Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1890-06-13
HOMlNG PIGEONS.



Ancient Fnllncfes Of a Romantic Nature IS
to the Fastening of Messages
Poets and romancers are respohsl nle
sor n rood many false IDEAS about me
wav IN which messages are conveyed by
bon,inp pigeons. According 10 some
ballads IA fond lover had nothing to do
int tie a message about the neck Of i1le
bird whisper the dest nation in its ear,
when the fcathered messenger would a1
once take flight and reach the place Tor
which e lover had dispatched 1t win
the greatest expedition and the most I'M
failing certa nty.
Artists have gone so far as to paint
picture, CT glowing girls with ups
wreathed III smiles, stretching out thelr
arms 10 receive beautiful white pigeon,
about thc neck of which large square
envelope of the latest style, and doubt
less delicate V perfumed, was suspended
nv bright blue riband tied in true
lovers knot
This.will do very well to sing about or
paint in a picture. But 1T is far from
the reality of the matter. There IS tar
more skill and dexterity required imam
this to set flying homer with to mes
sare properly adjusted. In fact, none
but an expert can prepare pigeon Tor
an important flight Of this kind.
/ In time of peace. and when the mes
sage is of comparatively unimportant
nature, the fastening of the message Is
! not so hard Many years ago there was
fashion of fastening the message UNI
der the tail of the bird. This has been
! ,1D,s cd
/ the fashion of securing 1t firmly to the
| leg of the pigeon above the joint and in
such place that it will be drawn up in
the soft feathers of the breast when the
bird is flying
/ Great care has to be taken to prevent
/ the paper on which the message is writ
ten from interfering with the flight OF
/ the bird If the message Is troublesome
or even If it is in reach of the birds
beak, the homer will sit down upon the
nearest roof and proceed to pick it off.
When, therefore, the message is secured
to the leg, it is covered from all harm by
4 band which tho bird can not peck off.
These messages are not perfumed at
fairs written upon heavy note paper and
sealed in a square envelope. They are
written upon the finest tissue paper,
generally in a close hand, or even IN
shorthand, so that as large number OF
words as possible can be sent. This is
folded very closely, and is so light and
unobtrusive that it can not possibly in
terfere with the flight of the bird.
In war times, when intelligence Of vital
Importance is to be transmitted, another
and far safer method is employed. The
message is written finely upon very
thin paper. and is so constructed that it
can be folded into long, slender piece,
not longer than match. One of the
long flight feathers is then split open
carefully and the quill is cleaned out.
The message is then inserted in the
cavity and the bird dispatched.
If the enemy should shoot the bird the
chances are that the message will es-
cipher in which it is written saves it
from those not intended to read it,
This problem of fastening the mes
sages has been the subject of much
thought among those who for the past
thirty years have been endeavoring to
utilize homing pigeons in war. AS is
we'll known. these birds were used dur
ing the tranco-Prussian war with much
success. But the German forces acct
dentally Shot a pigeon flying over the
E lines and found the message tied under
, the tail From that time on all German
soldiers were instructed to shoot every
T pigeon they saw. This order consider
ably curtailed the usefulness of the
a birds.
, By skillful breeding race of homers
! has now been produced which flies be
) yond the range of ordinary guns, These
lofty fiiers traverse the air at great
4 distance above the earth, beyond the
f vision of the ordinary man.-Cincinnati
a Commercial Gazette.