The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-10-16
HOMING PIGEONS.
PROGRESS MADE IN BREEDING AND
TRAINING THESE BIRDS.

The Great Service They Rendered During
the Siege of Paris-The Prices Paid For
Them In England Range from So to
$500.
Carrier pigeons must not be confused
with homing pigeons. The former IS i
fancy pigeon, especially priced Tor the
largenass Of IFS eve and vattles, hUt
quite useless as 4 messenger. Both are
cousins of the dragon, but the fancier,
i'll the case Of the carrier, has bred pure
ly for points, color, shape, etc, while
the holning pigeon fancierc cares nothing
for these thiags. With him it has been
s'handsome is as handsome does" and
stamina with intelligence has been his
aim.
The homing instinct gees back 70 the
fountain head of all the varieties, the
blue rock itself. Tie bind, III fact, has
been made and is the product purely Of
that game of determination known as
1.-The survival OF tie fttasJ." The L
thing which gave the FLIP to the sport
was undoubtedly the siege OF Paris.
Tie French fought and lost one great
battle after another till they were driven
within the iron walls OF Paris. Then il
wa that the city, entirely surrounded
by the allied forces, found herself cut
off from all communication with the
outer world. \ few patriotic fanciers
offered their birds tc the government,
and SO was organized the pigeon post,
by which mean the government was
kcot alive tothe doings CT the bcsiegers,
and the besieged could receive commu-
nications from their friends outside.
The l4rdus onera.idi was this: ! bal
Icon lc4t Paris, taklu6 vita tia pannler
of pigeons, and, once clear Of the Prus-
sian catposts, the baIloonist made Ii;
way Tor some recognized center.
The messages TO lie so,.t " Paris were
tLan, by means Of rhCeCgE ~, reduced
SO tna1 "a page Of Aae Tines c0ald up
pear Oh a-sr.a!l piece Of paper or finn
two inches by an inch OF so. In this
way a single pigeon was the bearer of
upward Of 500 messages, the aggregate
cost Of which to the senders was con
siderably over e1U0. The first three
pigeons carried III this way over 1000
dispatches. Upward CT 115, Geo official
anu private messages We're brought into
Paris by the pigeons. and the records Of
the pigeon and balloon service Of the
siege Of Paris certainly read more like d
mau OF the Jules Verne type than
simple historical facts. The services
rendered during the memorable siege
set al the world a-wondering, with the
result that nearly all the governments
of Europe (our being the great ex-
ception) at once established military
lofts, which have been extended Oh every
hand and are being perfected.
While the governments TINS Tec0g-
nized the value Of the Louing pigeon
for military purposes q few stalWart
fanciers il this country discovered d
new medium of sport, with the result
that j. VI. Logan, II. P, and other
recognized fathers Of the fancy i'm
ported the best birds that Belgium Lad
to oner, AID it Is from these birds and
those imported since that tie racing
pigeon in this country hes beea pro
duced. I have little hesitation IL say
ing that upward or SEQ, eco PER annEm
has been spent during the last 25 years
in purchasing the best birds, and that
at prices from, say, 20 shillings tor a
squeaker up to geo for Il proved racer
or stud bird. The first public long dis
lance races in this country seeIa to have
been organized about 1870, aud from
that day TO the present the hOmiug
pigeon has been gradually clearing its
character Of being a public house play
thing, fit only for mile to three mile
sweeps, until now towns innumerable
and villages throughout the country
have their flying clubs, with q pro-
gramme of races starting generally at
abeat 20 and extending III many in
stances up to 500 miles. Wherever. too,
the Britisher has gone, there also has
he taken his terrier and homing pigeon,
and we now hear Of the bird as d recog-
niZed institution IL America, India,
South Africa and Australia. So rap
idly has tie sport extended il the last
few years that it would seem the next
90 may see the racing Of honiing pigeons
recognized as the worlds great sport.
The great ambition of the northern
fanoier is TO fly 500 miles i'll the day.
This. MP to the present, has not been
accomplished, although birds have been
home well Lafore bre.,hfast the morning
after liberation, having flown upward
Of so miles. The performance can,
however, readily be done ca a favorable
day, and many ~fanciers i'll and about
London accomplished the route from
ThuTso, n. B., the winning bird flying
sol miles, with IA average velocity Of
1,454 yards per minute for the entire
distance These 800 mile performances