The record-union., 1898-02-23
The Abuse of Fine Feathers.

testimony that the accused boy YVES
acquitted.-New York Herald
The Abuse of Fine Feathers.
We cannot permit ourselves, even
with all the classic evidence of ladies
in the Roman amphitheaters with
down-turned thumbs, and the occa-
sional modern instances" that might
be adduced in addition, to believe that
the majority of the gentler sex are
such strangers to the ordinary feelings
of mercy as to wish to make them
selves beautiful at the expense of any
ellow-ceratures' sufferings-exeept 1t
be that of the fellow-women, their nat
ural rivals, who will suffer by their un-
successful emulation. comments "Coun-
try Life Illustrated That is another
story. But no woman, speaking
broadly, would put a birds feather into
her hat, into her hair, or wear it for her
personal adornment in any manner, If
she thought that by so wearing it she
was making it likely that another bird
of the species would suffer; still less
if she thought that the bird that had
yielded her this particular feather had
suffered in any other wise than that of
speedy and painless death to give her
its plumage.
The plucking of the bird for the sake
of the so-called osprey feathers-the
aigrette-suggests notions of a tor
ture that must revolt her if she did
but give it thought The only troub-
bic is that she does not give it a
thought, and the aim of all remon-
strances, however addressed, should
be to make her bestow thought on
this view of the question. That is all
that is needed.
She would not seriously desire that
beautiful life should be cut short, still
less that it should be prolonged in tor
ture, for the qualification of her simple
vanity. If the two motives were put
side by side together in her mind. mer
cy would carry down the balance, and
vanity lightly kick the beam. This
much of justice let us do her; and,
therefore, we cannot but think that all
argument and all non n-argument-all
noise, in fact-that directs notice to this
view is good. 1t only needs to make
woman turn her eyes upon her own
act and consider it, and it is certain
that, viewing it's consequences in its
true light, she cannot, if she be woman,
continue in it. The thoughtless will
continue, for there are thoughtless ones
of that sex as we'll as of the other; but
the thought of the thoughtful will OBJ
trude itself after while TO leaven the
thoughtlessness of the lump. Then
may we see a sensible decrease in the
feather topknots of our ladies, for as
yet, in spite of the noise about the mat
ter, we see little sign of molting.
And, after all, are these feathers
beautiful? In their place, on the
wings and as part of the plumage of
the birds on whom they grew, they are
beautiful indeed, for they have their
purpose, but on a womans head are
they not somewhat of an excrescence?
What do they there? They fail, some
how, to suggest the incipient growth
of angels plumage; besides, that is
generally considered q matter of wings
rather than of headgear. 1t was
pagan deity, if we mistake not-a god
of shady character withal, of sharps
and pickpockets-that was depicted
with the wings fastened to his hat.
Flowers in the hair or hat seem more
in place for these might naturally be
her adornment, by woman as she went
her ways. The feather, the wing, and,
worst of all, the sitting hen"-as we
sometimes see it in shape of a COM
plete bird planted uncomfortably on the
hat brim-look out of place, as being
the result of elaborate study, (an en-
tirely extraneous thing brought in for
the obvious purpose of artificial adorn-
ment,) a matter of elaborate calcula-
ton, not due to the spontaneous i'm
pulse of the moment, which might be
supposed to inspire the plucking of
flower or a spray of foliage.
The sitting hem is horrible-horri-
Bile as an outrage on the aesthetic pro-
prieties, ugly beyond measure, and
dreadfully out of place. There is no.
ton that woman dresses to please the
man; certainly it gives no man pleasure
to see a bird seated upon her head. Or
is the ultimate end to outvie the fell
low-woman? Even SO, the sitting
hem is not all effective. AS for the
aigrette. it is abomina abe-abominabl
less by it's aspect than by the associa-
ton with suffering bird life which it
cannot escape. Those things that are
killed at once may be plucked, and
their feathers stuck about according
to womans fancy, or even be planted
bodily on the head, with far less Of
Tense, but the pluclling of the live thing
is an abominabe torture, if women
would but think.-New York Times.