sired to keep out of the fight upon a naval report that
she was unprepared for war. The Danes were ready for insurrection
against their own Government. Only 3,000 miles of Atlantic Ocean and
great wisdom of Washington kept us out of the fight. The world's
statesmanship at this time was the greatest it had ever known. There was
enough of it in St. Petersburg, Berlin, Rome, Paris, and London to have
achieved a great progress for peace by arbitration and treaty, but there
was no precedent by which to judge the effect of such a plan. The
nations had never before had such vast populations to change into
armies. The temptations of war were irresistible.

In America, remotely luxurious in our own prosperity from the rest of
the world, we became self-absorbed. The fashions, designed and inspired
in Europe, became the chief element of attraction among the ladies. It
was particularly noticeable in the autumn of 1886 for the brilliancy and
grandeur of bird feathers. The taxidermist's art was adapted to women's
gowns and hats to a degree that amazed the country. A precious group of
French actresses, some of them divorced two or three times, with a
system of morals entirely independent of the ten commandments, were
responsible for this outbreak of bird millinery in America. From one
village alone 70,000 birds were sent to New York for feminine adornment.

The whole sky full of birds was swept into the millinery shops. A three
months foraging trip in South Carolina furnished 11,000 birds for the
market of feathers. One sportsman supplied 10,000 aigrettes. The music
of the heavens was being destroyed. Paris was supplied by contracts made
in New York. In one month a million bobolinks were killed near
Philadelphia. Species of birds became extinct. In February of this year
I saw in one establishment 2,000,000 bird skins. One auction room alone,
in three months, sold 3,000,000 East India bird skins, and 1,000,000
West India and Brazilian feathers.

A newspaper description of a lady's hat in 1886 was to me savage in the
extreme. I quote one of many:

"She had a whole nest of sparkling, scintillating birds in her hat,
which would have puzzled an ornithologist to classify."

Here is another one I quote:

"Her gown of unrelieved black was looped up with blackbirds and a winged
creature so dusky that it could have been intended for nothing but a
crow reposed among the strands of her hair."

Public sentiment in American womanhood eventua