The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-07-28
HOMING PIGEONS.
PROGRESS MADE IN BREEDING AND
TRAINING THESE BIRDS.

the Siege of Paris-The Prices Paid For
Them In England Range From 80 To
$500.
Carrier pigeons must not be confused
with homing pigeons The former is IA
fancy pigeon, especially priced for the
largeness Of its eye and wattles, but
quite useless as "A messenger. Both are
cousins of the dragon, but the fanoier,
in the case of the carrier, has bred pure
ly for points, color, shape etc., while
the homing pigeon fancier cares nothing
for these things. With him it has been
handsome is as handsome does, " and
stamina with intelligence has been his
aim.
The homing instinct goes back to the
fountain head of all the varieties, the
blue rock itself. The bird, in fact, has
been made and is the product purely of
that game of determination known as
1.-THE survival OF the fittest The one
thing which gave the FLIP to the sport
was undoubtedly the siege of Paris.
The French fought and lost one great
battle after another till they were driven
within the iron walls of Paris. Then it
was that the city, entirely surrounded
| by the allied forces, found herself cut
| off from all communication with the
outer world. A few patriotic fanciers
| offered their birds to the government,
and SO was organized the pigeon post,
by which means the government was
kept alive to the doings of the besiegers,
and the besieged could receive commu-
nications from their friends outside
The modus operandi was this: A bal
loon left Paris, taking with it pannier
of pigeons, and once clear of the Prus-
sian outposts, the balloonist made his
way for some recognized center.
The messages to be sent to Paris were
then, by means of photography, reduced
so that page of The Times could APP
pear on small piece of paper or film
two inches by an inch or so. In this
way a single pigeon was the bearer of
upward of 800 messages, the aggregate
cost of which to the senders was con-
siderably over e100. The first three
pigeons carried in this way over l, 200
dispatches. Upward of 115, 600 official
and private messages were brought into
| ny tuc DiSCOlls, ahu thc iSSOito VI
the pigeon and balloon service Of the
siege of Paris certainly read more like a
romance of the Jules Verne type than
simple historical facts The services
rendered during the memorable siege
set all the world a-wondering, with the
result that nearly all the governments
of Europe (our own being the great ex-
ception) ut once established military
lofts, which have been extended on every
hand and are being perfected.
While the governments thus recog-
nized the value of the homing pigeon
for military purposes a few stalwart
fanciers in this country discovered a
new medium of sport, with the result
that j. w. Logan, M. p, and other
recognized fathers of the fancy" i'm
ported the best birds that Belgium had
to offer, and it is from these birds and
those imported since that the racing
pigeon in this country has been pro
duced. / have little hesitation i'll say
ing that upward of $40, 600 per annun
has been spent during the last 20 years
in purchasing the best birds, and that
at prices from, say, 90 shillings for O
squeaker up to $50 for a proved racer
or stud bird. The first public long dis
lance races in this country seem to have
been organized about 1870, and from
that day to the present the homlng
pigeon has been gradually clearing 1T
character of being a public house play
thing, fit only for mile to three mile
sweeps, until now towns innumerablt
and villages throughout the country
} have their flying clubs, with a pro
; gramme of races starting generally al
about 20 and extending in many in
stances up to 500 miles Wherever, too
,, the Britisher has gone, there also hai
he taken his terrier and homing pigeon
and we now hear Of the bird as q recog
, nized institution in America, India
South Africa and Australia. So rap
idly has the sport extended in the las
few years that it would seem the mex
90 may see the racing of homing pigeons
,, recognized as the worlds great sport
. The great ambition Of the northern
fancier is to fly 500 miles in the day
This, up to the present, has not beef
; accomplished, although birds have beef
home we'll before breakfast the morning
after liberation, having flown upward
of $50 miles. The performance can
however, readily be done OH favorabl
, day, and many fanciers in and abou
London accomplished the route from
0 Thurso, N. b., the winning bird flynn
: sol miles, with an average velocity o
5 1,454 yards per minute for the entir
}, distance These 500 mile performance
. in the day are quite common in Bel
. GUM. and tho distance has also beel
0 covered in America.
5 You may search the whole annals O
y athletic performances or feats o
= :. strength, and, as far as it is possible t
I contrast two distinct things, the HON
;, ing pigeon will go one better than tn
- best of them. Take this as an everyda
example: Birds are liberated at, say
Ventnor, to fly 900 miles into the mort
of England. and the wind is blowing
g at the rate of upward of mile min
D ute dead against them. and vet dozen