Muscatine journal. [volume] (Bloomington, Iowa) 1849-185?, 1853-11-04
Carrier or,s,sn

comnun.eats intelligence Of their deathiess faith
thcss whsn they loved, c1ull cn'y be iu,proved b
uppos;ng that when the mystic scroll was trac.d Il
iLstinet Ia hssutful bird was called into esercis
erder that the cartel ofs ction ight with sres
such ss aim 'st to satisfy even lover be cosysye
the place Of It's destination. Wha.evar NIGH b. d
origin OF ep'stolsry correspondence, il i c,A;a tbs
It has heeo froa times Of very rsets antiquity car
red % by means = BIRDS especially Ia tat psope
'and q Sonders and oi psry, the East, wssre, freu
the vas. sxssas of territory beswes pop ala
ton and another, ana the defective nature III a ote
n9aasof communication, 10 expeaiest csuid hsv
tssa tooFc sppEopEiste seTvceab,s. Nor Is
alone for thespeei with which tsey eaa cross dsser
tracts that the bird ettrcariers have hsen apprec.
ted. yTowefins up from tao hand Of him who des
patched II, and proceeding at an unarproacaabl
height above tho earth 70 tho indiydasl ID whom
was direct d, the wicged uesscnscr woaii set at ds
ance Of a aiuterrapon and taspering, wsesther from
jeal usy Or rivalry, even the hostility of n bele,
guering army. The practice, i.des5, was q romano
reduced 70 aaman conyenicncy. sass !, 81
Tae bird chitfy used in all times and countries fo
the coiunication Of intelligence is ono Of the pic.or
tribe coluti1 tatelar) usually frsr, this seryic,
which It pays to man, denominate the carrier pigeon
1t larger then the ordinary pigeon, b,ing 6ftesr
aches In leng from The sl to the tail, and weigh
ng about twenty ouncss 1t is generally black or dur
and OCCASIONALLY blue On ue piebal, and has yer,
lsrgs cere hanging down by the sides of its bill like
fns male tarkey.v Ths species is supposed to hav,
been to Persia though il is to be found
ID mnny other countries. The Instinct which has rem
dersi the carrierpigeon 90 ssryceable Is NANTES
ted, under various nodfsatiops, BY many other ari
sais-sn instsasty waicn The creasurs II is becomes
attsched to piscs at home as s-snc Of kaSitual
qualification, or ss the place whore 1t has recently
brought fofta ycung is sble to fad Il. way thither
ron sr7 distance 10 Nseh itay have been removed,
- 40 physical obsrustions # an absolutely in,ur-
m3untab' character shsuid intervene. Though the
earfsF-p geon s naturally prompted to revert 60 the
pcs of i,s extraosainey residence man has adopted
vaicu' recautionary measures in order, to make Il,
re'ufa oh particular eccasions more certain. male
and female are usually kept tc-gethsr, and t,eatsd
we'll; apd orc OF these, when taken elsewhere. is
posed to have The great.r induccmens t. com. back
IL often sonsiyrsa necessary by some tsat the bird
should have the process of Incubation or
ulh young cores at home, in order to make the
resrrn certain but pr baby these ara superfuous
precautons Eis oby;eus thai ths carrier pigeon can
oniy b'Pus to use in formity wi d some consem-
plated plan, FOR whiehthe proper preparations have
btsa mass I. must have been taken sssu. r,eoe "a
Fhich il Is wished that ID saoui retrr and i. r,,.t
It the moment when les services are wanted. be tenn
porary at the place from which the inselligence il.
