Arizona weekly journal-miner., 1901-07-24
THE BIRD ON THE HAT.

th6 1thb WV
 Volumes have been written on tn
 subject of the bird on the hat, and
 is some times asserted that in spite o
 it all, this decoration is more worl
 than ever. But this may be doubted
 At any rate, any woman who chooses land a great many do choose-tC
 wear a hat unadorned with the de
 funct body of a bird, can do so nova
 days without appearing either singu
 lar or Addressed.
 The hope of the Audubon society
 and of various other organizations fol
 the protection of birds, is that the
 time may come when a hat trimmed
 with plumage will be as curious an
 object as the feather crown of an
 Ashanti chief. One thing is certain
 if fashion ever does take a decided
 turn in this direction it is unlikely
 that the old barbarous custom will
 ever come back. It is so essentially
 ugly and unpleasant in its sugges-
 tiveness that it needs only to go out of style for few years to be abhor- red in its true light. But there are people who, if gloves and belts made of tanned human skin from the dis secting room happened to be the fashion, would wear them without more compunction than an Iroquois warrior felt in putting on his neck lace of cutoff human fingers.
 The custom of decorating women's hats with the plumage of birds is probably as old as head gear itself, and may have arisen in part from the notion common to many savage tribes that the qualities of an animal slain become the property of the slayer. Moreover, before the invention of vel vets, gauge and lace, the feathers of birds were among the most beautiful things available for the adornment of the human head. Tradition is partly responsible for the persistence of the custom in these latter days.
 But there is nothing pretty in its later developments, however appro- priate the wings or body of a bird might have seemed on the head of the hunters wife. The modern hat is made to fit the modern face, and there is no beauty in the juxtaposition of fair, intelligent, essentially civ. ilized countenance and the body of a | blackbird with its neck in sugges- tive twist. It hints at an ugly possi- bilities existing underneath the charm md grace of the wearer. As for the face which is not charming, or intel igent, or kind, the bodies of two or 5hree humming birds or the head of an owl, speared with a hat pin and with bows of ribbon, lend 5o such visage an aspect positively sinister.
 It would be unjust, of course, to as 'ume that there is real cruelty under Ill this passive obedience to the die ates of fashion. But since hats and oonnets quite as becoming and pretty ,an be evolved without the bird dec ,ration as can be devised with it, it ioes seem that women of sense and ceiling might be content without shocking the sensibilities of the Au- lubon society and outraging the fit ness of things by demanding yearly sacrifice of bird life to adorn their heads. There was much sense in the ,etort of the little boy who, when re- proved by his Sunday school teacher ,or robbing birds nests, and asked, n pathetic tones, where the poor mother was, replied, "She ain't suf- ,erin' none, Miss-she's on your hat" There is no excuse of ignorance to be pleaded. The public has been told over and over again that wearing ,spreys mean the death of multitude ,f helpless little birds, since the feath- PTS are best at the breeding season md the parent bird must be killed hen. The fact that birds of particu- arly fine plumage have often been skinned alive has also been made known; and the silence of woodlands md meadows, where the milliner's agent has been, speaks for itself. It $ about time this senseless and cruel fashion should go the way of nose rings and war paint.