Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1900-03-15
THE PIGEONS IN WAR.
Carriers Now Being Utilized in
South Africa.
Post Established by the British Do
ing Good servicc-Cne Thou
sand. birds in the
Navy. t...

The pigeon post established at Lady
smith and Durham for carrying war
messages has been such a success that
special appropriations for increasing
the. service will be recommended by
the war office. A good deal of this sue
cess of the pigeon service is due to
the skill and energy Of Col. Hassard, Of
the Royal engineers, who has spent
years in pigeon culture for just this
sort of an emergency, and he has demon
strated the fitness Of the birds for war
purposes. Col. Hassard, who was sta
toned at the Cape. before hostilities
broke out, Systematically trained his
pigeons for carrying messages across
the rough, mountainous land, and his
various pigeon posts were Of the great
est value in keeping the home office ap-
prised Of the exact condition of the
army. ...
Nearly every civilized government
now has carrier pigeons connected with
both their war and navy departments.
| France has entered into pigeon culture
more extensively than any other Eu-
"onean power, and it is roughly esti-
mated that there are $50, COU pigeons
i'll that country trained for war emer-
| gencies. The main pigeon loft or train
| ing station is at Chalons, where several
thousand birds are kept all the time.
| Every frontier post and fortress has
smaller lofts, and three times a week
regular communication is kept up be-
tween these places by means of
pigeons. This pigeon post in constant
practice in times Of peace would be Of
immediate service in times of war. The
state protects the carriers, and anyone
caught shooting pigeon Of any kind
in France is heavily fined. The pigeon
service has been established in France
since 1870.
The German war department owns
about 10000 pigeons, but they have a
system of reserves which they cun call
| into service III times Of war. The own
CTS Of private lofts have to register
their carrier pigeons, and the war de-
partmcnt knows exactly how many Of
the birds it can obtain at a moments
notice. "
The Austrian government also relies
largely upon private owners pigeons
gor service in times Of war. Every bird
n the country has to be registered,
md not one can be sold or sent out Of
he country without permission. Since
SIS Il few thousand pigeons have been
II regular service at the fortresses and
| frontier posts. Russia has military
/ pigeon system, which is maintained by
the officers in the corps of engineers.
Little is known about her system, OK
aept that lofts are scattered through
cut the empire, including bleak Siberia.
Ehe intense cold of the winter months
il the latter place seriously interfercs
with the success of the pigeon post
md partly neutralizes the good effect
ii il. Italy's pigeon post vas estab-
!ishel in 1872, and Spain and Portugal
inaugurated similar systems a few years
later.
! There are LOCO ho.Hing pigeons on
the books of the British, navy, and sew
sral times this number On the books
Of the army. In the pas; ten years the
| United States army ana navy depart
nents have been interested II the car
rier pigeons, and we have pos;s estab-
l;shed al different points throughout
the country. Their services have been
useful chiefly IT. tie navy, and expert
ments are beirg made constantly in
communicating by this means between
the shore and the ships. There is 10
system Of registering homing pigeons
in private lofts, and in emergency the
government in need of more pigeons
would have to depend upon the patriot
ism Of the private owners for increasil. e
its supply. That there would be plenty
of volunteers no one doubts for a mo-
ment.-ColIier's Weekly.