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10
Copyright; Tr the lUr Company. Oreat Britain Rights Reserved,
The Omaha Sunday Bee i
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A Set of Wkke Raccoon Furs
from Animals Grown in
Captivity.
By RENE BACHE.
WITH the rapid extinction of
so many of the fur-bearing
animals to supply the con
etantly Increasing demands of the
market, the problem of domesticat
ing as many species as possible has
been taken up by the United States
Government.
The plan of the Government
Biological Survey for establishing a
fur farming Industry In this coun-
HOUSEHOLD SUGGESTIONS
Many otherwise good housekeepers
aro very Indifferent about labelling-.
They trust to their memories as to
what is In each Jar or package, and
sometimes with disastrous results. All
tores should be plainly labeled.
Box springs mar be protected from
Insects by opening the ticking at one
end and pouring Inside a handful of
naptha mothballs. When the ticking
Is replaced little or no odor will escape
from tho mothballs.
When doing washing, before you go
out In the cold to hang up your
c othes, wipe your hands dry and rub
them well with cornstarch. Your
hands will not suffer with the cold.
One and ,.one-half teaapoonfyls of
baiting powder to. one pint of sifted
llour is a good rule to follow for bis.
vuits and shortcakes.
Po not throw away and!e ends
which are no longer fit for burning,
b. t collect thum all and put In a Jar.
Stand It on the side of the stove till
melted, then mix a little paraffin oil
untl it becomes the thickness of
i ream. Applied to oilcloths, etc- It
will make art excellent polish, being
bright, but not "dangerous and slip.
pr - children.
Sheep Being Used in Breeding
Experiments by the Govern
ment to Offset tho Do
create in Wild Fur-Bear-ing
Animals.
try contemplates, to begin with, the
rearing of that valuable animal, the
mink, undor conditions of semi
domestication. Mink skins of good
quality are worth from ?3 to 8, ac
cording to size and condition, In
tho market to-day.
(With this Idea In view, the Gov
ernment experts are starting In to
make a series of experiments, in
co-operation with tho National Zo
ological Park at Washington, tor
the purpose of finding out what
kind of pens are best, and what
methods of feeding the animals and
rearing the young may be adopted
to greatest advantage.
Later on, tho results of the ex
periment will be embodied in a
bulletin on mink farming, to be pub
lished for the information of every
body who is Interested In the sub
ject The Biological Survey Is of
the opinion that mink tannine on a
. considerable scale in ' tho United
i-.Hfi,.?!""
U1VU$U IJUDOUUUD 1U 1C1U'
tion to it remain to be studied out,'
How Important the matter la may
Interesting Experiments by the United States Government in Do
mesticating Wild Fur-Bearing Animals to Save Whole Species Now
Being Exterminated for Women's Wardrobe
bo Judged from the fact that sine
1890 tho mink has taken tho place
previously held by tho fur soal as
the greatest fur producer In tho
world, reckoned In terms of value.
Few furs surpass that of this Httlo
amphibious animal (two feet long,
dark above and white underneath),
In richness of coloring, quality and
durability.
The Biological Sorvoy gives the
following directions for breeding
and rearing minks:
"Thoro should be only one male
to five or six females, and each of
the latter should havo a soparate
pen at breeding time. It this pre
caution bo not taken, the females
aro llablo to kill each other's young.
The malo would also kill them It
ho had a chance. Henco tho male
should bo kept by hlmsolf except at
mating tlmo. Tho breeding season
begins nbout tho mlddlo of Feb
ruary, and tho young aro born
about tlip mlddlo of April.
"Tho minks should bo fed on
bread and sweet milk, or corn mush
with bits of meat In it, supple
mented by meat or fish twlco a
week. Feed once a day; but fe
males suckling young should have
two meals daily. Do not salt the
food; keep tho pons clean, and pro
vldo plonty of fresh water.
."Pens should be five1 or six feet
square, tho sides of smooth, wide
boards cut four feot long and sot
up with tho lowor end resting on
a footing lot Btono or concrete.
Heavy wire nattlng may 'bo used
instead of boards, but in that case
tho top must bo netted to prevent
tho animals from climbing out. Tho
floor of tho pen should be
bare ground.
"Boxes two feet square
should be provldod for neats,
with hinged lids to allow
their being opened and ex
amined, Thoy should be three
or four Inches above the"
ground, and as dark as pos
sible, with a hole four Inches
In dlametor for entrance.
Flno straw or hay should be
furnished."
Meanwhile the production
of superior grades of a kind
of fur known as "astrakhan"
is to bo soon established as
on Industry In this country
by the Bureau of Animal
Industry, -which has already ac
quired for tho purpose a number
of superior animals to serve as
breeding stock. As a result, we
shall havo boforo long astrakhan
much more beautiful than any now
on the maTket, by crossing the
ArabI sheep with other varieties
possessing fleeces with, a high
lustre.