70 re conyeyed' II is usually taken to that place
noed Winked, OF in covered baskst ths instinct BY
reies finds its way back upon aowp wings mus,
OF ceerss ss independent of all knowledge Of tie in
seE Hedats localities Wben the plonsas re- eapley-
,g Il ha, arrived, tie inividual s services
writes small billet upon thin silk paper lin he East
there kini Of pscuar Hnsne.s, called On this nc
nonat hirJpapsf1, wAics is Placed enfti9fs, unasr
the wing, snd fastened bs pia to one Of tho feathers
withsops precautions to pTaysns the pin from prc;ina
ana the papsr from filing With air. so as to ret.r and
weary the bird. On being released, the Garner as
cends . agrest height, takes or two turns in the
air, ard then ctmmerces its forward career. Accor-
ding 70 cae ncSount II can fly loco parasare or about
27oo haelsh miles in day; but several experiments
Of recent date seem tsconcur ia establishing 40 mites
in an hour. or abcu. 1000 day, as ths average ght
Tse last computation NE msy remark, gives inferior
results to some which have been asceranci in refer
sacs to other birds. The common swift las been
known to hy 90. and the Wild duck 80 miles in a.
hour. swallow was once found to traverse 20 miles
In thirteen miputes. g s W ~
Ausion To csrrier pieecrs are very frsqusnt in tbe
ancient classic writer's, ard in the Arabic poets.
nacreon Informs u.s. that be held correspondence With
bis lovely Bath'llus by means of dove. II is related
by Aian, that Taurostheres, victor in the Oympic
games, despatched pigeon stained with purnIs To-
aanouice bis triumph to bis fathsr then residing in
the island of II yna. Pliny also narrates that csr-
respondsnce by means Of pigeons was carried on du
ring tho seige Of Medena, bstwesn Dscimus Brutus
and Hrtius 'of what avail" Gays be-, "were senti-
nes circumvallatious or nets obstructing the rivers
when ntelgencs could be conveyed by sc-iaI esssn-
gsrsi" In the Crnsadss. the practice was tried by
tie beseiscd inhabitants Of Tyre bat with less success
The b,segars bad observed pigeons frequently hever-
ing the city snd began touspect that these bird.
were essenrers. Having contrivid to sess one thew
loaded It with falso Intelligence in consequences Of
which they obtained possession of the pacs. regu-
lar system Of posting ~ Of carrier pigeons
established in the twelfth century by the Sultan Nou
feddin Mahmoud. II was afterwards improved and
extended and continued till b. glad fell into the hands
Of the Mongols ia 1855, Sir John Msudeville, whc
Travelled in the fourteenth century. alndes to such
system as prastised by the Turkish goveromsnt. I,
was described at somewhat later period as beina
carried by OF lofty towers, erected at tn.
distance of about thirty miles ssunder ard provides
with proper number of pigeons. Sentiuels KEEP
watch in these towers, to rec.ve the BIRDS and trans
init the Intelligence which they had brought by others
The notice inscribed on thin slip of paper en-
closed in gold bax of small Dimensions and as thir
as the paper ITSELF suspended to the neck Of the bird
the hour of arrival and departure marked at each
successive tower and for greater security duplicass
was always despatched two hours after the frt. N
such regular system now exists Ia the Turksh domin
ions, hut carriarpigeons are still much used there
"The Turks. writer Of the last century, SNAKE
common practice Of breeding this sort Of pigeons
their ssragos, whore there s whose business
to feed and train these birds for tho uss afterward
designed, vhich is done in this manner when
young fies very hard at home, and Is come to ii
full strength, they carry IL in basket or otherwise
shout half mile from homo, and there turn Il out
after this they carry il mile, then two, four, eight
ten, twenty, &c till at lsngth they will return from
the furthsst parts Of the kingdom. This practies
Of admirable use, for every bashsw has generally
basket full Of thess pigeons sent him from tbs
seraglo; and In case Of any insurrection, or othc
emsrgsnt occasion, he plao letter under the wing
of pigeon, whereby its hght 10 not in the least in
commoded, and immsdiatsly turns it looss bu, fl
fear Of i being shot, struck BY hawk they gene
rally despatch hye six; that BY this MEANS di,
patches arc sent In moro safe and speedy mstho
than could possibly bs otherwise e0ntrived.
l h.v; n n ..-is.- scd ,,nr.