ornaments but
why do they never say anything against
the killing of animals, the boiling of the
silkworms and such things? Why are they
not consistent enough to wear cotton
gloves only wooden and cotton fiber, with
perhaps little linen, too, when the
weather permitsf But, then, who ever
knew consistent personf 1t does look
odd, though, that the men who do the kill
ing don't wear the furs, and the women
who preach kindness, etc, are the ones
who will have them, no matter if baby
seals and goat mothers Cry out pitifully
against it.
But, after all, there is sense of com
fort that nothing else can give in n warm
/ fur garment. 1t not only feels nice, but
looks so, too, and so the wearers quietly
ignore the slaughter of the animals and
| talk about the inhumanity toward the
birds. What with flowers, ribbon velvets
and lace and metals and jewels they car
adorn their hats without feathers, but
furs are necessity, and besides the ami
mails, being dead, do not need their skins
any longer. That is how they reason
and / think l did, too, during the pas
week. have been to the openings o.
the swell fur houses, and If anything IL
calculated to blunt the sensibilities on the
point of the slaughter of the animals it |!
to look at, admire and handle the beauti
full garments made of fur.
First among all furs is the Russian sa
BILE l saw a mantle of that peerless flu
lined with ermine The mantle was abou