The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1895-08-22
PIGEONS AT SEA.
FREEING 1900 AERIAL MEssENl
GERS IN MID-OCEAN.
An Experiment Made TO Test the
Value OF the Birds as Carriers In
Case of Accidents to Vessels
Many Messengers Return.

. all sides how to get the newt
in the future OF a vessel disabled a.
sea. by an extraordinary chance the
Gascogne met no other steamer. How
could provision he made against
parallel occurrence? Some one
thought Of carrier pigeons. Would
they be able to stand their imprison
ment on board? Would they suffer
from seasickness? And. finally, be
ing let loose. would they set ont fo,
their respective destinations. or. seized
with fear, would they settle on thl
yards? These two points were 4
paramount impol 'ance.
IL was FOR the purpose of solvint
Tins complicated prcbIem that ths
Paris Petit journal placed its III at thi
head oI II carrier pigeon movement!
! Alter having let loose the cnormou,
number Of sixty thousand pigeon.
from the Trocadero, the mnnaget
| chartered an ocean steamer lths
! Manouhtal, and invited the owners Of
carrier pigeons to conclusive expert,
men.
II was decided to put the pigeons
ON board and let them loose at sea at
| varying distances.
June 49 was the date set for SAILING.
! The port chosen was Saint Naznire.
All the previous day the baskets con.
| tinued to arrive ia such numbers that
| the entire night was passed in per.
| fecting the multiplicity ot arrange.
| ments necessary for accommodating
| 80 extraordinary gathering. Five
| Thousand pigeons rs passengers They
must be received registered, sorted,
| tue hampers stored IN such manner
as TO be reached conveniently accord
! ing TO distance, thus avoiding future
confusion; each pigeon must be
| marked on the wing with the stamp
! Of th" Petit Journal, and he fed con.
stautiy, paying special attention 60
assuagiug their thirst, as "A pigeon can.
not get along without It's fnll supply
of fresh water. The plan which the
owners had adopted for calling atten.
tion to their birds thirst was very Gu
riOus On all the cages cards were tied,
hy means of which the pigeons made
their wants very politely known, as
! follows:
~ drink. II you please
eve are thirsty
"Some fresh water, ii you please.
''Pleasc I'LL our drinking cups"
The water pals circulated freely,
while corn was frequently thrown into
the cages.
The first sorting was done in the
station, then the cages were loaded on
wagons and driven TO the dock, trans
| ferred on board the Manonbia-a Iastj
J '-h@soiif~setinyy~ 30 .new s,y,iisSsiitf ndio,-
TO terra lirma. The Manoubia set ouk(
TO sea by way of Croisic and Belle Isle. !
steering toward the west The account |
continues:
The barometer said "variable." 4"
Amateur sailors as we were, we would
much rather have seen the glass point |
to Fair weather" !" But the enthusi- |
nsts were delighted The wind whis- |
tied, the sky was overcast ane. chese /
were excellent conditions for the /
pigeons, who are timid under very
brilliant glare OF sunlight
The afternoon was well employed. |
watering the pigeons, attaching the |
dispatches to the winged messengers.
fitting the cages for fear OF II shower |
or countermarking them.
Night passed-badly for the lands.
men-but without II Y discomfort 10 |
the pigeons, no one of whom suffered |
from sensickness. W were all reused |
Mt three o'clock in the morning. |
Every one was on deck. Preparations
were made for looseniDg the one hun
dred hilomctre pigeons at four. The
cages were brought out. The pigeons
seemed to know that the moment had !
come. They showed every sign Of i'm.
patience. The doors were lowered
What was going to happen?
The pigeons came out of their tenn
porary homes with IN appearance of
stupeiactiou. The spectators were
uncertain as to whether they would
leave the deck and settle on the ward
arms. There was great futtering of
wings and fifteen hundred pigeons
whirled into the air. In five minutes
they had disappeared.
At eight O'Clock the second batch
was let loose under the same condi-
tlons Mt two hundred kilometres.
The Manoubia cast anchor ut Belle
Isle. The sea was decidedly too rough
for the passengers. There still re-
manned On board two thousand
pigeons to countermark and set loose
mt three hundred and five hundred
kilometres.
The first known results were salts.
factory. Not only did the carriers
return unerringly, but great hocks of
them displayed wonderful sagacity.
Bnt two or three bewildered pigeons
alighted in the rigging. As to the re-
mainder, they took the homeward
route with an admirable precision,
and the pigeon houses were alive and /
noisy with the returning messengers.
New York Herald.
The Windmiils of Kansas.
WnCtnrn Kopgos - apt;.nIs.