The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1898-04-13
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gers has been effectively systematize'
by our navy department.
Havana will be-must be, in fact-th'
headquarters of the Spanish fleet ant
Key West will be that Of the United
States fleet, and in order that the ships
of our fleet may keep informed as far a:
possible of the movements of the ship!
Of the enemy, a pigeon messenger serv
Ice TO carry news has already been es
taolished by Captain Goodrich. Of tbs
American navy. at many points along
the coast. Cotes of birds are located a
Key West. and others are to be estab
lished, so report indicates, at Jupiter In
let and st. Augustine. on the east Goa
| of Florida and at some stations on tht
west coast. The lookout stations. where
! fast cruisers will be stationed TO obtair
information of the movements OF the
enemy's ships. are in the old Bahamas
channel. the Straits of Florida and the
! Yucatan canal-the three channels lead
| ing to Havana.
! Our fleet has organized a scouting di-
vision of high speed vessels 10 guard
| these passages and to do duty as scout:
and each vessel will carry a number OF
pigeons from the cotes of ali the Flor
ida shore stations
These scout ships will cruise in pairs
! For examples sake let US say they vii
/ be assigned as follows: The Cincinnati
and the Vesuvius off Cay Francis. to
give notice of any vessel approaching
! the west entrance Of the old Bahama
/ channel; the Marblehead and the May
| flower in the Yucatan channel. and the
! Montgomery and the Detroit between
| the Florida coast and Great Isaac Island
to keep watch over the Florida strait
and northwest Providence channel and
at other points near the coast less pow
| erful and swift vessels will be stationed.
The primary duty of these scout ships
will be to watch the movements Of the
| enemy's ships and to report by pigeon
messenger what information may be OBJ
tanned. A second duty will be to cap
ture the Spanish supply ships and to en-
gage any equal force in battle.
By stationing the lookouts as above,
the commander in chief is certain to re-
ceive information by pigeon messengers
of the approach of the enemy's vessels
within four or five hours after they are
sighted by the scouts.
Now, suppose the Spanish torpedo boat
1otilla starts over from Porto Rico. The
smoke will be sighted when ten miles
distant by the Cincinnati, in the old
Bahama channel. At once birds will be
tossed bearing in the aluminium quilts
the Vesuvius and the Cincinnati will
begin a retreat, always keeping in sight
and every once a while sending off
birds. AS soon as the word reaches Key
West the American torpedo boat f1otilla,
lying ready with steam up, will be sent
out at topmost speed to reach a com
handing position off Havana entrance.
Soon the Cincinnati and the Vesuvius
will heave in sight and then flag signals
will convy the news and the two scout
ships, assisted by the American torpedo
boats, will stand at bay.
The Biblical story is that when Noah's
ark landed on Mount Ararat Noah re-
leased a dove. After a short time the
bird returned, bringing in its heak a
sprig of green. This is the first authen-
tic use of the pigeon as a messenger
1t conveyed to Noah the message that
the waters which had overlooked the
earth had subsidized, and. therefore, that
he could safely venture forth.
The dove is often referred to as the
winged messenger of peace, but it is as
the winged messenger of war that we
are now to speak of it. The possibilities
of trouble with Spain have caused those
people who will have to lend a hand to
Quell the disturbance TO consider what
means should be adopted "a communi-
cate at distances apart when out Of
reach of the telegraph or sound Of the
telephone
Flags, lanterns, fireworks and guns
are well enough in their way, and there
will be numerous occasions when each
on of these systems will be resorted to
as the readiest, quickest and most ex-
act mode Of conveying an order. but
there will come other times when ships
will be far away from shore-so far that
neither visual nor phonetic signal can
be seen or heard-when the necessity for
sending messages will be urgent and the
information to be impaired of the ut
most Importance.
Word must be dispatched with haste.
Perhaps the welfare of the fleet may de-
pend on IT; perhaps the safety Of a city.
Where find the messenger to carry the
news? No ship can be spared to take it;
no torpedo boat to hasten with it: no
signal high enough to show It. Then let
the pigeon fly with ii, and. like the
shaft from the bow, the bird will swift
ly reach the haven. the message will be
delivered and the city or the ship will be
saved.