Arizona republican., 1893-07-28
PASSENGERS OF WAR.
soming Pigeons to Be Used in
 Military Service.
aperiments with the Birds on the Sea Coast-How the Messages Are Prepared for Trans
 mission.

Y Considerable interest has been Aroused lately among naval officers on 4 he subject of using homing pigeons as aessengers to shore stations while at
 70, writes Q Hampton Roads corre- 4 pondent of the Boston Transcript. \ This has grown out of series of sue X essful experiments carried on by the
 sdets of the United States naval acad- T my at Annapolis under the direction I Prof. II. Marion. The cotes at An apolis were established by the cadets
 bout two years ago, and birds of the
 est breeds were procured and care 3hlly trained. Last summer eXperi- 3lents were carried on during the an 3,ual practice cruise of the United
 ,ates steamer Constellation. Birds were released on the voyage down I IhesapeaSe bay, and in every case they X ielivered their message safely at An q npolis. One of these messages was m important dispatch to the superin- endent of the academy. The birds 4 were afterward used successfully at H sea. in some cases being liberated at 4 ulsldHce Oi Ouc uuhuiCu hliVS AiVAh and
 The experiments were extended to
 teaching the pigeons to fly from the shore to the ship; cote was estab- lished on board, and number of young birds were placed in it. When \ n port they were taken out in boats \ nd afterward on shore, and they soon armed to find their way to the cote:
 sfore the end of the cruise they were
 fit on shore and liberated after the
 snip had sailed, and they reached the Iaip when she was several miles out
 rom the shore. It is hoped that these 5sxperiments may lead to series of
 nOre extended ones to be carried on \ by the government, for so far every thing has been done at the expense of
 those interested in the matter at An
 napolis and elsewhere. 1t is proposed I that government messenger pigeon service be established and maintained, with main stations at the following naval stations: Portsmouth, x. H.; Boston, Mass; Newport, R. l.; New
 London, Conn; Brooklyn, x. r.; Phil | slelphia, Pa; Washington, D. C.; An | napolis, Md; Norfolk, Va; Port Roy al, s. C.. Key West, Fla, and Pensa- I cola, Fla, and with secondary stations r Portland, Mo-; Wilmington, Del; {; St Augustine, Fla; Juniper Inlet, Fa.; Tampa, Fla, and Galveston. Tex. This would provide the entire Atlantic ! and gulf coasts with stations that could
 be reached within two hundred and
 iOrty miles from shore, which distance
 $ taken as the greatest flight of pig
 con at sea. This might be extended to
 the Pacific and lake coasts.
 The advantages of such service,
 Both in time of war and in time of
 sace, are obvious; the average speed
 d pigeon is about thirty miles an
 aour, and timely notice might be given
 g gunboat of the approach of a
 sOstile squadron; vessel disabled
 night send for assistance; in a thou and ways these birds can be of great ervice. A number of European gov srnments have had similar services in operation for some years and they are coming to be recognized as a neces- ary part of the signal service of na- ton having an extensive seacoast. A message to be sent by a pigeon is written on fine tissue paper, which is
 then carefully rolled up and placed in
 squill, which is sealed at the end; this
 quill is fixed to one of the tail feathers
 of the bird with copper wire; the
 pigeon must not be released in storm,
 thick fog or heavy rain, and if he has
 more than Q hundred miles to fly he
 must be released before noon. The
 bird will fly for the nearest land and
 then he will find bis way to his cote.