The herald., 1897-11-14
FROM ALASKA
Message From Chilk0ot
Pass by Pigeon
HOW THE BIRDS ARE TRAINED
ROBERT UHLMAN WILL SEND
MORE IN MAY
They Easily Fly Two Hundred Miles
Day for Whole Week-Five
Days to Chilkoot Pass

| PORTLAND, Nov. 4.--The use of hon.
ing pigeons as a means of communicate
ing between one part of the world and
another has become so we'll established
that it is no longer regarded as crude
thing.
The pigeon bearing on it's wing the
supposed message from Andre, safe,
well, hope to- reach the pole return In
two months" was fine specimen of the
genuine carrier pigeon. 1t was of the
large-winged family and its home was
! in the colder regions.
When 1t arrived at Spitzbergen it was.
though tired, not completely exhausted.
| and the next day was cooling to its mate
who is also a famous homing pigeon.
The pigeon that carried to Cork the
news of Queen Victoria's triumr rMart
march past the Mansion house made thc
trip in ten hours with the message:
Victoria Regina. 1S37-1S97. London
ablaze, and the United Kingdom hap
py."
Another recent pigeon feat was the
bearing of a message of congratulation
from the gamekeeper of the kaiser's
preserves to similar functionary of the
czar on the occasion of the birth of the
SLdl - SSSoHu SHliu. IL was IolS tllp,
and the pigeon made it in safety. 1t
had been trained in the czar's domain at
Berlin some weeks before.
There are many cases on record, and
others to come, in which the use OF the
pigeon is and will be almost the only
method for conveying news. On polar
expeditions and trips to the interior of
unknown countries, where no lines of
traffic have been laid, and on certain
lines of mid-ocean travelling. there is
really no other way of carrying news.
With this in mind, and knowing that
the demand for homing pigeons will in
crease, pigeon fanciers have been busy
for the last five years, getting their
birds in shape, so that they could be able
to go on long distances, and arrive with
unerring instinct.
The method of training has varied
greatly in later years. In former days
it was the custom to keep the pigeons
shut up, surrounded by broad windows,
through which they could look upon the
surrounding country. Then, when ready
to be flown, they were carried as quickly
as possible to a distant spot and let
loose. During transportation they wera
tied by string to the top of large pole,
upon which they perched, and from this
point of vantage gained knowledge of
the country through which they were
travelling.
1t is a well-known fact that animals
going through strange land are all
alert. Their frantic turning of the head,
the wideawake look as they view each
crossing, their sleeplessness and anxiety,
all indicate that they are noting every
point of the journey.
Pigeons trained in the old way made
the trip nine times out of ten in safety.
but as no great distance was required of
them their return was not considered
remarkable.
The latter-day method is considered to
be more by practice, and less by instinct.
The bird is taken a quarter of a mile
away from his roof and released. The
next day he is taken half mile in an
other direction. The distances are grad
ually increased until he has no difficulty
in making a ten-mile return journey
from any point. So carefully is the
work done that he will fly his ten miles
an hour without making false stroke
of his wings, and will arrive home with
out fatigue.
When the messenger. pigeon is fully
trained his flight is almost abnormal in
swiftness and directness. The fastest
traip cannot catch trained pigeon, and
sixty miles an hour is easily maintained
by him for period of two or three hours.
The new railroad train which is credited
with 120 miles an hour is not as swift as
the best carrier pigeon, and there is a
case on record in the school books of Il
pigeon that flew 300 miles an hour. This
speed has, however, not been lately
equaled.
The practical use to which pigeons are
now being placed is shown in the direct
communication which is established by
them between Alaska and Oregon. Rob-
ert Uhlman, the celebrated pigeon-own-
er of Portland, received few days ago
a pigeon which he sent to Chilcoot pass