The evening times., 1896-12-11
PIGEON FLYERS MEETING
Keyworth and Eaton, ofThis City,
Elected to Board of Directors.
TALK WITH A LOCAL FANCIER
Gives Some Interesting Facts About
the Characteristics of the Differ
ent Varieties OF the
FantaiI, Jacobin, Archangel, ORR
entail Frill and Others.

| At the annual meeting of the National
/ Federation OF American Homing Pigeon
I Fanciers, held in Philadelphia yesterday,
Mr.. W. II. Keyworth and Mr.. V. Eaton, OF
| this city, were elected members of the
! board of directors. Mr.. Eaton also re-
| spontied To IA toast at the annual dinner of
| the organization last evening.
President T Fred Goldman, OF Brooklyn,
who was reelected to fill that position
during the ensuing year, called the ses-
I sions to order In 1.-THE afternoon he consrltu-
lated the federation on the large number of
/ members present, the successful flying of
the ast year showing a remarka BILE gruwt n
of the sport, and explained the proposed re-
organization.
After brief remarks by the vice pres lent,
Secretary William Verinder, of Jersey
City, and Treasurer John Sheppard, Race
Secretary Charles II. Jones read his report
and presented the members with his Decem-
ber number of Pigeon Flying, containing
the years race records and diplomas given
for best speed at the various distances dur
ing S96, all of which was adopted.
POINTS ABOUT PIGEONS.
prominent local fancier, in a talk with
The Times this morning, gave some in-
teresting points about pigeons. Among
other things, he said.
"A striking fact, in connection with pig
cons IS Jnat the bird technically known
as the carrier is not the bird used in the
transmission of messages. This latter
hIrd is trc;ilIcally known as a homer. The
carrier is, perhaps, one OF the oldest or
the breeds of fancy pigeons, and unqucs-
tionably derived its name from the fact
thaJ they Were once used as hOmers are
now.
THAT was long time ago, and no owner
Of carriers will now permit them 10 fly
at liberty. They are too valuable, and as
they hd dyr not Of late years been trained To
carry, that instinct is almost entirely gone
The ca rrlsr mas often been confOunded with
the homer. but it is by no means n flyer,
and is distinctly bird for the loft.
In order To be 'top-knOtcher' this
king of pigeons must stand erect, have a
stately carriage and be equipped with
large, strong, legs and feet. The neck must
be long and slender, tha mead carried .lIgn
The body is broad in front tapering to the
tail. Carriers are bred to black, white, yell
low, dun, blue and red, black, dun and
white, however, predominating, anu in
order TO insure attention of the judges the
feathers must be glossy and rich in culOr
VERY ATTRACTIVE BIRDS.
The pigeons, however, which attract
the greatest amount of attention are those
two beauties known As the fantail and
the JacObin. This is undoubtedly owing
To their peculiar formation and their evi-
dent desire to display their beautiful points
The fantail is undoubtedly the more pop
ular OF the two, and a well-bred bird COM
mands very high prices. II is, compara-
lively speaking, small bird, but wiat il
lacks in stature is more than redeemed in
showiness and style.
The beauty of the fantail is, as might
be supposed from its name, in its wealth
OF tail, which should form as complete a
circle as possible, the opening forming the
fourth part of the circle. Each feather
should overlap the other at the edge and
each should he set regular and twisted.
The Jacobin is one Of the prettiest and
most interesting of birds, owing to It's
form and colors, of the latter OF which
there are seven. Although 1t is a hand
some bird, its thin flights and soft feath-
ers make its motion through the aR un-
galnly, while IL would, indeed, be diff
cult for really good bird TO see its way
owing to its eyes being srnothered by It's
hood, n great ban of feathers around its
neck, which is sufficiently large to enabIeit
to hide its head.
Another decidedly attractive pigeon is
tn. archangcl, which. when viewed from
different positions, seems to change the
color of its plumage A flock OF these
birds in perfect Coloring is u beautiful
one.
COLOR OF THE ARCHANGEL.
"A rich, coppery bronze, shading from
hight 10 quite dark, covers the neck. breast
and under part of the body, while the
wings and back are OF a very dark leatlcn
hue. beautifully variegated with hues of
green and purple.
The tail is of leadcn hue with dark
bars across the end. Taken as whole the
archangel is one Of the most attractive
of. show birds and never fails TO attract
marked attention.
Oriental Frills are another favorite
class and represent many varieties. prom
inent among which are the blondinetts.
turbiteens and satinctts. This breed has
been greatly helped by gentlemen breed
ers who have made it what it is today,
one Of the leaders of exhibitions
The markings of the b!ondinetts and
the satinetts are very fine. The first
named are divided into several classes all
OF which are distinguished by their color
The difference between the two varieties
is very striking: the satinett is very
white. with colored shoulders and tails.
while the blondinett is whole -colored.
with flight and tail markings The former
bird is probably the oldest variety, his
tory showing that it was bred in SMYRNA |
some 1870 years ago.
There are hosts of other varieties
which might be named the pouter, barb.
tumbler. owl, Chinese, American, African.
trumpeter, turbit, magpie, swallow, nun.
and dragon being some of the best
known