Birmingham state herald., 1897-04-23
PIGEONS USED BY A DOCTOR In His Practice as Messengers
 for Rapid Transit.
TIME AND TROUBLE SAVED
News from Patients at a Mile Minute-Bocn to Country Practitioners and their Pa
 tents-How They Are Utilized.

Dr. Charles l.. Lang, of Meridien, N. Y has set the pace for all other prac- titioners by establishing a carrier pigeon service between his patients and himself. There Is ntithing in materia medica, which suggests this method of practice, but 1t Ls such a novelty in its way, ard it proves so successful, that once gen. orally known it is bound to prove pop ular.
 Every man who is a physician and has 8 practice that takes him about in the country districts to any great extent knows how hard it is 10 keep himself thoroughly posted as to the condition of the far~away patients,
 The city phyScian's clientele as a rule is more compac ny located, there not being the opportunity for him to practice in so large a territory as his country broth CT. Now, the country physician practices over an tntnenSe extent of territory, ir- fiEitely greater than nine out of ten of even his own patients think. He is quite likely bo have two patients critically i'll, living twelve miles apart and each a like dis ance from the doctors own home. Easily 1t will be seen that paying daily calls and keeping posted with sick per- sons scattered about like that becomes al- most an imposSibilsty.
 These conditions confronted pr. Lang for many long year, and he cudgeled his brain to some purpose in ffTTdng way to help himself and al. the samv time pIove a benefit to his patients. The hom- ing pigeon solved the problem. Tn other words, the doctor is the producer the pigeon ia the middle man ard the patient the oonsumer-of medicine. In his par ticular instance, however, the middle man benefits both producer and con sumer, a state of affairs as singular as Dr. Lang's project.
 - The doctor has found time to keep up on medical ~topicS, take good care of his patients and cultivate pigeons, all three very successfully. It is the success, or,
 rather, the combination of successes, that has made life easier for him, more tranquil for his patients and source of amuSs ment and interest to every stranger who hears what is going on. The doctor says his plan is a. thorough success, and he recommends brother practitioners to try it.
 There is nothing difficult about it at all. The method of procedure is this: In the first place, the doctor keeps in mind constantly the patients whose con dtion he Is anxious to be thoroughly pGsted upon. Then he sends to each of these one or more of the carrier pigeous, according to the severity of the case and the necessity of frequent communication. The nurse, or some member of the fam lily of the person who is ill, has blanks q iWnlcn the uOCtOr mas leIC, anu these must be filled in with a detailed record or time, pulse, temperature and resperation A blank filled, 1t is inclosed in an alumi- mum capsule made to clasp on the leg This done. the bird is released, and at once speeds away to the home of the waiting phy yscan at the rate of mile a minute In this connection 1t is we'll to remember that while to the uninitiat- ed the words "carrier pigeon" include all pigeous that carry messages, in reality hot hon fr1tJ pigeon is the carrier pigeon trained to actual, solid. hard work.
 T When the pigeon of the mcdico reaches 2 his destination, Dr. Lang's residence, he flies to the loft which has been prepared especially for him and his comrades. In order to gain this loft, however, he must pass through what are called bolt ing wires. These open inward into an inclosure about two feet square. Here the prisoner is held until the doctor or some one designated to perform the serv- ice removes the message. The pigeon then is free and flies into the loft.
 h this way Dr. Lang is enabled to kesp thoroughly in touch with his patients at a distance with about one-lifth the amourlt of travel he would have to endure i. under other circumstances. Not only that but he is really much better posted. because it would often happen that he would altogether be unable to pay visits to all the patients he should, and so, per- haps miss seeing a sick person at just the time he most needed to hear from f him, at least. Under the system he has devised, he can go away frcm home to visit patients and feel sure that when he returns reports will be awaBing him from . others. Should these reports tell him [ that a call from him is an absolute ne cesSity, why then he goes, and that is all there is of bt. ~ On the contrary, however, he very ire. .4quelltly learns from these reports by s, pigeons that a. visit from him on a ceutain day to the patient would have been un- necessary, and have simply wasted his {. time. Thereby the doctor has saved the trouble of along and tedious journey and : at the same time knows just how the ! uIerSon is whom he would have gone to see if 1t had not been for his pigeons. The doctor says. too, that more than once i.he life of pajtient has been saved by sudden communication to him via pigeon post. sE The homing pigeons belonging to Dr. Lang are of a composite bieed, being de- y sceffded from several branches of the homer-the "Cu,nulet," peari-eyed pig con of the tumbler species. which is in- rclfned to fly bO.h high and long; the z ''Srnsri," round headed and small and g aarather resembling am owl pigeon, it's ifIightsbeing of the swiftest; that ancestor g of the present day Belgian homer the s>t tDragoon," which is as strong as a lF,rench peaeari, and as steady going in ts flight as an old family horse. The QueSpiOIt Ol cCloT IS ldTStiy QEDdleQ the ,dpotor,s pigeons, for they are blue, blue , Ghackered and red checkered. The doctor ', sprefers these colors because he thinks ,-ahe solid white or black are conspicuous marks for the enemy of all pigeons, the hawk, and the purveyor of pigeon pie, the sfeLgun.
 IaioFn speaking of his plans and the ef- sfeets thereof, the pigeons and their hab- its, the doctor says:
 Many different names have been ap- piled pt9 the pigeons. but the one here sMsedS1 the hon1ing, is more favored, as .arif is Thetter indicative of the effort the z. z shird, makes. Could the pigeon sing. his ,.faYoEte song would be Home, Sweet .+Tfome;i for that is the idea in his tiny = sehead,s from the moment of his release yrbeafingra message to the point of de- 2 arIsstien.
 "Itfisss best, when establishing a loft of these, ,feathered messengers, to begin eanfined conf to the loft if with an snoua out .- - sid des cavered aviary if possible to give