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About The McCook tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 1886-1936 | View Entire Issue (July 12, 1907)
MIXERS HEATHERS Their Trade Is One That Takes Many Years to Master SORTING OUT THE GRADES Tho Work of the Blowor a Machine That Is at Once Both Simple and Wonderful The Combinations the Expert Must Know How to Mix Feather mixing is one of the hardest trades to learn but when mastered Is also one of the best paying methods of earning a living The worker who in tends to make this trade his life work must start when he is young for It takes on an average thirteen years for a man to work up from pillow filler to feather mixer Feathers that have been plucked from hens ducks turkeys and geese are the only kinds of feathers that are used says the Chicago Tribune One kind of feathers at a time is placed In the drum to be beaten and to be ster ilized by hot air process The drum Is a large machine not unlike the wash ing machines used In laundries In the center of each machine is an axle with eight beaters attached The beat ers make over 200 revolutions a min ute beating the dust out of the feath ers and cleaning them thoroughly A thin screen on the front and back of the machine lets the dust out This part of the feather work Is the most unhealthy for the windows In the drum room are not allowed to be opened and the dust that comes from the feathers is inhaled by the worker Many of the drum men contract con sumption in a year or more doing this work and are compelled to give up and seek other employment The work is not so unhealthy as it was in for mer years for the men now are allow ed to leave the room while the ma chine is in operation After the feathers have been beaten and sterilized In the drum they are placed in the blowing machine to be sorted and to be deodorized by the cold blast As in the drum the kinds of feathers are put in the blowor sep arately The blower is the most sim ple and yet the most wonderful ma chine that is used in the feather busi ness The machine is built with a large funnel shaped mouth on top and always is placed at one end of a large room The feathers are placed in the fun nel through which they fall down into the center of the machine The cold air blowing from the fan deodorizes them and they leave the machine in a steady stream Hying all over the room The worker finds himself in what looks like a miniature storm for the feathers fly around as high as the ceiling An onlooker well might won der where the sorting comes in of the maze of feathers It is here that the wonderful part of the machine lies for the air pressure is so arranged that the heaviest feath ers which are also the cheapest will fall precisely in a bin about five feet away from the blower The next heaviest will fall in a bin fifteen feet away from the machine and the rest of the seven different grades of feath ers will fall accurately in bins that have been provided for them The down which is the most expensive flies around In the air the longest but when It comes down it falls into a bin that is placed over seventy five feet away from the blower Thus the sev en different grades of feathers have been sorted each kind In a bin and without having been touched since leaving the blower The drum and blower man after put ting in five years at this kind of work and also learning the different grades of feathers takes another step upward in tho business and becomes an as sistant to the mixer His work con sists of weighing feathers and learning the different combinations that are used in stuffing pillows In a few years he probably will know how to mix some of the combinations but usu ally it takes five years of experience before an assistant can become a mixer The combination used In the cheap est pillows is hen and turkey feathers Duck and turkey combination is used in a little belter grade of pillows and the best combination of all is duck and goose feathers The most expensive filling is made of downy feathers from geese These combinations have dif ferent prices and the mixer must know these prices and when he can experi ment with the various kinds of feath ers to try to get a cheaper combina tion that will last as long as the dearer kind Animal Suicides One of the most frequent causes of loss of animals in a circus menagerie is suicide of which there are numerous well authenticated cases In speaking of this characteristic a trainer who has been constantly associated with wild beasts for more than forty years says The instinct for self destruction is common among all kinds of animals and the causes are in many instances the same as usually impel a man or woman to take his or her life Proba bly the most pronounced of these causes are loneliness homesickness loss of companions or progeny and ill health There are animals that period ically have a return of the suicidal mania and that can be saved from self destruction only by the most intelligent and careful treatment As a rule how ever when the animal has made up Its mind so to speak to commit suicide nothing can prevent it and the keeper not only for reasons of humanity but also because an animal in that condi tion is extremely dangerous often is compelled to end its sufferings by has tening its death Spare