Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-04-29

| VI age OF the bird or paradise, one or the
loveliest and cruelist of feminine
adornments, is making positively it's last
appearance in New York millinery shops this
season. In another year, it is expected, it
will have completely disappeared, because
by that time it is going to be dangerous to
sell it. Consequently, nearly every hat shop
window in the city now contains gorgeous
display of paradise plumes, marked down to
bargain prices.
Because of the near extinction Of the bird
of paradise species, the importation of para
disc feathers was forbidden in the tariff
law of 1913, but since that act neglected to
place any restrictions upon their sale, they
have continued to appear with persistent
regularity in the millinery market. The
new tariff law, however, contains the neces-
sary restrictions in an amendment which
puts on the dealer the burden Of proving
his stock of feathers was in this country in
or before 1918. Hence, the present intense
anxiety of dealers to dispose of their para
disc feathers before the act is put into
effect.
Under the old law, it was the government
that had to supply the proof, which was
impractical. About the only way the Fed
eral authorities could obtain conviction
was to catch a smuggler in the act of bring
ing paradise feathers into the country Once
they were here, they were as safe as If they
had been formally passed by the customs
officials. The smuggler had no trouble in
disposing of the feathers to a jobber, who,
in turn, sold them to department stores or
milliners, to whom he furnished certificates
and other data designed to show that the
merchandise had been in the United States
the required number Of years. And, as the
law did not question the good faith of deal
ers who bought feathers on the strength of
these shaky certificates neither could the
Federal district attorney.
No Shortage of Plumes
Thus, the smuggling of paradise feathers
into this country has been proceeding
briskly for the last nine years, during which
time the millinery market has never been
annoyed by shortage. The demand for the
plumes, according to one dealer, is Gas
steady as that for diamonds" so that SNUG
glers have always been able to dispose Of
their goods promptly. Most Of the SNUG
Cling has been carried on by seamen and
officers of merchant ships from the Medi-
terranean, who usually conceal the feathers
under their clothing.
Lean seamen, one official tells us, "have
waddled off their ships swollen and pulled
like Falstaffs by layers upon layers of
plumes strapped to their limbs and trunks
On some lines customs inspectors first take
a glimpse at the neck and then at the waist
of the seaman. If they observe No. IA
neck springing out of a 60-inch torso, they
thousand dollars worth of feathers. On
one occasion, a suspiciously well-timbered
and pompous ship captain was searched and
a mere core or kernel of human being found
running through a huge structure of
feathers"
All Of the confiscated plumes, speci-
fed in the 1913 law, have been turned over
to the National Association of Audubon
Societies. which has formed them into ex-
hibts and distributed them among sixty
different museums throughout the country
About twenty thousand dollars worth Of
plumes, it is said, are to be found in these
collections.
In spite of these gratifying contributions
to science the Audubon Societies, under
the leadership of their president, Mr.. T.
Gilbert Pearson, have never ceased to agi-
tate for a more effective law. Their only
fear has been that it would come too late
after the last OF the "Manukdewata" (birds
Of the gods) as they are called in East In
dian Islands, had fallen victim to feminine
fashions.
The birds are found in Papua, New
Guinea and certain parts of Africa, where
they are easily slaughtered by the natives
during the mating season.
"Only the full grown male bird has the
gorgeous spread of feathers which is COW
eted by commerce" explains a New York
lealer, who is something of an authority on
the subject. "This is at it's best during the
counting season, when they hold their an