River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1899-03-02
BIRDS ON THE HATS.
The MilIlner's side of the Cruelty.
Terminals Question.
From the San Francisco Call

"
in the serene state Of mind which naturally
follows the requirement OF freshly fashioned
head-gear. and which none but woman can
| understand. When, therefore my friend
! eyed my hat and myself with clammy disap.
prevail, my heart took a header into my patent
feathers, like the dropping of the time ban at
meridian on Telegraph Hill
| What IS the NATTER I faltered isn't
it becomlng?"
How can you be so cruely7 She said. answer
ing my question by asking another. Surely
you do not realize that. in order to crafty your
vanity, a harmless, happy little creature had
to be sacrificed: In adjoining your hat with a
q bird, you have not considered the nest that
was robbed You have not cared that the
most Joyous OF Gods creatures was slain while
| twitterng In the sunlight in which it had a
| divine right TO live unmolested; that, perhaps
its tiny throat was stined in the very act of
pouring forth a food Of melody, to make glad
| the hearts of those who listened Think of il.
and ask yourself if you have any right TO assist
| il the wholesale butchery OF these feathered
| innocents"
| did think OF it, and the more I Thought the
more criminal did the wearing Of bird upon a
hat seem. for am not wholly devoid OF con
! science, and l do not relish the idea OF blood
| being spilled in the cause of personal vanity,
! [ thought so hard. indeed that / went home
by side street, bearing my ill-gotten prey
aloft shame-facedly sort of a funeral pro
cession of one Iconlned the offending hat in
bandbox but the voice Of conscience dinned
| itself to my ears all day, ana in my dreams,
when night came, that birdlet hoped painfully
| out of its bandbox grave, perched itself upon
| the foot OF my bed, and turned it's CLASSY eyes
| upon me with reproachful and movable stare
| that entered like iron into my soul. If you
have never been haunted by a bird ghost of
| course you cannot fully appreciate my feelings.
Early next morning l started out TO help re-
form the world by diyerting those heartless
| ffends in feathered crime. the wholesale deal
ers, from the CORY sinfulness Of their ways. l
walked down velitable avenue OF feathers
on the second floor Of an establishment that
spread over the half of block in length, and
sought the proprietor who dared to make a
nefarious living by selling dead birds and their
bodily equipments. pounced upon love Of
"a little fowl with radiant pIumage. entombed
in a box near by with shroud of tissue paper,
and held it up accusingly.
DO YOU think, said [, that it is right to
kill these beautiful creatures in order that you
may make money!" and eyed him even as my
friend eyed me, with cold reformatory
stare
DO you think" he answered, that it is
right to kill chicken in order that you may
make meal:'
what has that to do with it?' 1 asked.
Everything When it comes to a question
of cruelty you must go to the markets. then
to the people who buy quail. doves chicken
and turkey for their tables. If it We're not for
their appetites we dealers in feathers would
be forced to 90 out Of business
.Why?"
'Becauseit is the markets of a city that
practically supply the millinery trade-the
markets and the farmers who protect their
| crops by sauehtering pests such as the Eng
ltsh Sparrows. the starting. and parrots in the
southern countries all of them so destructive
that millions of bushels of corn and other pro
ducts OF the field are destroyed annually in
| spite Of the endeavors Of the growers to keep
the devouring hordes away. shan these birds
eat and man starveS Which IS the better to
| kill them or let the farmers go hungry?
There are these parrots. for Instance. they
are fright'llIv destructive and must be
| fought constantly. Like the sparows and
starlings, they are utilized by countless thous-
1
| cleansed at the factories their skins and
feathers steamed then dried and colored in
| the prevailing shades and stuffed
mo, it IS great mistake to suppose that
every bird worn upon hat represents life
| sacrificed for mere vantty's sake. About per
cent of the birds seen are really slaughtered
| for the purpose. and they are not singers. for
it is a well known fact that birds of brilliant
| plumaqe have no singing voice, Like the pea
| cock they are for show. not to make melody
| Real birds of paradise are very expensive. and
we supply the bulk of trade with cheap articles
| in the bird and feather line. material thrown
| aside in the markets. gathered mp in bags, and
| sold to the factories at so much per pound.
| What would your reformers, who have 50
much to say about cruelty. do with the thous-
ands of women, men and girls in the United
States to say nothing of those in other coun-
| tries who would be thrown out OF employ
ment If women were to cease-the wearing of
| feathers and birds upon their hats? In New
| York City there are $1,000 women en-
| gagged in the feather industry. VIII the people
who cry down the feather trade provide for
them in some other wayl''
| / frankly confessed my inability to cope with
| this view of the question, but tried to get even
| by bringing up the subject of egrets, those I'M
| fortunate mother birds of the heron family who
have, when in breeding dress, long dorsal
plumes the beauty of which dooms them when
| they should be most kindly protected, and
whose sacrifice is shameful and deplOrable
1T is true that the egret is killed wantonly,
admitted the man who feathers his business
nest. 'but a large proportion of the so-caned
egrets are not egrets at all, but peacock
| feathers with the eyes removed. or other
| feathers altered to simulate the egret
Feathers can be made p1able by steam and
| various treatments at the factory. and bent OF
| curved into any shape The fact IS, almost
any kind OF a bird can be manufactured nova
| days so skillfully that you would have to teal
it to pieces to discover the deception. II
short the millinery bird is an important part OF
| Industrial life giving the means of subsistence
to small army Of wage-earners,
| looked thoughtfully at the love Of bird
| that 1 had possessed myself of in the beginning
of the interview as an object lesson. I long
ed to perform an autopsy upon it, and the
feather man read my thoughts.
See for yourself" said he. whether iany
| cruelty was practiced in preparing that bird
for trade"
poked the small body and spread the stiff
| wings. and pried apart the beak that never
more could open in song-nay, never had open
ed in song. and for the best reason imaginable
since It was made of shiny strips of leather
stamped into shape. Its wings had never soar
| ed. for believe me. those pinions that l could
have sworn once cleaved the air were fetions
in wire tissue paper and paste. Nor had q
| wishbone ever found place within the cotton
interior Of this imitation bird, false from beab
| to tail.
How about the plumage?" asked, when the
post mortem farce was over
Chicken feathers dyed As a rule, the beals
are genuine, being picked up at markets along
| with the feathers And by the way do you
know that turkey feathers are very largely
| used in hat garniture9 Here are some fine
| specimens, beautifully dyed and painted by
hand-another branch of the industry that
| gives employment to artists For quilts there
Is nothing 50 desirable as turkey feathers. just
| remember that when you are eating your
| Thanksgiving dinner Remember too that
/ there are at least half hundred girls in San
| Francisco making living BY working IN feath-
| ers. Co and watch them and you viii find that
every bird In stock at the factory has been
made by hand
Whole wheat -four for sale at Geo.
Fortune s. Co.'s feed store. This is
one OF the most wholesome Of cereal
foods, at a very moderate price.