The St. Johns herald., 1893-08-03
MESSENGERS OF WAR.
Hon1ing Pigeons to Be Used in
 Military Service.
Experiments with the Birds on the Sea Coast-How the Messages Are Prepared for Trans
 mission.

Considerable interest has been aroused lately among naval officers on the subject of using homing pigeons as messengers to shore stations while at 1 sea, writes a Hampton Roads cOrre- spOndent of the Boston Transcript! 1 This has grown out of a series of sue cessful experiments carried on by the cadets of the United States naval acad- emy at Annapolis under the direction of Prof. II. Marion. The cotes at An napolis were established by the cadets about two years ago, and birds of the best breeds were procured and care fully trained Last summer eXperi- mentS were carried on during the an nual practice cruise of the United States steamer Constellation. Birds were released on the voyage down Chesapeake bay, and in every case they delivered their message safely at An napolis. One of these messages was an important dispatch to the superin- tendent of the academy. The birds were afterward used successfully at sea, in some cases being liberated at 8 distance of one hundred miles from land.
 The experiments were extended to teaching the pigeons to fly from the shore to the ship cote was estah- lished on board, and a number of young birds were placed in it. When in port they were taken out in boats and afterward on shore, and they soon learned to find their way to the cote; before the end of the cruise they were left on shore and liberated after the ship had sailed, and they reached the ship when she was several miles out from the shore. It is hoped that these experiments may lead to series of more 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. It is proposed that a government messenger pigeon service be established and maintained, with main stations at the following naval stations: Portsmouth, N. H.; Boston, Mass; Newport, R. l.; New London, Conn.,; Brooklyn, N. r.; Phil adelphia, Pa.; Washington, D. C.; An napolis, Md; Norfolk, Va.; Port Roy al, s. C.; Key West, Fla, and Pensa- cola, Fla. and with secondary stations at Portland, Me-: Wilmington, Del; St. Augustine, Fla; Juniper Inlet, Fla; Tampa, Fla, and Galveston, Tex. This would provide the entire Atlantic and gulf coasts with stations that could be reached within two hundred and forty miles from shore, which distance is taken as the greatest flight of a pig con at sea. This might be extended to the Pacific and lake coasts.
 The advantages of such a service, both in time of war and in time of peace, are obvious; the average speed of Q pigeon is about thirty miles an hour. and timely notice might be given by gunbOat of the approach of a hostile squadron; a vessel disabled might send for assistance; in thou sand ways these birds can be of great service. A number of European gov ernments have had similar services in operation for some years and they are coming to be recognized as a neces- sary part of the signal service of a na- tion having an extensive seacOast. 4 message to be sent by pigeon is written on fine tissue paper, which is then carefully rolled up and placed in a quill, 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 a hundred miles to fly he must be released before noon. The bird will fly for the nearest land and then he will find his way to his cote.