Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-10-20
WINGED MEssENGERS.
The Growing Interest In HOming
Pigeons

| MILITARY PURfosEs-HOw MESSAGES ARE cARRIED
Reports received by the signal once from the
pigeon station established at Key West indicate
that It 10 going to be . success Several very good
Nights have been made by the birds, and 1t is re-
garded as already certain that the service will be
very valuable. Mr.. B. Bunnemeyer, Of the Signal
| Service, has made Q special study OF the habits
and history Of the "homing pigeon" In converse
| ton with STAR reporter the other day he said:
"The earliest Information with regard to these
birds have found Ia a. to the pigeon in Noah's
ark. Ever since then they have been used as mes
| sengers and are still so used, being serviceable
where the telegraph, optical signals, and all other
means OF communication are unavailtng. The
early navigators Of Egypt made use OF these birds
at sea to advise their families or friends OF any
mishap that may have befallen them on their
perilous voyages In fran crafts or 10 inform them
OF nearing home from distant shoreA At the time
OF the crusades the Egyptians used pigeons as mes.
communication by pigeons was established be-
tween Bagdad and all important points by the sui
and transmitting stations were built at intervals
OF so miles. Many OF the old pigeon stations were
In existence up to the close Of the last century.
Decfus Brutus sent letters tied their feet into
the camp OF the cOnsuls, thus making futile the e
known that julius Cesar always received early In
FORMATION OF any uprising OF the Gauls, and It Is
said that he employed pigeons for that purpose
LOT many purposes. In Turkey they call them bag
atins or courters and the Turks and Persians make
IN al
Dasketfu OF these pigeons sent him from the grand
seraglo, and In case OF any insurrectton or other
pigeon loose. But for rear OF being shot or
killed by hawks they generally send fve or six.
n are also historical records showing Sd thas
messengers In more modern times some shrewd
men have utilized pigeons for business purposes.
Rothschid, OF London. laid the foundation OF his
immense wealth through the agency Of these
bros. He established a regular pigeon post be-
tween Paris and London. with several relay
stations, by means OF which he received early In
formation Of rise and decline in the market sew
eral days in advance OF the regular stage-cOach.
and capitalisss IN New YORK who owe their suc
cess TO the foundation laid years ago through
advice received by pigeonsin advance Of the stage.
"Wells-Fargo agents used them formerly In the
mountains Of Nevada to bring news from the near
est station on the same day, which BY regular
means would not have reached them in less than
"The use of pigeons as messengers in this coun-
try Is very extensive. Mr.. A. De Cordova uses
at Cnetolah, his SUMNER s resi- near North
Branch, n. T., and many business men use pigeons
In similar manner.
AT THE SIEGE OF PARIS
However, these are only uses made by private
individuals and though history cites many In.
stances where the birds were employed for mill
tary purposes, yet the bird as q military institu.
ton may be SAID TO date from the siege OF Paris
In 1S1O-T1. When that city was hesieged by the
the outer world cut OF, pigeons were employed
and all available birds In Paris placed at The dis
Rosal Of the government The pigeons LETT Paris
from which the furniture was removed, was ntIed
up with perches &C., and converted into a
pas Which an tSs S S all the
Birds selected for the journey into Paris were
taken by train in the early mOrhing from Tours to
the farthest point north that could be reached in
order TO reduce as much as possible the distance
the birds had TO ny. 1t must be remembered that
these BIRDS had received little no training. From
the middle Of September to December IL, 2l9
pigeons were flown, and although the majority Of
the birds were lost, shot, or struck by hawks
copies OF all the dispatches carried reached Paris
Each time about birds were liberated all Carving
the same dispatch When the government had re-
moved 10 Bordeaux difficulties Increased on account
From December II TO February II, when Paris
apitulated, % more birds were liberated, but few
reached Paris. In all 1888 birds were sent out Of
Paris by balloon and Bug liberated, out OF which
number 73 reached Paris some Of them made
several trips, and one bird, known as the 'Angel of
t tSe na. mace Inc Journey SIX times one Of
Charles and sent to his mother as q prisoner of
war. After four years Of confinement this pris-
In Paris
ATTACHING NRSsAaRs
"French genius showed itself In the manner OF
attaching messages Mons Dragon, a well-known
microscopic photographer OF Paris, went to Tours
by balloon. There he photographed the messages
2 inches square. and contained about Z, 500 mes
sages OF 20 words each, or total Of $4,000 words.
S5d could easily carry dozen Of these pellicles
10000 dispatches, or SOC, oo6 woras. This IS the
bird In all. 10000 oncai and 1000, go private
dispatches were sent 10 Paris At the capital q
sentry was stationed at each pigeon lort and upon
and carried to headquarters. Here they were
thrown upon white wall by q powerful magic
lantern, copied by scores OF Clerks addressed and
were rolled up and attached to Solid tail feather
by waxed silk thread, but latter they were In
serted in goose quilts about inches long which
sealed at each end and tied under tue tai To
q feather. Each bird had numbers stamped on
the wing, the first indicating the numOer Of bird
and the third number OF birds remaining, Had
any one, previous 10 the Franco PruSslan war;
suggested returning to the use OF pigeons for
carrying messages, he would have been laughed at;
anu, indeed, the use OF pigeons was suggested to
the French minister OF war by q Belgian, previous
no sns Of on, only after al
failed, were they resOrted to. The wonderful sue
cess obtained by the French, and the utter impOs-
OF Frances capital with the provinces, led the
nations Of entire Europe TO establish pigeon posts
France, Germany, Belgium. Portugal, Italy, Rus
sla, Austria, all have pigeon service.
IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES
"In France all principal stations on the frontier
are connected with the capital by pigeon post
maintained by the government, and In addition
there are 300 pigeon societies. regularly enrolled
BY the government to aid In case of necessary.
Each society ies its pigeons only in directions in
dicated by the government, ana the minister OF
war gives annual rewards TO those making the
best progress. The German government owns
5000 birds flying between important frontier forts
ana the capital. Beside these II has control over
1OO, 900 pigeons, owned by $50 private societies
that have placed their BIRDS ut the governments
disposal, and form the pigeon postal union OF Ger
by the minister OF war. The pigeon services of
other countries differ but little from those OF
France and Germany. In Spain, however the
birds are used ON naval vessels and revenue cut
tiers communicating with the nearest military
post, In addition 70 being used on land.
THE SPEED OF HoNNa PIGEONS
varies somewhat, between 30 and 80 miles per
hour, and depends upon the physical condition of
the bird Is well IS upon wind and weather, and
the distance TO Do made. The average speed is
about As miles per hour. Frequently the birds
make better time than the electric telegraph es-
peciaLy for short distances, owing TO the unaVoid.
able loss OF time while the messages are being
carried 20 and from telegraph offices by messen.
gerA Birds, which I liberated here short time
ago for Newark and Brooklyn clubs, averaged q
speed OF 1060 and ], lis yards per minute despita
. strong head wind. This IL equivalent to a rate
OF 81 and b miles per hour respectively In Italy
IN 1855, pigeons were sent from Rome TO NADIA
lena Island, q distance OF IT'S miles, air line lac
the early morning, and the lrst bird arrived at
Rome before the dispatch announcing the liberia
uon was received
HNpuRANon