Democratic Sentinel, Volume 10, Number 29, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 August 1886 — “Featherbone." [ARTICLE]

“Featherbone."

The scarcity of whalebone, its high price, and a demand for an at tide in its stead, led Mr. E. K. Warren to invent “Featherbone,” a substitute prepared from the quills of geese and turkeys. The factory is located at Three Oaks, Mich., and, in the short space of two years, the enterprise has grown to a large industry. As the discovery brought to existence a new substance, it became necessary to invent machinery required in its manufacture. These operations have passed the stage of experimental existence, and “Featherbone” is noAv an article of commercial value. The quills of turkeys and geese only are used. Th*e first piocess scrips the plumage from the quills. A set of revolving knives then divides the quills in halves. Bapidly revolving sand-pa-per i oilers then remove the pith. The quills are then passed to an ingeniously constructed Bystem of interlocking knives, which reduces them to fiber. These fibers are then fed to a machine which twists them into a fine cord wrapped Avith thread. Another machine wraps four of these cords with thread and forms them into a flat tape. A sewing machine places a row of stitches between each cord, which gives the tape increased strength and adds to its elasticity, and the whole is then passed between two large rollers, which gives it a uniform thickness, and makes it ready for market. The article is said to be unbreakable, and, if bent double, will retain its strength and elasticity. In dress-making it possesses the advantage over whalebone of being lighter, cheaper, more durable, and needs no casings, as it is sewed tc the goods. It is superseding whalebone in the manufacturing of whips, and a large whipfactory is the outgroAvth of Mr. Warren’s discovery. The plumage of the leathers is used for making a very good quality of mattresses, and the pith, being shown by analysis to be rich in nitrogen, is used as a fertilizer. About 300 jobbing houses handle their goods, and the factory gives employment to 150 persons, and consumes 30,000 quills and 125 miles of thread daily.— The Current.