New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-01-12
CARRIER PIGEONS IN WAR.
SOME INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS CAR
RIED on AT THE NAVAL ACADEMY.

WHAT THE BIRDS DID FOR PARIS DURING THE
sIEGE-THE USEFULNESS OF \ REGULAR
SERVICE ILLUSTRATED IT'S LrNiITA-
TIoNs AND POSSIBILITIES THE
QUESTION OF COST.
Washington. Jan. II (SpeclaD.-It is not generally
/ known that interesting experiments have taken
/ place within the last few years at the United
/ states Naval Academy with hominy pigeons for
! the purpose Of ascertalnng what value messen-
| ger service would have to the Navy in connection
! with the defence of the coast. With this end in
/ view the officers Of the practice vesse Of the
! cadets. when starting on their summer cruise on
/ the ocean their short cruises down Chesapeake
Bay. have taken baskets of birds trained the
Naval Academy for the first time to ny over
! bodies OF water. The superintendent of the Naval
Academy has favored the experiments with
thusiasm. and has allotted for use pigeon
lofi the tower of the boathouse at the eastern
| end OF the grounds. The expense attending these
experiments has been borne by officers at the yard
who interested in the matter, and much of the
advance in the work has been due to the efforts
OF Professor Marion. instructor OF French of the
cadets VINO has done the best ne could to
complish satisfactory results with the facilities at
hand
The popular ideas abort the homing pigeon until
within recent years seems 10 have been confined
to the pleasure II affords the owner OF the pigeon
But when 1t is known that almost all OF the foreign
Governments have annual appropriations for the
support and maintenance of pigeon lofts in
nection with their army, navy and custom services.
ard that such pigeon services have been in prac-
/ teal operation for number of years. the value
OF the bird Will be acknowledged The practical
utility % the homng pigeon was first demonstrated
during the siege of Paris The Parisiars the large
majority Of whom had never heard Of the rapa-
bilities Of pigeons. amazed "a this unex-
pccted success OF the first experiment.
After this nearly every balloon that loft the capt.
tai carried pigeons. which were dispatched to
Tours and placed under the exclusive charge or
Government officials. Pigeons began 20 be coll
lected AZ Tours from the beginning OF October.
from which date they were regularly employed as
myers into Paris. 1t was not. however, until
November following. by which time 10 birds had
already been used. that the advantages OF the
pigeon post open to the public. The charge
was at first % cenfmes a word. which was evcniu-
ally reduced 20 20 ccntimes; system of reply
cards was introduced and posioiiice service
established.
REDUCING THE SIZE OF DISPATCHES.
At first the dispatches carried by the birds
written by hand on small pieces Of very thin paper
and on one side only. Il was. however. long and
ioilsome method AMI quite unsuited to the trans
mission OF the enormous number Of dispatches
which had 20 be sent into Paris. II then
suggested that The size II the dispatches be red iced
by photography. whereby also large number OF
copies could be- secured without risk Of error.
The dispatches accordingly first copied in
handwriting in large characte:. then pasted one
nm Ter the other on large sheets OF cardboard These
large sheets were then fixed wooden panels
about . feet by -, feet. and the pane.s. covered
with two three columns OF messages. were
photographed and reduced 10 ~ inches by 2is
inches a reduction Of one three-hundredth In sur
face. Tho photographs were on very thin pape-
and on ono side only They checked under
a microscope before being fastened - the pigeon.
Among the lrsi dispatches sen, were several cut
tings OF the "Moniteur' newspaper. which At once
demonstrated how much more considerable the re-
ducilon would be n all the dispatches were printed
before being photographed. The next step In adj
vance WIS therefore, TO set up the dispatches In
type. an 10 photograph them on each side Of the
small paper messages. shortly after this still
greater reduction In sirfAoe and weight was eff
fcctcd by phoiographng messages on thin film
OF collodon each film containing on an average OF
200 dispatches. one bird could easily carry
dozen OF these films making thirty thousand dis
patches Il is estmat'i that l0e~ Official dis
patches a-d 1000" private dispatches were car
rici by pigeons INTO Paris.
Thus IL VII be seen that the mission OF The
carrier pigeon has been something more than the
mere pleasure ~ the flaccr; AMI such record o.
usefulness that during tho siege OF Paris leads
10 the belief that valuable addition 20 the signal
service In the Army and navy may be had az an
almos, insignificant annual expenditure for hs
maintenarcc.
PIGEON SERVICE IN MANY ARMIES
Indeed the European Governments were not
slow to take advantage Of the lesson learned at
Paris The organization OF regular military pigeon
systems In almost every Continental nation of Eu-
rope soon followed the Franco-Gernan War. The
military budget 81 France assigns credit OF 10000
for the annual cost Of signalling and pigeon lofts
In accordance with law the military authorities
have also the right requstlon messenger pigeons.
IA.
year a census Doe made Of all messenger pi,eons.
The Germans AZ once recognized the importance OF
the services that pigeons had rendered their adver-
slres during the siege of Paris. ana wer" one OF
the first nations 10 establish military lous they
have provided for communication between differ
ent parts Of the Empire by such julicous distribu-
ton of the stations that their system Is the most ex
tensive and complete in Europe. The annual credit
for pigeons and visual signalling Is $500 Russia
places such dependence upon the system that
sum approxmat.ng $1,000 Is said 10 be annually APP
proprlated for this purpose. This Nation has ex-
permentcd In the use Of pigeons IN tactical opera
tons where "A turning force or detachment may De
without communication with the main body. such |
a might readily occur through Inc nature ol
the country not admitting OF the suiciehuy rapid |
laying OF telegraph wire or through the removal /
by the enemy OF part of the wire which. under GER
tain circumstances Is dangerously exposed. These
tactical experiments said to have been carried
out successfully during recent grand mahoenVres
OF the army. Italy has an extensive military |
pigeon system. and the birds are trained out 70 sea
with view to their employment as messengers |
from the cruisers off the coast The Spanish GOV
eminent has established pigeon lofts at various |
coast guard stations. the idea being to employ the
birds to communicate between different stations
and also between the shore and cruisers
In 1857 homing pigeon station was eS'aolisheu III
Key West hv the Signal Corps OF the Army. The !
position of the island with respect 10 the posses
sions of other powers was considered TO be ad-
vantageous and communication from the ships OF
"A squadron cruising In the nciShhorhood was de-
sirablc The Secretary Of War made available one
OF the unoccuped storehouscs OF the Key West
barracks which was converted into a cote upon
approved plans In the experiments which followed
II was rot designed that great speed should be