The San Francisco call., 1895-12-15

| live in San Francisco, nor anywhere near it.
If many of the small folks have been out
to the Pavilion to see the poultry show,
there is sure to be greater excitement than
ever about the pigeon question.
All the boys who thought they had no
room for pets will be pretty sure to plan
way to house just two or four pigeons
you couldn't have three, you know, be-
cause pigeons always go in pairs.
And the boys who were contented with
just plain pigeons before will probably
want to be ''fanciers" now and to own
some of the kinds they never saw before.
They are curious sight, those pigeons at
the fair.
There are groups of snow-white fantails
strutting absurdly with their heads thrown
back.
There are any amount OF absurd crea-
lures that the catalogue calls pouters, and
that nobody could ever learn to care about.
Then there are the tumblers, absurd as
their name. The high-fyjng tumblers fly
up in the air to fall, and some varieties fly
only as high as a table and then roll over.
Beautiful pigeons are those that wear
hoods-dear, little, becoming hoods of
modest brown. Their faces peep forth
most demurely, and their behavior is far
more captivating than that OF the strut
The homing pigeon-do you not love
them for their very name? And then they
are the most charmingly affectionate and
domestic of living creatures. They talk
and COO to each other endlessly, and you
have surely all read stories about how they
will fly straight back to their homes, their
mates and their young, even if they are
carried hundreds OF miles away to a
strange country. A wonderful example of
this has just occurred, and, perhaps, some
of you children who are too busy TO read
the daily papers don't know about it.
A hardy sailor named Nansen, whose
home is IN Norway, has gone exploring the
northern seas, like the Vikings OF old.
He is a learned and brave man, this Nam
sen, and believes earnestly that he can
find that wonderful northwest passage
that so many brave men have died search
ing for.
Nansen has been gone away from his
home for long time, but he look some
carrier pigeons along in his good ship.
And few days ago it was telegraphed
all over the world that early in the morn
ing there was a great commotion in the
dove cote at Nansen's home in Norway.
A pigeon had come home-come nobody
knows how far, over frozen seas and frozen
lands, perhaps.
And if the pigeons mate was glad that
day, Mrs. Nansen was glad, too. For the
bird had a note tied around its neck bear
ing the glad message that the explorer
was alive and well and full of hope.
Was not that dear bird to go such
long journey and faithfully bring that
good news home?
Somebody said not long ago that the
carrier-pigeons at the Sandwich Islands
were probably the only ones in the world
whose work was of any real value.
Now that is great mistake. The island
nio 6n Sniqn6IH nd dose i0te
of credit. The sugar plantations down
there are on the island of Hawaii and
there is no cable there. So when there is
a ship going over from Honolulu TO get
load of sugar they just send over hon.
ing pigeon instead OF telegram to order
the cargo prepared.
Down al Los Angeles they do the same
thing. The island of Catalina is fiftv-
three miles from the mainland, and there
| isn't an electrician or even q telegraph
! line running across. There are people
at Catalina though, and especially in
| summer.
They like to keep in touch with the
| steamer doesn't t come often enough SO they
have a regular line of homing pigeons. II
any body dies or gets married or anything
| at Catalina they just send carrier pigeon
to take the news to Los Angeles paper.
They have it all arranged, too. so that if a
| man were to be a cook in hotel at Cata-
lima and his uncle in India should die and
leave him fortune they could sent out a
carrier pigeon right away to tell him to
! stop cooking.
Well, those pigeons fly those fifty three
miles in about fifty-three minutes. They
are very reliable, and people who know
Just what they can do wonder very much
that they are not used more generally
where there are no telegraph wires.
In hQ finn 70 lya O
carriers with you when you went to camp
out?
You could just send one home every
time anything happened. so as to be sure
your mother wouldn't worry about you.
And if the Stanford and Berkeley boys
had supply of carriers they could send
daily messages to each other about foot