The Winslow mail., 1899-06-01
FEATHERED FINERY.
Plumage for Millinery Now Artif.
cially Produced.
The Humble Barnyard Fowl Now
Furnishes the Matrrisl for a Great
Deal Of the New Hat
Trimming.

| The demand for feathers for mil
linery purposes has caused an inventor
to experiment in this field. ard he ha>
succeeded so we'll that many {. ou.
most fashionable bird plumage> and
feathers are artificially manufacture Il.
The trade in feathers amounts to mil
lions of dollars annually, and the sup
ply of the birds furnishing them is
decreasing SO rapidly that ii is quite
essential that substitutes should be
found. How many women who wear
the beautiful ostrich tips and plumes
know whether they are the genuine
article or artificial feathers? The work
OF raising ostriches in California has
certainly brought the cost of these
feathers down to a reasonable figure.
| but hardly to the ridiculously low
prices that are sometimes asked for
them in stores. The artificial ostrich
feathers have their quills made of eel
luloid. and the barbs of silk waste.
Then when dyed and skillfully curled
it would take an expert to detect them
from the genuine article.
Various other expensive feathers and
plumes are manufactured out of silk
and cotton waste, and inventors are
constantly devising new methods by
which they can supply the demands Of
fashion at little cost to the public and
at great profit to the manufacturers.
The utilization of poultry fea hers for
millinery purposes is a subject of i'm
portance. There has been an unex-
pected demand for the feathers of
chickens. ducks and geese this year.
Farmers have really found that their
poultry was profitable. Some of the
special breeds Of farmyard ducks and
geese have remarkably beautiful feath-
ers, shimmering with gold. green and
blue. and tinged with metallic luster
of unusual beauty. All of these have a
value aside from the meat and eggs
they furnish. But even the common
barnyard poultry is made to furnish
material for the market. BY dyeing
the feathers they can be made to imi-
tate the brightest plumes that ever
graced the back or topknot of a trop-
ical bird. The plumes are artfully
made up by hand, each individual fea th-
er being colored beforehand, and then
worked into IN exquisite design. Some
of these plumes are so gorgeous that
they are more in demand than the gen.
uine plumes of wild birds.
A remarkable machine is in use for
plucRing the feathers from dead poul-
try. and by its use the feather in
dustry has been greatly simplified and
expanded. The dead bird is placed
on a table. and the picker strips it of
all feathers in just half a minute.
Then the plucked feathers are passed
rapidly along to another small room
where a current of air sorts the very
fine from the heavy ones. The very
lightest and softest feathers are used
for pillows, but all the others find some
use in the millinery trade. 1t is be-
coming the fashion now to have cloaks
and mantles made out of the feathers,
and some handsome pieces of wearing
apparel have been made in this way.
Such feather cloak is more expensive
than sable or seal. In the National mu-
scum at Washington there is such
cloak that is said to be valued by the
authorities al million dollars. 1t was
made of the feathers of an extinct bird
for one of the old kings of the Hawaiian
Islands. and contains probably several
million feathers.-N. Y. Times.