Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-01-11

When Congress passed the tariff bill with
/ the amendment which pro-
Aigrette hibited the Importation of
r4 aigrettes, egret plumes, or
APoA s'' so-called osprey feathers,
| the general public was given. to under
| stand that. the practice of slaughtering
wild birds to provide millinery decora-
tons had been stopped for all time, be.
cause of the loss of the heavy American
trade.
The mlliners' lobby, which fought the
prohibitory amendment while the tariff
bill was under discussion, and the work
of which was shown up by DIR. W. T.
Hornaday, director of the New York
Geological Gardens. left Washington
| many months. ago, but from outside
points various attempts have been made
recently to bring influence to bear on
congressman and obtain amendments to
| the tariff bill which will modify and per-
haps make ineffective the present pro-
vision prohibiting the importation of
plumage birds and their feathers.
Since the passage of the tariff act pub
lie opinion against the slaughter of birds
for plumage has become so crystallIzed
that up to the present time congressman
have refused to introduce proposed
amendments to the bill which Will
nullify the piumage import provisions.
There has been introduced, however. a
bill providing for amendment which
I on its face is most innocent. Its eX-
pressed purpose is to relieve American
woman travellers wearing aigreties., pur-
chased originally in the United States of
the embarrassment and loss caused. by
customs officers shipping their pEumes
on their return to this country from.
"trip abroad.
This amendment which has been in
troduced with an apparently sincere pur-
pose of relieving American travellers OF
embarrassment. would. IL 1t is passed, ac-
| cordins TO various bird experts in the
government service, open the way to
| the extensive smuggling of aigrettes and
the probable enrichment of uhscrupu
lous millinery jobbers engaging in such
an Illegal business. This innocent-look
ing amendment would permit, for in
stance. millinery house to carry. on an
extensive smuggling business over the
border line between Canada and the
United States. or between the United
States and Mexico, where customs in
spection is not as thorough as at the
large ports. A woman employe could
be sent across wearing cheap aigrette
plume worth merely. a few dollars and
come back with one worth many times
| this, amount and the custom officials
would be none the wiser. or the woman
could go to Canada wearing a small
|
with five or ten times as many feathers
I in it and worth upward of one hundred
! to four hundred dollars.
| Bird experts. while working to pre-
vent the extinction of the white heron
or egret, which supplies the plumes
known to the trade as aigrettes, believe
| that American women can be relieved of
| all embarrassment caused on returning
to the United States from foreign trips,
| if they will remember not to wear the
! vly ahr ha ir1
| experts point out that already with the
| tariff law in operation for less than six
months the law-abiding mlliners of the
| country have devised other head deco
| rationS which are just beautiful in
most cases, as the once popular aigrette,
and which are far less expensive
Women who insist upon wearing
| aigrettes and who already have acquired
| them in this country are even meeting
| with embarrassment in travelling in some
| of the states where very strict anti
| aigrette laws are on the statute books
and strictly enforced. An amusing
case was recently brought to the atten-
ton of some of the governments bird
experts when a prize plume of forty-siX
dozen aigrettes worn by an actress in a
| Portland (OreD theater were seized on
the stage by the state game warden.
| The money value of these plumes was
| about S412 at the time of purchase, ac-
cording to report. Notwithstanding the
| protestationS of the actress. the plumeS
were confiscated by the authorities in
| Oregon. where the law is very strict and
prohibits not only the sale Of aigrette
| plumes but makes it unlawful for any
person to have aigrettes in his or her
! possession except for scientific purposes.
The fair actress. playing at the time in
| a Portland theater and using the
| aigrettes in her stage costume, was I'M
| able to convince the state authorities
| that her costly headgear was for strictly
scientific purposes.