Moments Sheridans Double Marriage It was in 1857 that the Gretna Green marriages were made illegal A glance at Its registers may yet Inspire the novelist of the future One entry will be sure to puzzle Twice within a few days occurs the record of the marriage of Itichard Brinsley Sheridan to Miss Grant There was only one R B S only one bride for the same gentleman The double entries are not the result of any blunder on the part of the Rev Mr Vulcan The parties were really twice married at Gretna Green Arriv ing on a Sunday they were duly wed ded and sped away to Edinburgh There however Sheridan chanced to glance at a newspaper in which ap peared the lucubrations of a lawyer In these plainly stated was the fact that no contract executed on a Sunday Is binding Clearly then their wed- ding was not legal Back to Gretna Green they scurried to be remarried on a week day and leave the dual i of ord to perplex later generations sympathetic searchers of the records St James Gazette The Buzzard In Flight There can be no doubt that the buz zard is the living aeroplane in perfec tion It cannot sail against the wind except as other birds do by sheer pow er of moving wings but it can sail at amazing speed before the wind at right angles to the wind and can sail within a few points of the wind When there Is no wind its flight is clumsy not much of an improvement on the flying of a hen Authors are wont to describe the buzzard as sail ing In the sky on days when the earth perspires beneath a sultry still atmosphere But it will also be re membered that these authors invari ably describe tho blizzard as being a speck in the brassy heavens As a matter of fact that is just the point of tho buzzards aerial knowledge WlAn there is no breeze close to the eari t it is always to he observed roost ing in a tree or flying laboriously into the zenith until it finds an upper cur rent where it can navigate without la bor New York Times Bones and Their Places It was a colloquy at a north side butchers shop Oh said the little woman thats an awful big bone in that small steak I dont like to have to pay for ail bone Yesm said the butcher politely but with a touch of irony In his an swer that do seem to be a good deal of bone but the animals whats com- I in to this market now seems to have j I more or less bone in em And really j I 1 as animals is built now I dont see how they can get along without bones That may all be true said the lit tle woman and there was a wicked twinkle in her eye but this morning I found a good sized bone in the sau sage and I leave it to you honest now dont you think that is going a little too far And the butcher could not say a word in reply Indianapolis News Incidental Music One afternoon a couple from an ad joining town presented themselves to a Boston divine and asked to be mar ried just as he was about to enter the pulpit to conduct an afternoon service The minister replied that he regretted that he could not at that moment com ply with their wish but that immedi ately upon the conclusion of the serv ice he would take pleasure in perform ing the ceremony The lovers after demurring seated themselves in the rear of the church When the minister had finished the service he made the following announcement The parties Saying well causes a laugh Doing tvell causes silence French Proverb CELEBMTEO CRANKS Genius That Was Linked With the Manners of a Bear A DINNER WITH DEAN SWIFT The Way the Whimsical Misanthrope Treated His Publisher Carlyle and Tennyson as Growlers Stories of Handel and Von Bulow Carlyle in addition to his other trou bles was a great sufferer from dyspep sia He was therefore anything but sympathetic In Intercourse with his friends anything but fair In his esti mates of other writers Though Carlyle personally liked Ten nyson he spoke with impatience of his cobbling his odes dismissed Jane Austens novels as dishwashings Hallain the historian as dry as dust and Goldsmith as an Irish black guard Even the writers of editorials in the press were scored by the ble sage of Chelsea What are these j fellows doing he asked They only serve to cancel one another A characteristic Incident Illustrates Carlyles disposition to inflict pain even on a friend An artist who frequented the house of Carlyle painted t p cture of him in his dressing gown vjlcing a pipe by the fireside and Mr- arlyle in an armchair sitting opposite him The portrait was hung at one of the Royal academys exhibitions and though not a striking work of art was purchased by Lord Ashburton Car lyles friend for 500 The delighted artist hurried off to the Carlyles expecting congratulations on the sale and some manifestation of pleasure on their part at having such a value placed on a picture of them selves and their domestic interior lie delivered his glad tidings but the only response he got from Carlyle was Well mon 500 was just 195 too much Browning one day left a copy of his new poems at uariyies nouse in speaking of this action to Tennyson the next day Carlyle broke out with a savage snarl What did that fellow mean by leav ing that cart load of stones at my door Tennysou himself though not nearly so grouchy as the Chelsea sage was yet considerably of a growler on occa sion Especially did this tendency on his part become manifest when he sus