A QUESTION OF COLOR.

Evening Star, Issue 12865, 14 July 1906, Page 6

A QUESTION OF COLOR.

"Are yon a black man or a buff''" Visions of an inkwsmudged cheek or an ;• eggy" mouth, of the Blues and the Buffs in the Whig and Tory days, of Romeo and Juliet and the Montague and Oapulet factions, of mi imaginary feud between the local papers existing in the minds of the general pubhc, chased one another through the brain—and left only bewilderment. Perhaps unconsciously the last idea suggested a clue, and a baiting replv was made to the effect that means of livelihood were afforded by the 'Evening Star.' . "Oh-h!" was the only comment, and "Oh-h!" expressed both -enlightenment and disappointment. Then the meeting settled down to business. It was the Orpington breeders in annuai conclave. At first it appeared that the club were moribund. Th« great majority of members seem to have forgotten "to pay their subscriptions. There was general'lan«entation, with an under-current of the Death Song of the Ages for what a Wagnerian would call the "motif." But the crisis passed. Money, or the lack of it was as nothing compared with the area*.' the alk-ibsorbinfr qunstion, "What is b'-ff?" " Doea it comprise straw color, lomon color and cinnamon color?" Tight or loess feathering is a tough question. The idiosyncrasies of judges are perplexing and discouraging. Both were touched on. The judge of the poultry at this week's show himself took a leading part in the discussion, and admitted that human frailty would creep in and affect a judge's decisions. He bad his own opinion about feathering and tyjpe. He had his ova idea aboot hu£L but

he wanted to. make tone that it wa* ih6 right conception. And no one could tell;,, him. The chairman said that he had.got a, set of buff feathers from a distinguished Homo breeder. ' He went to a printer tov: get the ideal buff Orpington immortalised, io. color on cardboard, so as to provide a' standard print for reference. After spend? ing much time and money, the printer eonfoesed himself beaten. There wae not a buff ink in ex'stence. Then the cbairmsto wrote home offering £7 10s for a stuff')! Buff Orpington. The reply came that £$ would not buy one. "I might have known better," admitted the chairman, " I was a fool. I recognised when the repl'p came that they would nave to kill a bird iir " the prime of life." "Why not-buy a livebird?" suggested someone; but evidently that is not the scientific solution of ths difficulty. Then the battle vaged againv until somewhere after 10 p.m. someonh. put his head inside the door, and said that he wanted to lock up. So the great que* tion is still unanswered. Carlyle was right We are judged by what we wear rathtr. than by our work. The Layman's idet* about the duties of the the hen'a side to. lay eggs and rear ducks, on ths. rooster's to bo courteous to the hens an 4. ~ "to remain tender for the table"—are ejk'" ploded. All is vain unless our fowls cloth! themselves in feathers of a becoming ant fashionable hue. Society seems to be es tending to the former, and the scope of the inexorable rules which it has framed foi ite-lf. Hippy the hen who know? hereei to be garbed in the one and only buff—thi real thing! Miserable the lot of her sisttf ; whose feathers contain a spice of cinnamon, a squeeze of lemon! Worst of all, she cainot change it. Nothing can rehabilitate hj& in the eyes of her breeder and of the world. No assiduity in laying, can atone for her misfortune. She is the most pitiable of il\ sights—a female out of the fashion.