Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 39, Number 77, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 May 1907 — NOW FOR THE HOME GROWN STRICH PLUME [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

NOW FOR THE HOME GROWN OSTRICH PLUME

The wise amd daring investors who transplanted ostrich fanning from Africa to the United States are congratulating themselves now. They are reaping a harvest now, such as perhaps they never dreamed of, for the plumes of the gawky bird, are at the top wave of popularity that has lasted ever since the days when Gainsborough painted tils world-famous beauties with huge hats covered with ostrich feathers. Since that day, if not before it, in fact, the ostrich plume has lain very close to the feminine heart, but its vogue this year surpasses all records. The fair votary of Dame Fashion may array herself in all that is beautiful and costly, her dress may be purest silk, her fingers blaze with diamonds, her coat be precious fur, but she is not happy unless the whole be surmounted by a picture hat, with two, three, or perhaps four superb ostrich plumes. It is almost impossible for milliners to meet the demand for high-grade feathers, and if they were dependent solely on the stock imported from Africa, it would be quite out of the question, but the American ostrich farms at Pasadena, Jacksonville and Phoenix have flourished, and the big bird has proved himself such a flourishing American that a large part of the supply is now a home product. The modern society woman spends more money on her hats than ever before, for the reason that with shopping, calling, driving and lunching, she has [illegible] day and natur[illegible] glory Brady commencement exercise inches long. surprised if called upon

be surprised if called upon to pay $80 for the feathers alone, without taking into account the cost of the other materials and the making. But it is not alone the member of the four hundred who dons the feather of the ostrich. Women in more moderate circumstances can get a very luxurious effect from a feather that costs less than $10. In fact a milliner will say that there is no form of headwear in which such good results can be obtained as from ostrich feathers. The world’s total supply of ostriches is now said to be about 380,000 birds. All but 20,000 of these are in Africa, the native country of the biggest birds. The stock is not decreasing, for it is one of the good fortunes of the ostrich that to take his feathers does not cause his death. The feathers would drop off themselves if not removed, and there is nothing painful about the latter operation, though the vanity of the bird that is being robbed of its chief ornament makes him resent the process. The ostrich is too valuable a bird to be ill used, for on the average theyare worth $800 per pair, and each one will produce some sixty dollars’ worth of feathers every year. Hence it will be seen that the owner has the strongest motives of self-interest to take care of the birds. The feathers are never plucked till they are ripe. It is only a little more than two decades ago since the first ostriches were brought into the United States with the serious purpose of attempting their culture here. Before that time

the only ones seen in Uncle Sam’s realm had been adjuncts to circuses. When the experiment was first attempted there were many misgivings as to what success would attend the venture. It had been the accepted opinion that the birds would not thrive anywhere save in the Dark Continent This doubt has passed away, for not a single one of the farms is a loser, and some are yielding a considerable profit. Outside of the first cost of the birds, ostrich farming is not a costly venture. The food bill is not a big one, and a farm of a couple of hundred acres is big enough to take care of as many birds as any farmer would want to handle. The herds have to be kept in inclosures, for while many of them become tame, others never lose their wildness and tendency to pugnacity. The ostrich in this country is feeling so much at home that it is more than a dream of the future that ninetenths of the plumes nodding over the American woman's hat will some day be the product of her own country.

ORIGIN OF THE KISS. Its Earliest Form--The Caress of the Ancient Indians. At a recent session of the American Oriental Society Prof. Hopkins of Yale read a paper on “The Sniff Kiss in Ancient India.” Reduced to its foundation, the paper was a history of the kiss as we know it. The learned Orientalist traced it from its birth and proved that the earliest peoples and earliest times knew it not. That there might be [illegible] Oddl [illegible] that the genuine kiss [illegible] by a woman. The description is given In the epic of ancient India which treats of the science of love. “She laid her mouth on my mouth,” recites the poet, “and made a noise which gave me pleasure.” “The early peoples,” declared Prof. Hopkins, “knew nothing of the kiss in any form. Had they known of it they would have told something of it in the mass of records that has come down to us, for surely an act which conveys such pleasure could not have been forgotten. “Even to this day there are races that do not kiss. The Mongolians and certain of the tribes in central Asia do not osculate, and the Esquimaux, we are told, employ the kiss only as a prophylactic. “The earliest form of the kiss is that which we know as the sniff kiss. This is a smelling, usually of the head. The father of a new-born son sniffed his head that his days might be long and that honors might come to him. Returning from a journey, he sniffed the heads of his children in the same manner. “Gradually with this sniff kiss there came also a caress, a touching usually of the head. Gradually, also, the endearment came to be applied to others than children. The rubbing of noses, which has persisted in some tribes, was probably an intermediate process in the evolution. “With the development of the genu-

ine kiss the sniff kiss disappeared, never to reappear. It had served Its purpose and soon was forgotten.” Thus the sniff kiss proves the mother and father of all kisses. Blessed be the sniff kiss.—Philadelphia North American.

[image: Drawing]

America Soon To Supply Bulk of Feathers Used Within Its Borders