disposition on any side to who are to be joined in matrimony wns rnTifinprf to his bed immediately after the singing of hymn 415 Mistaken Souls That Dream of Heaven Exchange Big Jumps by Rabbits now fast do hares and rabbits run Perhaps you have wondered while out gunning and watched the elusive ani mals speeding away According to J G Miliais the length of a hares stride is about four feet while that of a rab bit is about two feet Under j detained until near dinner pected a lionize him It is related that at a dinner in Lon don to Avhich he had gone much against his will at the solicitation of a relative the poet laureate soon dis covered that the company were expect ing some pearl of thought from him He glowered at the gathering in such a way as visibly to disconcert some of them Then as if purposely to utter the most unpoetical remark he could devise with a grim smile he turned to his hostess all the guests in absolute silence waiting the slightest word of genius and growled out Madam I like my mutton cut in chunks in chunks madam in chunks Perhaps the greatest grouch of lit erature was Dean Swift that whimsi cal misanthrope who evinced a morbid delight in humiliating his social infe riors because he himself when young had been outrageously affronted by his superiors Swift had acted as private secretary to Sir William Temple Once when will present themselves at tne cuaucei t the kinff william III visit- ed him and Swift officiated as his majestys guide through the gardens of Moor Park The king taught the secretary how to cut asparagus in the Dutch way and Swift had also the felicity of seeing him eat the vegetable Years afterward when Swift was dean of St Patricks cathedral in Dub lin his publisher Faulkner called at the deanery on business connected with some proof sheets naving been time he tions of fear the hare is said to leap -was pressed by the dean to dine with ten to twelve feet some authorities him Asparagus was one of the veg claiming that it can jump ditches ten to twenty five feet in width A hare can jump upward perpendicularly five feet Rabbits can make leaps of six or seven feet horizontally but cannot jump higher than three feet When compelled to do so it is said rabbits can swim as well as dogs Philadel phia North American A Bright Bird The cuckoo is as likely to steal its nest as to make it but this fact does not take from the point of the follow ing pun quoted from Short Stories A young Englishman being asked at dinner whether he would have some birds nest pudding said turning to his hostess Ah yes Birds nest him asked some one ding and what kind of a bird may have made it Oh it was the cook who made it was her prompt reply Not Always Remember my boy said Uncle James as he gave Bobby a coin that if you take care of the pennies the shillings will take care of themselves Bobby looked a trifle dubious I do take care of the pennies he replied but as soon as they get to be shillings pa takes care of em Lon don Tit Bits Tonsorial Artistry Customer facetiously Do you sup pose you can cut my hair without mak ing me look like an idiot Barber d fidently It will be a pretty difficult thing to do but I will try LIppincotts Magazine etables and the guest asked for a second helping Sir snapped Swift pointing to Faulkners plate first finish what you have upon your plate What sir Eat the stalks asked the astonished publisher Aye sir Eat the stalks or youll have no more King William always ate his stalks added the dean in his most imperious manner Whereupon the meek Faulkner yield ing to the deans will ate the stalks most submissively Shortly after tho deans death Faulk ner was relating the incident as an il lustration of Swifts insoleace And you were silly enough to obey Yes replied Faulkner and let me add sir that if you had dined with Dean Swift you would have eaten your stalks too John Hunter the famous English sur geon was a man of great eccentricity and of most bearish manners His wife a witty and beautiful woman was the friend of many distinguished persons of the time the eighteenth cen turyher intimate friend being Mme dArblay The two were the moving spirits of a sprightly salon But Hun ter whose mind was set on science to the exclusion of all else gave scant ap proval to his wifes pursuits On returning home late one evening he unexpectedly found his drawing room filled with musical professors connoisseurs and others whom Mrs Hunter had assembled Hunter was greatly irritated by the presence of these guests Walking straight into the center of the room he addressed the astonished company in this strain I knew nothing of the purpose to hold such a kick up I should have been informed of it beforehand but as I am now returned home to study I hope the present company will at once retire Which the present company at once proceeded to do Handel the musician possessed a great natural wit which was frequent ly spiced by his rather caustic refer ences to the merits of his fellow musi cians When The Messiah was being per formed in Dublin Dubourg led the band and one evening had a finale to make ad libitum Following the fash ion the violinist took his cadenza through various keys and continued the Improvisation until the uneasy Handel began to wonder when he would really come to the shake that was to