The Alaska citizen., 1913-12-01
ALL ABOUT NUM|D|
 FEATHERS

Numidi feathers is the fad of ihe millinery season. writes New York correspondent of the Kansas City Star There seems to be no hat without al least one thin s.rand of tn $ new feather. What is more. every woman can have it. She can pay a few dollars for one feather and feel neatly dressed. or she can put s100 worth on a hat like a huge aigrette
 aNumidi'' is variously explained as Nile bird, the Japanese bird of prayer. and an African duck. The word "Numidi." however. is simply trade name for the feathers of the Manchurian cared pheasant winch has been known to the eastern world since 1866. when the first bird was brought over. The feathers have years. but they have never been so popular as last winter. when the law forbidding the sale of aigrettes brought them into favor As early as January the big department stor- es realized the demand and bought all that they could get, taking huge quantities of the raw material to be ready for the emergency Since then the pr.ee has steadily advanc- ed from 30 cents for the ungrad- cd feathers to about 65 cents whole sale
 When the supply ran low, it wal imi, tated by the manufacturers to meet the demand Tor cheaper feather and to supply the great quantity needed The best substitute is the uncurl- ed ostrich feather The flues are singed off so that the stem is lief, and these are then treated by diff terent processes to give them a lus- ter which is one of the attractions of the real Numidi. You can easily
 ell the mi ,ation, as all the flues do not come off, and this leaves roughness about the stem. Also, i they are heavier than 5he real Nu- i midi. which are most delicate and set ute some distance apart. The end, too, is not like the real pheas- ant tail and is harder.
 The eheapes. grade of "Numidi." as ii is called, is the dyed peacock feather. This has very heavy end oEer the metallic look of the pea cock feather will show through the dye. This is only one of the many iisguises of the peacock, which sells disguised as "Numidi," as low as p cents a strand. wouldn't be surprised if Numidi lasted through next season, too. You can hardly buy it in Paris.
 The bird supplying these new feathers is the Manchurian cared pheasant. His coloring is qu te as fashionable as the sixteen or more Numidi feathers which he wears in his tail. He is about the size of q small turkey. His head is small and looks as if covered wth black sealskin. About his throat he wears very Frenehy ruff of pale brown feathers. These are marrow at the front, but puff out at the sides and give him his name of the cared pheasant. From his collar his body shades to the new crust of bread" brown. which contrasts well with the odd coral red of his legs and feet and makes the tail look almost ash en. These feathers sweep away from the body in narrow line, the top one being the longest and each one lying directly below it and growing gradually shorter until they reach the body. Between these gray fued and slightly brown-tipped "Nu- midis," which he drags so carelessly on the ground, is a lighter feather of a grayish cast which covers the joining of the brown coat and the tail. His Chinese home is Ho-ke and he comes from the high wooded mountain north of Pewin, where he feeds on green vegetables, leaves and roots. He is easily tanned