The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-04-24

self with corners" and deals leaving
that for the consideration OF the masculine
Intelligence. the announcement that there
is a corner" in ostriches will doubtless
reach a vulnerable spot Women have al
ways been credited with a special devotion
to their bornets. and when not only the
picture hat" but the popular feather boa
as well is threatened with "a raise" loud
will be the lament
For years the majority Of the ostrich
feathers used in this country has been
brought from the Dark Continent. the i'm
portation of feathers into the United
States amounting to $500, 600 annually. ex-
elusive OF 50 per cent tariff Naturally
at present. with the war Ia progress. all
Of the South African industries are paral-
yzed. including ostrich cultivation.
In the United States there have been
four feather farms-the largest at Phoenix.
Ariz.: another at San Antonio, Texas: an
other at Jacksonville. Fla, and a smaller
lot at Pasadena. Cal. The last mentioned
contained the first ostriches brought TO
the United States by Edwin Cawston, a
wealthy Englishman who embarked in the
business for fun. Last month a resident
of Phoenix. who has made an exhaustive
study OF the ostrich IN his native country
and believes that the conditions in the Salt
River Valley, Ariz-. are even better for IL
than IN Africa. consummated a gigantic
deal that has put him in absolute control
OF the ostrich industry Of the United
States. During the last year he has ex-
pended over 800 .00o in ostriches and row
owns all except about one hundred. which
are kept purely for show and cannot be
bought At any price He has. however.
made a contract with the proprietOrs OF
these birds under which he will have the
product OF all chicks at the age Of TWO
months he has purchased 800 acres Of
land nine miles below Phoenix on the
Yums Road and is already moving his
birds into it Ter carloads are on their
way from California. which will bring his
stock up 10 nearly eight hundred birds
The farm will De continued under the
care Of r ]. Icke. who has had large ex-
perience with ostr-ches in South Africa
( Mrs Icke English woman. who was
with her husband in Africa. has also an
important share IL the work Of the farm.
( Just as other farmers wives have the
care Of little chicks, so Mrs Ieke and her
children look after the interests Of the
I baby ostricaes-- These run about the
dOOryard and kitchen door with the same
fearlessnesS that distinguishes the downy
! broOds OF the hen.
"Ostriches never seem TO get attached 10
us said Mrs. Icke the other day. They
7 will follow whoever feeds them. but as
soon as they are grown they are as treach-
! erOus and dangerous as they can be. Ny
( husband who has been with them for
years. wOuldn', dare go through the pad
dock where the older ones are without
long pole This has a notch on one end.
and when he slips that around the neck
the bird can't kick. An ostrich has tire
mencous power in its legs. and never hesi-
tates TO attack anyone Both OF its feet
are armed with long sharp claws. capable
OF infietlng fatal wounds The males fire.
quently get 20 fighting together. and LAGER
ate each other SO severely that they have
TO be killed
The ostriches are plueked every eight
months. and though they would wreak no
end Of vengeance on one another and the
hands engaged in plucking them. il they
had the opportunity. the clOseness with
which they are crowded into the clipping
box prevents them from using their legs.
Contrary TO general opinion. the process
of piueking is not at all painful. In each
wing there are usually a couple Of dozen
long white feathers besides all the black
ones The feathers are clipped with pair
OF clipping shesrs. leaving the quilts some
four OF FIVE inches long. These dry up, and
in about a month iall out, so that there Is
really no pain about II.
After the 'pIucking' the feathers have
all TO be sorted and tied up In Africa IL Is
often necessary 10 wash the pIumss before
sending them to market. the birds there
being infested with vermin. In these clean
alfalfa fields. however, there is 10 such
trouble. and the feathers are sent just as
clipped. All the feathers have to be curl
ed and most Of them colored before they
are ready for use The white piumes when
colOred black are really better than the
natural black. A bird yields annually
about $50 In feathers the plumes selling
readily in Eastern cities at from SIS to SIS
a pound. a price that returns large profits
Contrary 10 the experience OF farmers
in Africa where the ostriches suffer from
many mysterious ills. theNbirdS here seem
20 thrive without any more care than one
would give a hen. They get their own
Ewing of the alfalfa in the paddocks
though they are not at all ayerse to fruit
OF pebbles
.Ostriches live to an average of sixty
years There are some features of ostrich
life that are extremely interesting. As a
race they art mOnogamists. QuarTeis
there are. freqren.IT to the death. but the
survivor. il is "a med. never selects an
other mate
"a hole is kicked in the sand. and here
Madame Ostrich lays eggs which average
three pounds in weight. When the nest
gets comfortably full OF eggs-a dozen to
fifteen being the usual number-the incu-
bation begins. The male bird takes upon
himself the greater share OF this labor
which continues forty-two days He as
sumes the care Of the nest al 5 O'Clock
in the evening. and remains with 1t until
. O'Clock in the morning, when he IS re-
lieved and Madame takes charge. At noon
he returns for an hour while she takes her
luncheon. She then sits on the nest until
o'clock.
when the young chicks break through
the she'll which is about the size of TWEEN
ty-four hen eggs rolled into one. they are
about six inches in height. very grey and
fuzzy and rather delicate. In about six
months the first feathers are clipped. al
though they are then Of little commercial
value Later as many as $50 feathers are
often taken from each bird One Of the
most interesting things about the ostrich
is the way il takes its constitutional. This
is lost to the public at large. as its hours
of exercise are at sunrise and shutdown
With wings extended and general cake
walk air the giant birds forming in single
file race around the pasture until web
Hmbered IN. Then. arranging themselves
into groups. they go through a multiplied
dervishes the Virginia reel. the waltz. and
ly sensitive to personal annoyance, and
females give vent to their feelings in a
hiss while the males give an excallent i'm
itation of the roar of the mountain lion