The principal difficulty in this
case was to get hold err pure-bred
Arabl rams. This Is ri kind of sheep
found only in Bokhara (Central
Asia), and the natives of that re
gion are bo reluctant to permit their
Tne Lamb from Which We Get
. the Astrakhan Wool Now
r r J I. .1.-. 1 l.ilaJ
Being Bred by the
States Government.
exportation that It Is almost im
possible to secure a specimen. Thoy
have enormous tails, sometimes
weighing as much as fifty pounds.
At birth, tho lambs are Intensely
black, with a brilliant lustre, their
wool being distributed over their
bodies in tight little curls. Before
long, however, the wool turns gray,
But the puro-bred Arabl lambs aro
never killed, because they are too
valuable. Tho rams are crossod
with common native sheep, the off
spring being Invariably black. Lest
tho fur turn gray, these half-bred
lambs aro killed when they are less
than five days old.
Such Is tho source of tho familiar
"Persian lamb" of the fur market
which does not corao from Persia
at all. Astrakhan Is merely another
namo for it. Tho quarter-bred
lambs (one-fourth Arabl) furnish
tho gray astrakhan of commerco,
which is very i,Totty, though less
highly esteemed than the black. It
ought to bo Bald here, by tho way,
that the popular notion that this
kind of fur is derivod from unborn
lambs is Incorrect. Indeed, the Idea
Is an absurdity, Inasmuch as It im
IDy Secrets J Beauty-
the n)o& lamour Living ueaaty.
No. 2 1 5-The Battle with the Air
By Mme. Lina Cavalleri.
N
O, my dear readers, this Is not
be an essay on aviation,
though the women of Franco
are Intensely "'interested lnlhe sub
ject The battle Is one of beauty, and
it is against Its enemies of the air.
You had thought that air is an
ally of beauty, and so It is in so far
as sweeping the lungs and IntoB
tlnos with generous draughts of it
is concerned. But air Is a furtlvo
thing, a robber that should be
watched. His sins are to rob the
skin and hair of Its beauty-making
oils.
Permit me to explain and I can
best explain by first telling a story.
Since I havo returned to your
country I met a most Interesting
woman, one reared In your big,
grand West
"She looks so young to have done
all that she has accomplished. She
is famous," I mused a little sadly,
"at twenty-five."
The woman from the West heard
mo, and with the fine fascinating
spontaneity of her part of tho
country sho came to me and said:
"Dearest Madamo, thank you.
"But I am qulto twelve years older
than you think. I am . thirty
sovenl" I looked at the vivid face, smooth
skinned as a child's, and was silent
Sho laughed, the bubbling laughtoi
of freedom from restraint. "You
do not believe mo," she said. "I
will call upon my husband to prove
ltl"
He came, a thin-stooped, scholarly
looking man, who looked forty-five
years old. "Wo are the same age,
aren't we, dear!" sho asked, and ho
confirmed her story,
Amarlng," said I, my Journallstlo
thirst for Information tormenting
me. "Will you tell me how?"
"With pleasure," she answered.
"I can answer In one word 'suet'
I lived on the plains and was always
In the saddle. The hot Summer
sun and the cold Winter Wind of
the West would havo blistered my
skin In one instanco and shrivelled
It Into Innumerable wrinkles In the
other had It not been for my dear,
wise mother. She never washed my
face with soap. She cleaned it al
ways with suet And as I grew up I
kept on feeding and washing the
skin of my face wKh suet"
There you have It That wise
mother of tho Western plains knew
that the air, especially when tt is
moving In the form of cold wind,
robs the tace of Us oils. It bur
rows Its way into the pores and
steals the oil that softens and
freshens the skin. It leaves it dry
and withered and In tho preparatory
stage for wrinkles. When tho skin
is much exposed to very cold or
very hot air we muBt make good
these thefts of the air. The more
It is. exposed to such air the more
oil or oily substance we must feed
the empty, hungry pores. Remember
the suet story and keep your skin
well fed.
The hair also grows dry in cold
weather. The eold winds draw the
oil from the scalp and the hair
grows brittle. The scalp, too. needs
at such times to be fed. But be
sure to rub the scalp food wellilnto
plies the killing of the mothers,
which aro much more valuable than
their young.
Tho fur of pure-bred Arabl lambs
is so costly that articles made of it
are owned only by a fow royal per
sonages, In Russia and elsewhere.
