The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1898-02-05
NO PITY FOR THE BIRDS
THE SLAUGHTER FOR FASHIONS
SAKE GREATER THAN EYER.

Women Not Yet Persuaded by the Audu-
bon Society to Restrict the Fashion of
Wearing Feathers in Their Hats-The
Society Not Discouraged, Though
Figures of the Slaughter.
Women are now wearing more birds,
ever before. This will probably be dis
| couraging news for the members of the
Audubon society of the state of New
York and, indeed, to all overs Of birds.
| The society has been agitating its pet
| theories for year, but somehow these
| theories haven't taken very deep hold
on the proverbially tender heart of wo-
mankind. Women are queer creatures.
! They are great reformers and go in Tor
all sorts of reforms, so long as the re-
forms do not affect their personal APP
| pearance. about nine hundred and
| ninety-nine future generations will have
passed away before woman's true spirit
of righteousness overcomes her vanity"
some men say. or course, such critics
are mostly crusty old bachelors; but
even if they are half way right, dealers
| in feathers and birds will not have to
go out of business very soon.
Women gather together by hundreds
to discuss the complexities Of life, and
their heads form an archaeological ex-
hibt that would credit to a museum of
natural history. Sorosis complacently
discusses for hours at a time whether
America has or has not formed dis
| tinctive school of literature while her
three or four hundred members nod
their heads, bedecked with aigrettes,
birds Of paradise, OWLS terms, sea gulls,
and what not of the feathered tribe, APP
provingly These women never stop to
| consider that the question in hand will
settle itself, and that they by concerted
action, might be the means of stopping
/ America from falling into the condition
Of country without song birds The
members of the Rainy Day club curtail
their skirts and reform their footgear,
but it never seems to occur to them
that they could at the same time re-
form their headgear, too, by stripping
it of plumage, which represents the loss
of millions of lives. Political societies
and clubs debate at length the restric-
ton of immigration, the tariff bill, the
effect Of wealth upon society, the an
nexation of Hawaii, the attitude of the
government toward Cuba, and such
questions when they could do the coun-
try deal more practical good by max
ing an effort to protect bird life to fur
Their agricultural pursuits. 1t has been
estimated that birds save to agriculture
alone annually more than $100,000,0o0 in
the United States.
One thing only will stop the destruc-
ton Of bird life. That isn't the influ-
ence which goes forth from the various
Audubon societies throughout the coun-
try, though it has set the ball in mo-
ton. 1t is woman's influence. She has
but to show disapprobation and mil
lions Of birds will be spared every year.
More and more women every day are
refusing to wear birds on their hats
on the ground Of humanity, but they
are comparatively few In numbers and
little can be expected from individuals
in changing fashions dictates. Con-
certed action is needed, and so far it
has not come One has only to look at
the hats and bonnets on the heads of
the women one passes in walk down
| ElIun avenue OT foTuduWdy W sec tliiS'
When a buyer for one of the largest
millinery establishments in this city
was asked to state the exact facts of
the effect of the Audubon societys cru
SADIE she said
II don't know whether the Audubon
society is responsible for 1T or not, but
one tr'ro is certain, and that is that
more fancy birds and feathers are be-
| ~.
been used in eight or nine years. The
indications are that even more will be
used next year. However, there is a
sentiment against the fashion, for fire.
ouently a customer comes in and says
she will not wear an aigrette or any
kind Of wings or plumage except those
of domesticated birds. Nine times out
of ten she selects the breast or wings
of some bird that was Wild when killed,
has 1t put on her hat, and goes away
satisfied She does not ask us what the
ornament is, and we do not take 1t on
ourselves to enlighten her, for we would
only lose a sale for our %Hains. The
only anti-bird wearers that we really
dread are the women who oppose wear
ing birds on moral grounds. They will
not look at anything except ostrich
feathers and wings and feathers that
they are sure to belong to domesticated
birae Fortunately for the feather
dealers, and unfortunately for the
world, such women are rare.
"Pheasants are more used than any
other Birds this season, and I'm sure
there can be no harm in wearing them.
| The men who sell the birds to the hotels
and restaurants sell the skins to deal
ers in feathers, so the birds are not
/ killed primarily for their plumage. Par
rots are also used in enormous quanti-
ties. They come from South America,
. and are nearly all dyed black. Sea
gulls, owls, terms, birds of paradise, and
humming birds are very fashionable,
, and of course aigrettes are always more
, | in demand than anything else. for they
| are not only form on hats and bon
| nets, but they are also extensively used
| in dressing the hair. We buy aigrettes
by the ounce, by the bunch, by the
dozen, and, in short, in every conceiva-
BILE way. It would be impossible to give
: you any statistics Of our purchases and
sales in birds and feathers off hand, but
we have bought and sold them, not by
hundreds, but by thousands, and ours
is only one of many houses in this city
| that deal largely in millinery.
Ia h. 1,1,, ~