The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-04-10
TO CARRY NEWS OF STORMS.
A PLAN TO MAKE HONING PIGEONS
DO 81 GNAL SERVICE WORK.

They are BeinE Trained with n
View 90 .HavinE Them Carry News
of app,,os ching storms 40 tIse Sea
leland. A.Iong the Coast DR..
stones no ming Pigeons aud the
ResuIts of His Experiments With
Them.
There ts a well defined movement nov
on foot TO organize branch signal service
for the benefit Of Z he sea islands near Sa-
,-snnab nv the use of homing pigeons.
several gentlemen. who own property on
some of the sea islam IS are now devoting
considerable attention 10 this matter, and
lofts Of homine pigeons have already been
established for the pu pose Of carrying
out this object
DR.. George H. Stone no W has loft Of
seventeen pigeons at his residence, at
South Broad and Habershah1 streets He
has eight Of these birds unG'er trainii lg,
and expects TO have them soon so II at
they will. when released at Wilmington
Island. return to Savannah. Ytsterda
morning he released them at Cattle Pari
about i've or six miles from their home
and they were back IN eight minutes
DR.. Stones idea is that lofts Of homing
pigeons should be established on each OF
the sea islands along the coast near Sa-
vannah he has been ia correspondence
with Observer p. H Smyth Of the wealth
er bureau, looking 10 the establishment Of
a loft for the pigeons on the top of the
signal service office. During the 4lOnlns
when the severe storms occur the lngeohs
could be brought from " inning loIis Dau-
fuskie. Tybee, St. Catherine ana the 0th-
er islands along the coast to the lOtt az the
signal station. BY this means word could
n Islanders of "A coming
storm. The pigeons travel about tnree-
fOurths Of a mile minute, and go IN a
bee line, so that almost any Of the coast
islands could be reached within hair 10
three quarters of an hour.
Mr.. i. Il. Middleton has a loft Of these
pigeons on Wilmington Island, and they
are now being trained TO return there
from the city. II Is said Mr.. Jacob Rau-
ers will have loft on st. Catherine
Island, and in addition TO his loft IN Sa-
vannah, DR.. Stone expects TO establish
one also on Wilmington. If loft IS put
up over the signal service office II Is eX-
pected then that lofts viii be established
on all the islands along the coast, and
system for storm warnings viii then be
established.
ton to the training Of these pigeons. The
homing pigeon is from the old carrier
pigeon and the dragon pigeon. The hoIn-
ing pigeon Is now used extensively in Eu-
rope, and in many countries the govern
ment protects the breeding of them, and
IN fact, II Is encouraged all over Europe.
used TO great extent. There are over
1000 lofts in Antwerp alone. The racing
Of these pigeons is in many places an in
ferestlng sport.
1t is a question whether, at this time,
hOming pigeons could be imported advan-
tageously, as those here, are already &C
climated, and the breed is fully as good a
BIRD as those of the old country. In breed
ing homing pigeon no regard is paid to
the color OF the bird, but they are mated
tor their qualities in flying; those that do
the best work being put together They
are mated and minated year after year,
according to their achievements. The
homing pigeon is a faithful mate, and
Two once mated will usually remain to-
gether during season.
IN training the pigeons they are first
taken only mile from the loft and they
easily md the way back The second
throw Is two miles from the loft, and the
third throw four miles, the fourth eight
miles, and the fifth sixteen miles the dis
lance being doubled each time II the
Dirds nave any trouble they are thrown
second ana third time even rom the
same distance, until they are able to make
II without any difficulty. This is usually
determined Soy the time they take to
feach their loft. When the distance gets
up to 500 miles little attention is paid to
II thereafter and 1t is peculiar but true
That the pigeon viii make the distance Of
sunset.
When the bird is four days old it is
marked by having a little platinum ring
with the date and number slipped over
It's foot and onto the leg. If 1--WE days
pass the foot grows too large to get the
ring on, and at two or three days the foot
Is so small that the ring would slip off
The homing pigeon usually lives about
fourteen years, and can be used during
that time The homing pigeon shot near
Jones Hill in the eastern part of the
city several days ago was one of DIR.
Stones
The establishment Of such a service
would be quite a unique departure but
no doubt very beneficial one. with
timely warning Of a severe storm the in
habitants OF the sea islands would be en-
aDled TO make much of their property
safe before leaving themselves for place
OF safety. The warnings from the weather
bureau, while they serve all the purposes
OF the people in the city and in places
easy or access from the city, often do
widespread disaster is often the result.
such a warning as would be furnished
through this means would be one to which
attention would be at once directed, for
everyone would be informed beforehand
what II meant, and would regard it,
FUNERAL OF j. II. MMAHoN.