Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1900-03-08

but they are the nuptial plumes O
the white heron, donned only for til,
nesting season. Arrayed in these
the birds are ruthlessly shot Will,
trying to protect her young and i.
more easily caught on that account
After the plume is torn off the deaC
body is thrown down in sight Of thu
young birds who are left to starve
We have heard it said, "but the aig
rette is made this is not true, ion
the delicate structure of these plume,
is beyond the art Of man
What does it cost this garniture Of death.
ltcosts the life which Goa alone car
It costs dun silence where was music !,
breath
1t costs dead Joy that foolish pride may
All. life and JOY ana song. depend upon it,
Are costly trimmings for a womanS bonnet
(MARY RILEY SMITH)
Our southern swamps have been
hunted until there are so few birds
left that it does not pay to hunt them
longer, and the bird hunter has
sought new fields going north and
west. In California an ornithologist
applied to committee of the society
there for the protection Of birds to
help stop the slaughter on the coast
Of southern California.
Last year a writer to the Munsey
Magazine said: Tel a woman that
the bird she is wearing has been skin
ned alive, SO that the covering might
slip off more readily from the poor
palpitating little body, and if she can
not avoid hearing you, she will try TO
comfort herself0by saying it is not
true
In some places the modes OF killing
birds is so cruel it makes one shudder
Think Of those innocent little things
being blinded by having hot irons
placed near their eyes A blind bird
is then placed in cage, pitch is
smeared on sticks and trees near by,
so that other birds, who are attracted
by the mournful notes of the blinded
creature come to it and are caught.
Mrs. Olive Thomas Miller, in an art
icle on bird decoration asks: ''How
can thoughtful woman, feeling some
responsibility in the training Of her
children, reconcile her conscience to
the constant object lesson in cruelty
which the wearing Of murdered birds
no di up before her children? How
dare she thus endorse and tacitIy ap-
prove cruelty and barbarity which
she cannot but know are necessary
part OF this trade? In answer she
will say the bird has already been
killed, so no harm is done in wearing
it," Mrs. Miller p5I4ts out the fact
that "every woman who buys bird
this year, ensures the death Of anoth-
er next year.
Margery Deane, in the Boston Bea-
con wrote as follows: american wo-
men who have hearts 50 tender they
could not step upon a worm or Kill a
butterfly, are guilty OF thoughtless
cruelty, and make an industry poss-
ible and profitable by blindly following
fashion. 1t is wholly thoughtless
fer no woman in our land could de-
iberately allow creatures to be blind
ed, shared and slaughtered for the
qualification of ornamenting her head
for a few weeks.
Some one has said: 1T is the old,
old story Of satan tempting woman,
but instead of crawling at her feet he
is now perched over glddy head
Fashions change. One year there
is demand for one bird, another
year for many birds; one season they
must be small, another time large,
and then again anything III shape Of
bird. At any rate, the decrease in
our native wild birds has become SO no
ticeable that an alarm has been sounds
ed on a useful as well as upon human
itarian grounds, and this alarm has
caused the Audubon societies to
spring up everywhere. The object is
to look after the birds, and to create
an intelligent reaction against the
wearing of-dead- bird, craze The
practice still exists, but where these
societies have been working, it is not
50 great, foreign birds Of late seem to
be taking the place Of the native spe-
cies.
In the June Birds" for 1898, |
find the following in regard to one
Audubon society: Five hundred in
ytations were sent out for novel
reception by the Wisconsin Audubon
society a while ago. One Of the di-
rectors loaned large handsome house
and six milliners were invited to
send hats unadorned with aigrcttes 81
birds Ostrich plumes quilts and
cocks tails were not debarred
Twenty-Five other milliners applied
for space; "eyery body went, and 4
great many tastefully arranged hats
were sold. People who had never be-
4 fore heard OF the Audubon society
became, through the newspaper re-
ports of the affair, greatly interested
IN its object, and the society itself,
greatly encouraged through the fact
that by their hats and bonnets, many
of the best people of Milwaukee
were ready to proclaim it no longer
good form TO wear the plumes 81
bodies of dead birds.
Another object is to educate the
youth Of today in the economic value
Of birds, to awaken an interest in and
love for the birds. and to make him
regard the sacredneSs of life. for only
a coward will torture the helpless
The Audubon Society of Wisconsin,
was organized in 1897 Among its
officers and directors will be found
the names al many prominent mer
and women in our state. The pledge
does nots. demand from anyone, any
great self denial 1t reads Is follows
Beng in sympathy with the prin
ciples of the Audubon Society, agre,
not to kill any birds. except gam,
BIRDS nor to rob their nests ami no
to wear feathers other than quilts
cocktails and ostrich plumes.
All school children may becom,
members free of cost, the smal
amount charged Others is used to pa,
for the distribution OF literature I,
the various societies. When tn
school children had the matter pre-
scented to them, many small boys 0
,b;s o;tv roF,,oJ ~ bac,,,,a ,,,n,,, ha,,-