The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1899-10-30

| COMMUNICATION UeCWefn lighthouses
J and the shore. They are also utilized
by the masters In command of fishing
smacks who hayeing had a successful
| venture, despatch them with the news
to their landing post. No sooner is the
/ information received than steamers
are sent out for the purpose of col
Letting the fish, 50 that the masters
may continue their fishing operations
under favorable conditions.
On the steamers of the Transatlantic
| company trading between Havre and
| New York the system of communicate
! ing by means OF carrier pigeons is now
organized, Travellers who wish TO
| communicate with the land write their
messages on post cards, which are pho
tographed on thin tissue paper the size
of visiting card, and, inserted in a
light tube, secured under the wing of
the carrier pigeon. AT daybreak the
cage is opened and the pigeon starts
for home, where these miniature mes
sages are either retransferred to other
post cards for transmission, according
to superscription, through the post, or
wired to destination.
At the present time the distance ac-
complished by carrier pigeons between
the transatlantic steamers and the
land is somewhat less than thousand
miles, but it may be considerably in
creased if the companies unanimously
agree to erect pigeon houses at the ex-
IRENE southwest point of ireland on
the one hand and Halifax on the 9TH
er hand.
Several miles out at sea beyond
Auckland. New Zealand lies Great
Barrier Island which as no regular
communication either by cable or
steamer with the New Zealand archi-
pelago. But now the idea is being Sc
riously entertained of organizing a
fortnightly service of carrier-pigeons
between it and Auckland. The mes
sages, styled ''pigeongrams, will have
to be written on tissue paper not larg-
er than visiting card The super
scription, written in pencil, like the
text of the message, must be at the
top of the paper, to which will be af-
fixed postage stamp representing a
pigeon on the wing, with Great Bar
rier Island" written over it; special |
post beneath it; and zone Shilling
on both sides of it. o first issue of |
1880 of these stamps has lately been !
put into circulation.
A service of carrier pigeons is or
ganized between Sardinia and the |
Italian coast BY this means Caglarf
can communicate with Naples on the |
one hand, and, on the other hand, the |
island of Maddalena can correspond |
with Rome. The distance between |
Cagliari and Naples is $50 kilometres,
and between Madeleine and Rome it |
is 270 kilometres; and it is covered |
with the carrier pigeons at the rate |
of sixty-five kilometres per hour.
In America pigeon houses have been
erected on board war ships, for the
purpose of Accommodation and
corresponding with the land. This
system is also in vogue on board sew
eral French men-of-war The pigeon
houses on the American ships are most
constructed. They have
two stories, are painted in bright colors
to attract the pigeons, and are fitted |
up with every convenience for the COM
fort of the birds. Not long ago nine of
these messengers on the wing were
brought to London from Boston and
set free three months later. Three of
them crossed the Atlantic; the one
found it's way to Boston direct; an
other was discovered hear Boston, and
the third was found in Allegheny.
In 1877 the Soclete Colombophite of
Saint-Nazaire tried experiments with
carrier pigeons taken out at sea on
board the steamers, They were in
trusted to the pilots who We're in
structed to set them free at increased
Instances. Many of them returned
nome. having travelled back 200 kilo-
metres. But most remarkable of all
eats performed by carrier pigeons was
hat Of the pigeon despatched by Sir
'ohn Ross from Assistant Bay on Oc-
ober IL, 1850. 1t safely reached its
lone in Ayrshire in direct line, across
he Atlantic Westminster Gazette.