A few of the ramB have been
smuggled from time to time into
Afghanistan, and there crossed
with common native shoep. It is
from Afghanistan that practically
all of tho astrakhan which comes to
the United States Is derived. But
in that country thoro Is litle knowl
edge of tho art of scientific breed
ing, and tho consequence is that tho
fur wo get is inferior. What tho
Bureau of Animal Industry pro
poses to do is to cross tho pure
bred Arabl with selected Shropshlro
ewes. The Shropshire has long and
beautiful wool,, almost equalling
that of the Angora goat in lustre.
Tho Arabl rams used as sires
were obtained from Dr. C. 0. Young,
of Belen, Tex., who imported them.
Ho was able to secure possession
of fifteen, In Bokhara by the he,p
or a letter from Colonel Roosevelt,
then President of the United States.
the roots of. the hair. Do not care
lessly smear It upon the hair.
Lanollno la a good scalp food.
Vaseline has many advocates. Crude
oil ranks high In the class. Cocoa
nut oil and olive oil are good scalp
providers. There Is no better safe
guard against the skin and scalp
robbers I have described than a can
of olive oil on your toilet shelf.
. Beauty Questions Answered
. By Mme. Lina Cavalieri.
S. N. writes: "I am a young girl and am very large
and tall for my age, fifteen, but I am also very thin.
Would you advise me to try to make my figure round
er? Also, what can I do to make my hair long, thick
and wavy? My hair Is quite thick, but Is short and
straight" ,
. No, do not force the growth of the figure at fifteen.
Since you are so tall nature has done her best for, you
In that way. In time the rounding of the figure will
follow. Brushing the hair a hundred strokes a day,
massaging the scalp, should promote the growth of
the hair. Applying lanollno or vaseline at the roots
twice a week will aid" Its growth If the hair be dry.
"I am thirty-nine," writes B. M. K., "and have quite
a few wrinkles under my eyes. My skin Is loose and
flabby. Do ypu think tho lines under the eyes can be
removed by a face specialist?"
I have known wrinkles to be removed by Injections
of vaseline, but, while some operations are success
full others have left the face mottled, with lumps be
neath It. I advise a general upbuilding of the system
by .great care In nourishing diet, more sleep and more
exercise out of doors. This regimen should cause the
muscles to grow larger and firmer and fill the space
left by the loose skin.
M. A. P. sends a midget of questions. Will I recom
mend a tonic, will I toll her what to eat to make her
plump, will I tell her how to develop the bust and
plumpen tho cheeks? And what should be done for
light hair that Is turning dark at the roots?
The first four auestlons can be answered In one
name olive oil. I know a thin woman who, with rest
and olive oil taken freely, Internally and externally,
made herself look like her own younger and healthier
sister In three months. You can do nothing for the
hair that Is turning dark at the roots except bleach
It, and 'I do not recommend that
It Is believed by the Government
experts that tho silver fox can be
successfully farmed for its fur in
this country the only difficulty be
ing to obtain the requisite breeding
stock. This obstacle will doubtless
be overcome. At tho present time
the bulk of the small markot sup
ply of this kind of fur comes from
Prlnco Edward Island, off the Cana
dian coast, which Is the only place
in tho world whero silver foxes aro
reared under condition of partial
domestication the business being
so profitable that up to now its very
existence has been kept carefully
secret by thr fow persons engaged
in it.
Already a very profitable kind of
fur farming Is being conducted over
extensive areas of marshes In the
region of tho Chesapeake, which
yield actually a greater annual profit
than the best farming land, in the
shape of muskrat skins. Before
very long, it Is believed, this busi
ness will bo prosecuted much more
systematically than at present, by
giving protection to tho animals dur
ing certain seasons.
The muskrat is nearly as big as
BIlllllllllllllllllllHtfBSt vWsjBJ
a fair Blzed cat, and breeds at so
rapid a rato that It promises easily
to outlast all other wild fur-bearing
animals on tho earth. How Impor
tant it Is from a market standpoint
may be judged from the facl that
(as estimated by Dr. Charles II.
Stovenson, of the United States Fish
eries Bureau) if all tho muskrat
skins taken last year were sewn to
gether in one piece they would equal
in area all other kinds of furs put
together. MuskratB contributed to
tho world'B fur supply about 8,000,
000 skins In 1912, and four-fifths of
these came from tho United States.
Not only Is muskrat fur handsome
and durable, but it is used on a vast
scalo to imitate more valuable furs.
When it is known that tho fur
bearing animals all over the world,
especially those most highly valued,
aro being so greatly reduced in
numbers by persistent hunting, It is
rather surprising to find that tho i
fur markot Is always well stocked
with all kinds of furs, lncludlug
ovon the rarest; ond anybody, who
wants any sort of skin is sure to
bo ablo to got it, if willing to pay
,the price. ,
By TPme.Xina
Cavalier I,
Mme. Lina Cavalieri.
