The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-18
FEATHERS FOR TRIMMING.
Much OF the PIumage Comes from
Hens-LondOn the Center.
Philadelphia Times.

Philadelphia Times
The feather trade is practically in the
hands of four great firms of London brok-
ers. Six times a year the sales take place
in the Mincing-lane rooms, but for about a
fortnight before that time the intending
buyers are spending their days at these
warehouses, inspecting the various lots. 1t
is dusty and dirty work to examine them,
but large buyers have to do so very thor
oughly. looking at each bundle of plumes,
judging of its evenness and quality and
timating it's market value. The catalogues
are provided with ample margin for notes,
which the customer makes and by which his
bids will be made at the actual sale. A mot
ley throng it is that wends through the
rooms for this purpose, and all wearing long
brown Holland smocks to protect their gar
ments from the fluff and4fue of the feathers.
There IS the solid English buyer, controlling
perhaps a dozen factories in London, with
houses in half the important commercial
cities of the continent, Canada and America.
There may be the smart little Parisienne,
on the outlook for plumes Of some particular
type to suit novelty she has devised; there
may be the Berlin dealer who wants only
the cheapest kinds; the keen-visaged Wen
nese merchant looking for bargains that
others may not notice, or the shrewd Amer
lean, buying in view of coming fashion
The quality of the plumes is, of course
very varied, and one must be an expert be-
fore he may speculate in ''boos" OF ''femi-
mas" the latter being the plumage of the
hen bird and of mixed color, while that of
the cock is a direct black or white. The
very best feathers are the thirty-four which
are taken from the wing and where these
STA ard Of
1t is usual to distinguish the bundles by tying
them with pink or blue ribbon instead of
tWlne, so that those looking for the choicest
lots in the sales may quickly recognize them.
IL is barely twenty years since the finest
Whlte Cape feathers were worth from $50
10 4oO a pound, as all are sold by weight,
and this is the unit adopted. To-day SO and
$40 a pound are the highest figures that are
usually made, and 1t would be something
extraordinary that would bring G14 or e15
But prices begin as low down as L shillngs
pound for the short back feathers which
are gently currycombed out or dropped at
moulting time. The wing and tail feathers
are cut off, it may be mentioned close to
the skim and in due time the quill falls out
to make way for the new growth. Statistics
are not very interesting reading as a rule,
and it is not necessary to give a number of
them, but 1t will convey some idea of the
vastness of the industry to state that in the
December sale of this year there were 5000
pounds weight of feathers When it is
borne in mind that there are from iS0 to 2C0
feathers in pound avoirdupois, one is we'll
within the mark in estimating the plumes
about 1900 coo.
The concluding days of the sales are al
ways devoted to what the trade knows as
'fancies, these denotng such plumes as
those Of birds of paradise, osprey and COL
0red skins of parrots, pheasants (from the
Hlmalayas), humming birds and the like.
Let the humanitarians take heart of grace
at one fact-there is not the slightest de-
mand at the present moment for little birds
one 9a great f merchant in fact who happens
about year and half ago. of parrakeets,
graSsfncheS and -other lovely little huttering
gems, finds them absolutely unstable in
face of present and probable fashion. The
real bird of paradise is exceedingly costly
and nine-tenths of what are called para
exact as electric rabbit is of true seal
skim But it is over the osprey and egret
that women have been most rated for bar
parity and thoughtlessnesS. ana weird
stories of the hen bird ruthlessy slaughtered
on her nest are brought up at meetings
and in pamphlets, and tales of complete ex-
produce the plumes of this type-the crane
ana heron orders-are almost universally
scattered over the world and alike from
Brazil, Venezuela, BurTnah and south India
from Florida and South and West Africa
from Turkey in Europe and southern Rus
sla supplies are drawn A broker of world
wide dealings says Il have made special
inquiries of some of our agents and buyers
some OF whom have been actually in the
west Indies and seen the birds and condi-
lions of capture They all agree that the
idea of cruelty is a fallacy, or, at any rate
IL very SIOSS CHARACTERIZATION. For instance,
IN the case of osprey feathers would
specially bring to your notice a point of
Whlch the opponents of their wear make
such capital, and that is the killing of the
female bird on her nest. Common sense. if
nothing else should point out the stupidity
OF such proceeding. as, if such were the
case the bird would have been pretty we'll
exterminated by now. The proof that it is
not done is afforded by the increasing
amount that is coming into the market from
all parts in obedience to larger demand
ana shows that the bird is instead fostered
by the hunters, who, knowing their value
would certainly not wish to kill the goose
that laid the golden egg" These feathers
are sold by the ounce. the long osprey hav-
ing been represented by about 5000 ounces
at about % shillings an ounce in each of
the sales this year. OF heron and short
OSPREY worth 30 shillings. there have been
about 2,OC0 and 1900 ounces respectively
Most precious of all is the fiber fine plume
OF the cgret, of which the sales have aver
aged 5O9 ounces 1t now stands at "a los an
ounce, but not long ago touched SO.
Not less interesting is the preparation
of the feathers for their ultimate purpose
as hat trimmings. There is far more
naklng-up about a feather than people
who have never gone to the trouble of
dlssectlng one would imagine, and, to give
an example. one of the outstanding plumes
now so fashionable has gone through a
dozen hands and processes before it is ready
10 go out. One girl pares down the super
fiuous quill with razor-keen knife. another
deftly rubs 1t the wrong way to obtain its
best fullness, a third cuts the tip off twOs
feathers and inserts them between, lower
down. so that it shall be thick and full
while they go to another to be sewn to-
gether. She passes it to the next table,
where it is scraped smooth with glass, before
a little black Varnish, neatly applied. con-
ceals all stitches. Then a wire is inserted to
give 1t a curving graceful droop at the
top. and it is dexterQusly curled by drawing
each fue over blunt knife. Machinery has
often been tried for this, but so far nothing
has been invented to supersede the human
hand for the operation.