terminate the part and bring In the other Instruments Eventually I bourg finished the cadenza with a grand flourish whereupon Handel to the great distress of the leader put his hands to his mouth and shouted across the hall Velcome home velcome home Mr Dubourg On one occasion a perturbed singer had some warm words with Handel who had been making some sarcastic references to his ability and wound up by threatening to jump on the harpsi chord that Handel played Let me know when you vill do dat retorted Handel und I vill advertise it for I am sure more peoples vill come to see you jump than to hear you sing It has been said that the frankness of another noted musician Hans von Bulow almost equaled that of Handel Bulow was accustomed at one time to meet a large class twice a year in Germany at which many members were listeners while those who wished to play might send in their names to him Sometimes Bulow chose those whom he preferred and sent out for them while the rest waited In terror for their turn to come This nervous ness of anticipation was not without cause An awkward English girl one day went to the piano and frightened al most out of her wits managed to play her selection after a fashion Acli roared Bulow You blay the easy passages with a difligulty dot is simply Once in playing at a concert Bulow stopped abruptly and ordered the ush ers to turn the piano around nis rea son was asked whereupon lie replied that a woman in the audience annoyed him unspeakably by fanning herself out of time As far as the audience was concerned Bulow always made a point of doing exactly as he pleased On one occa sion the orchestra he was conducting had just given a very long Brahms symphony quite beyond the compre hension of any but the musicians among the listeners When the audi ence failed to irive Bulow the aDnlause he expected he turned upon them furi ously What You do not like It I vill teach you to like It and he had the entire composition played through again from beginning to end Brahinn was always applauded after that If only In self defense But when a Lelpslc audience Insisted on recalling Bulow despite his repeat ed refusals to play again he came for ward and said If you do not stop this applause I vill play all Bachs forty eight preludes and fugues from begin ning to end Edwin Tarrisso in St Louis Republic Embarrassing A famous scientist whose early home had been in a country district had long promised to visit the scenes of his boyhood and deliver a lecture in aid of the funds of one of the In stitutions of the place At last he fulfilled his promise and the lecture was given When at the close of his lecture he was conversing with some of the principal promoters of the af fair they warmly congratulated him on the facility with which he mnde rath er technical matter interesting and clear to his uncultured audience Oh said he by way of explana tion I Invariably fix my attention upon the member of my audience who strikes me as having the least intel ligent face and I continue to explain any subject upon which I touch until I see by that persons expression that he understands it Almost directly afterward the lead ing public official of the little town came into the room and made his way to where the scientist was standing Sir lie exclaimed you cannot pos sibly believe how much real pleasure you have given nie tonight It seemed to me all the time as if your eye was never away from me that you spoke to me alone and that your whole wish was to make me understand every Avord you said Chicago Journal Dixie The original music which is most characteristically American is that of the colored brother This is mostly melody and ragtime Some of the lead ing songs are The Suwanee Itiver Old Kentucky Home Dixie Old Black Joe and others It is told that Christine Nilson has said that when she found an American audience heavy on her hands she knew well that she could bring them out of the dumps by rendering The Suwanee Itiver For expression of the quick and alert American spirit nothing can be com pared with the quick and ragtime ac tion of Dixie and wherever in the presence of an American audience the band strikes up the tune whether it be in Boston New Orleans or Chicago the hall resounds at once with responsive applause Dixie is really our most popular national tune and comes near er interpreting American spirit in peace and in war than any other Then too if ia rMiaiiialJv jtntl ivljnUv imnripon While you think of it drop in at THE TRIBUNE office and ask to see The Best Typewriter P F D BURGESS Plumber and Steam Fitter Iron Lead and Sewer Pipe Brass Goods Pumps an Boiler Trimmings Estimates Furnished Free Base ment of the Postoffice Building McCOOK NEBRASKA WANTED A11 kindB of nundry help at good wnges in modern airy well lighted phints Climato unsurpassed Aluuntuin air and sunshine Address J S SACHS 1211 15th Street Denver Colo H P SUTTON McCOOK JEWELER MUSICAL GOODS NEBRASKA FAY HOSTETTER TEACHER ON PIANO McCook Nebraska Studio upstairs in new Kishol building south of Post Ollico A G BUMP Real Estate and Insurance First door south of Foams gallery McCook Nebraska C II Boyle C E Kldekd BOYLE ELDRED Attohneys AT I AW Loiik Distanco P ono 41 Rooms 1 and 7 second floor - 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