The Washington herald., 1908-09-06


ard q excellence Il Is usslaI 20 disffn-
guish the bundle by tying them wiki pink
or blue Tih50n. instead OF irvine. 50 thar
/ those looking fer the choicest lots in the
sales may quickly recognize them. Il Is
{ barely twenty years since the finest white
cape feathers were worth from $50 to Esd
q pound. as 2ll are sold by weight and
this is the unit adopted To-day Ss5 and
50 q pound are tie highest figures thar
are usually made. and il would De some
I thing extraordinary that would bring 81
or So Prices are as low as s. a mound
for the snort black feathers which are
gently cGrTycCmbed out or dropped at
moultins time The wing and tail feath-
ers are cut on. il may be mentioned close
70 the skin and in due time the Quill
falls out 70 make room for the new
growth Il viii convey some idea OF the
vastness OF the industry 20 state that in
the December sale of 1S9S there were
57.170 pounds of weight Of feather This is
always the largest Of The annual series.
but in the October sale there We're =. 500
pounds. and about that amount ia those
OF August June. April and February.
the total for the year being little less
than that Of lSl- When il is borne in
mind JhIt there are from $50 20 200 feath-
ers Of ayoirdupois. one IS well within the
markSn estimating the plumes that pass
through London in year ar about
81, ,000.el0--
..FancieS- on Concluding Days.
The concluding days Of the sale are
always devoted TO what the trade knows
IS fancies.' these den0ting such piumes
as those o. birds Of paradise. osprey. and
c0lored skins Of parrots. pheasants Cfrom
the Himalayas) humming birds. and the
like There is not the slightest demand
at the present moment for little birds
One great merchant. in fact. who hap
pens 20 have a few cases in which he
speculated about d year and half ago.
Of paralzeets. grassninches. and the other
lovely little fuuerinE gems. finds them
absolutely unstable In the face Of pres
ent fashion The real bird of paradise is
exceedingly costly and uine-tenths Of
what are termed paradise plumes' are
limitations. as clever and exact as electric
rabbit IS Of true sealskin-
But Il is over the osprey and egret
that women have been most rated for
barbarity and thouEhJlessness; yet the
birds which produce the plumes Of this
styIe-the crane and heron 0rders-are
almost Universally scattered over the
world and alike from Brazil Venezuela-
Burnah. and South India, from Florida
and South and West Africa from Turkey
In Europe and southern Russia supplies
are drawn A broker OF worldwide deal
Ing says:
7 have made special inquiries Of some
OF our agents and buyers. some of wrom
have been actually IN the West InIies
and seen the birds and conditions OF
capture They all agree that The idea of
cruelty is faiiacy; or, at any rate. a
very gross exaggeration For instance. in
the case OF osprey feathers we would
bring to. your notice a point Of which
the opponents Of their wear make such
capital and that is the killing Of the fe-
male bird on her nest Common sense.
II nothing else. should point ont the stu
pidity of such proceeding. as. If such
were the case. the bird would have been
Pretty well eXtermiuatad by now
Tales of Cruelty Exaggerated.
The proof that It was not done is
ahorced by the increasing amount that is
coming into the market from all parts in
obedience 10 a larger demand. and shows
that the bird is instead fostered By the
hunters. who. knowing their value. would
certainly not wish 10 Kill the goose that
laid the golden egg- These feathers are
sold by the ounce, the long osprey having
been represented by about 3.0l5 ounces al
about SO an ounce. in each Of the sales
this year OF heron and short ospreys
worth s. there have been about 20l0 and
500 ounces, respectively Most precious
Of All is the f5er-hne plume o. the egret.
ot which the sales have averaged 80
ounces Il nov stands al 50 an ounce.
but not long ago touched 50.
Not less interesting IS the preparation
Il the feathers for their ultimate purpose
as la- trimmings There is far more
making up about a feather than people
HH O.
dissecunE one would imagine. and. 10
give an example. one Of the outstanding
black plUues now so fashionable has
gone through a dozen hands and processes
before IL IS ready 20 so out
-One EirI pares down the superfuous
Quill with razor-keen knife another deft-
II rlus II the wrong way 10 obtain its
best fuIlress- a third cuts the Tip OF two
feathers and inserts them between. lower
down so that it shall be thick and full
while they 90 70 another 10 De sown to-
gether- She passes II 20 the next table.
where Z IS scraDed smooth with glass
before a little black varnis-- neatly ap-
Piled. ConceaIs all stitches Then a wi-e
= Inserted 70 give e q cu-viuE droop at
the top, and u IS dexter0usly curled by
drawing each fiue over q blunt knife.
Machinery has often been tried for this.
but so tar nothing has been invented 10
supersede the human hand for the opera I
ton
Egg Gathering Destructive.
In connection with this. IL may be
mentioned that egg collecting. which is
not confined 20 boys. is a cause OF great
destruction 10 bird life. The fad is rep
resented by q number OF periodicals ex-
clusively devoted 10 IL Certain Of our
European Immigrants have brought 10
this country the habit Of killing small
birds for food. and IN the fan and winter
the markets of New Orleans are stocked
with thousands of song birds shot for
the table But hitherto the millinery bust
ness has done The worst Of the mischief
When aigrettcs were decreeG fashionable 7
IN q few years the immense herouries of
Florida were literally wiped out. where
once were acres Of snowy plumase T
Again, in response 10 the mandate Of
fashion. the tern. OF sea swallow. was
swept in q few years frsm the Atlantic /
coast The wing OF the ptarmigan was
found 10 be an attractive hat ornament. +
ana single shipment from A-changeI .
Russia consisted Of ten tons Of shese
wings Whatever species was1 selected TO /
be worn was doomed 10 practical extinc- F
uOn5 and as soon as one species became +
extinct another was marked for destruc- /
ton"
Maybe They Wed for Economy.
Frum the New YORK Pres
There have beer more r.,a--Faess y, T