FEATHERS, Artificial. Artificial feath ers have long been made in the United States. It is probable that the industry was brought here by French immigrants, who had fled from their own country. The number of French people here was soon increased by those who had come hither from the island of Haiti, and one of the first industries they took up was artificial flower and feather making. This work was, more correctly, the artificial grouping and coloring of natural feathers. As long ago as 1840 there were 10 manufacturers in this line in New York. No separate enumeration of these products appears in the early census returns, but the quantity demanded increased greatly. New York has from the first been the prin cipal seat of the industry.
Less than 10 per cent of the ostrich feath ers and tips used in the decoration of ladies' hats are of sufficient elegance in their natural state to be marketable. The practice is to combine three or four natural feathers to pro duce one of the ordinary plumes sold in the shops, and a very fine one requires six natural feathers. In the making over process the quills of all the feathers except the lowermost are cut away or shaved down and the pile of feathers being assembled so as to give the richest effect, the stems of all are made into one by sewing and tying. A wire is sewed into the
artificial stem and it is by this that the plume is given its proper curve. The flues are then curled by drawing over a square edge in a fashion peculiar to feather curlers and requir ing special skill. Good feather curlers receive salaries up to $50 a week. Ostrich tips are made in the same way, generally from three feathers. The "willow plumes') which were in vogue for a time were made by tying the flues stripped from one feather to the tips of the flues of another. With the finest of this type a second rank of ties was made, making the finished flues three times their natural length.
In the making of boas the feathers are sewn so as to lap over one another in strings up to from one yard to three yards in length. These sewn strings are twisted over a steaming kettle until they have the required shape, and the flues are then curled as described above. See FEATH ERS.