Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-08-17
mixers Of FEATHERS
Their Trade Is One That Takes
Many Years To Master.
SORTING ouT THE GRADES.

SORTING OUT THE Ora ES.l
The Work of the Blower, Machine
That Is at Once Both Simple and
Wonderful - The Combinations the
i Expert Must Know How 70 Mix.
Feather mixing is one of the hardest
trades to learn, but when mastered is
also one OF the best paying methods of
earning a living. The worker who in
tends to make this trade his life work
must start when he is young, for It'll
takes on an average thirteen years for
a man to work up from pillow filler to
feather mixer.
Feathers that have been plucked
from hens, ducks, turkeys and geese
are the only kinds of feathers that are
used, says the Chicago Tribune. One
kind of feathers alta time is placed in
the drum to be beaten and to be ster-
ilized by hot air process. The drum
is large machine not unlike the wash
ing machines used in laundries. In
the center Of each machine is an axle
with eight beaters attached. The beat
ers make over 200 revolutions a min
ute, beating the dust out of the feath-
ers and cleaning them thoroughly. A
thin screen On the front and back Of
the machine let's the dust out.
s This part Of the feather work Is the
most unhealthy, for the windows in
the drum room are not allowed to be
opened, and the dust that comes from
the feathers is inhaled by the worker.
Many OF the drum men contract con-
sumption in year or more doing this
work and are compelled to give up
and seek other employment. The work
Is not SO unhealthy as 1t was in for
mer years, for the men now are allow
ed to leave the room while the ma
chine Is In operation.
After the feathers have been beaten
and sterilized In the drum they are
placed in the blowing machine to be
sorted and to be deodorized by the
cold blast. As In the drum, the kinds
of feathers are put III the blower sep
arately. The blower Is the most sim
pie and yet the most wonderful ma
chine that IS used In the feather busi-
ness. The machine Is built with a
large funnel shaped mouth on top and
always Is placed at one end of large
room. ri u
| The feathers are placed In the fun
pel, through which they fall down into
the center of the machine. The cold
/ air blowing from the fam deodorizes
l them, and they leave the machine 10
i a Steady stream, flying all over the
room The worker finds himself In
what looks like d miniature storm, fol
the feathers fy around as high as the
ceiling. An onlooker well might won
der where the sorting comes in Of the
maze of feathers.
1T is here that the wonderful part oi
q tine machine lies, for the air pressure
Is so arranged that the heaviest feath,
ers, which are also the cheapest. viii
I fan precisely in a bin about five feet
i away from the blower. The next
i heaviest will fall In a bin fifteen feet
a away from the machine, and the res,
4 OF the seven different grades of feath
4 ers will fall accurately in bins that
have been provided for them. The
a down, which is the most expensive
d flies around In the air the longest, but
u when it comes down 1t falls into biz
that is placed over seVenty-five feet
4 away from the blower. Thus the sew
en- different grades of feathers have
been sorted, each kind In bin and
Il without having been touched since
leaving the blower. .ss
The drum and blower man, after put
ting In i've years at this kind Of Worl
q and also learning the different grades
1 OF feathers, takes another step upward
I In the business and becomes an as
4 sistant to the mixer. His work con
sists Of weighing feathers and learning
q the different combinat ions that are
used in stufing pillows. In few
i years he probably will know how tc
mix some Of the combinations, but usu
q ally 1T takes Eve years OF experience
q before an assistant can become 8
mixer.
The combination used In the cheap
est pillows Is hen and turkey feathers
Duck and turkey combination Is used
in a little better grade of pillows, and
the best combination of all is duck and
goose feathers. The most expensive
/ filling is made of doWny feathers from
Il geese. These combinations have diff
4 ferent prices, and the mixer must know
4 these prices and when he can expert
nent with the various kinds OF feath
ers to try to get a cheaper combina.
4 ton that VIII last as long as the dearel
kind.
Animal Suicides.
One Of the most frequent causes OF