Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-02-01
A New Use for Carrier Pigeons.

Inc New York Tunes says: The I'M
certainty and delay attending the ar-
rival of ocean steamships from foreign
seaports, and the difficulty of establish
ing communication with them while at
sea, has suggested the query, Why do
not the steamship companies utilize the
carrier pigeon as a mean of communi-
cation between their vessels and either
the port of departure or the port of
destination? Anumber of ocean steam
ships are now from a week to a month
overdue, among them the Colombo, of
the Wilson Line, plying between this
city and Hull, which is now overdue
thirty-one days. The Anglia, of the
Anchor Line, to Glasgow, vas overdue
thirty-one days before she vas heard
from, and other steamers OF more or
less Importance in maritime circles are
now a~nxiously locked for. Had these
vessels been provided with carrier
pigeons, their fate and the cause of their
delay might have been known long be-
fore this time by their and
friends of passengers on board.
The use of carrier pigeons passed
into desquetlde to a certain extent with
the advent of the magnetic telegraph,
although they are still used with success
in some parts of Europe by minor jour-
nails. In France and Belgium the pro-
prietors of many newspapers raise car
rier pigeons in their offices, and when d
correspondent Or reporter is dis
patched for news to some place
not readily accessible O. off the
line of the telegraph, he takes
with him from three to six Of these
faithful carriers. and dispatches them
with news at intervals. Upon their ar
rival at their destination, the news thus
received, when unusually important, is
published in "extras." Mr.. August
Brunin, editor of the Journal L'EperUGer
of Brussels, mas been most successful in
raising carrier pigeons. His birds are
of the Antwerp breed. This gentleman
has supplied many parties in this
try with these birds, realizing handsome
profits on some of them. Mr.. I. Ogden
Weatherly, of Philadelphia, possesses a
flock of over fifty birds, of which the
original stock was received from Mr..
Brunin. Some of them cost Mr.. Wealth
erly as high as $50 francs a pair, hav-
ing won prizes in races of 400 miles
from the south of France to Brussels.
The Antwerp birds are large and strong,
and are capable of carrying all the
manuscript a correspondent could write
in half an hour, and, when well trained,
have been known to make q mile a min
ute, although their average rate of
speed is about thirty miles an hour.
The carrier pigeon is larger than the
ordinary pigeon, being usually about
fffopn innhnS IN anrrth ord u-cirhi1r re-
from One pound to q pound and a half.
Their plumage is generally either dun
color or black. AS to the instinct which
leaGs them to make such wondrouS
flights, naturalists seem to be pretty
well agreed that it is made up of two
elenlents-love of home and keenness Of
sight. Rennie, the orniUholegist, speak
ing Of the pigeons powerof vision, says:
"We have not a doubt that it is by the
eye alone that the carrier pigeon
performs those extraordinary aerial
Journeys which, have from the earliest
ages excited establishment. We have
frequently witnessed the experiment
made with other pigeons, of taking
them from the dOve-cot expressly to OBJ
serve their name of finding their way
back, and we feel satisfied that their
proceedings are uniformly the same.
On being let go from the bag in which
they have been carried in order to con-
ceal the objects on the road, they dart
Off on an irregular excursion. When
they find themselves at full liberty, they
direct their flight in circles round the
spot whence they have been liberated,
not only increasing the diameter of the
circle at every round, but rising at the
same time gradually higher" 1t is,
therefore, concluded that the birds make
a constantly increasing circle until they
ascertain some known object which en-
ableS them to shape d direct course.
Whatever may be said about the instinct
that is at work, a good deal of training
is necessary to make the pigeons trust
worthy in their flight. The Turks have
paid much attention to this matter.
When q young pigeon arrives at full
strength of wing it is hoodwinked, Or
else put in a basket, and taken to a dis
tance of a mile or so from the house.
1t is then tried an additional mile or
two, and the distance is gradually in
creased, until the bird will traverse the
whole length or breadth Of 81 kingdom.
These Turkish pigeons are still
used a great deal by merchants at
Aleppo, as a means of communication
with ports on the Mediterranean. The
best pigeons are those which have a
brood at home, to which they are, true
to maternal instincts, anxious to return.
Narratives are plentiful concerning par
ticular flights of pigeons. In the last
century a gentleman of London, Eng
land, sent a pigeon by stage coach to q
friend at Bury st. Edmunds, with a note
directing the friend to let the pigeon
loose at 9 in the morning ON the second
day afterward. This was done, and the
pigeon arrived at Bishopsgate Street al
II a. m, having traversed the distance
of seventy-two miles in two hours anc
a half. On n occasion q gentleman
of Cologne, having business to transact
at Paris, made a bet that he would lei
his friends know OF his arrival within
three days, after he reached Paris. The