Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-07-17
CARRIER PIGEONS.
Where They are Used, and What They
are Capable of Doing.

Where They are Used, and What They
are Capable of Doing.
"The New Popularity OF the Carrier
Pigeon" is the title of an article by George
Ethelbert Walsh, which appeared in st.
Nicholas.
Both in war and peace the carrier pigeon
has won new laurels in the past year, and
| its popularity as a we'll bred pet and
domestic messenger has become as great
as its usefulness as a carrier of war de-
spatches where telegraph and telephone
| lines are not established. That SO inno-
cent creature as the dove-like carrier
should be selected for important war pur-
| poses, and taken into the service for fur
thering the bloody conflicts OF modern
armies seems out of keeping with the
aims of nature and an abuse of mans
power.
The pigeon is eminently a peace loving
| bird and its nature is so different from
those of the screaming eagle and falcon
| that as an emblem of war it should be a
total failure. Nevertheless the timid bird
| has served armies in times of need and is
cultivated for its practical war usefulness
to an extent never dreamed of for either
| the falcon or eagle. In sense it is the
war bird OF the day.
The pigeon post at Durham, in South
Africa, was the beginning of the pigeon
experiments conducted in recent cam
| and scores of messages were carried from
one part of the English army to another
| by means OF the birds. Colonel Hassard
OF the Royal Engineers, staff officer at
the Cape, had made life study of the
carrier pigeons, and before the war broke
out he had established pigeon posts be-
tween most of the beleagured cities.
From Ladysmith, Kimberly and MAIZE
king, pigeons early in the sieges regularly
brought messages from the English SOL
diers cooped up in the towns. Sir George
Whites first message from Ladysmith was
carried by pigeon, and this means of
communicating with the outside world
continued until the number of birds in
the city was exhausted.
1t was only short time before the out
break of the war in South Africa that the
English government had decided to es-
| tablish a service of carrier pigeons. In
the navy, pigeon posts were recognized
means of carrying information as early as
1896, and there are over thousand birds
recorded on the books of the royal navy.
The first naval loft was at Portsmouth
| and now there are two others. In the
English army the posts have been con-
fined almost exclusively to the Cape, where
the nature of the country makes the home
pigeon service Of more value than in Eng
land.
The development OF the war homing
pigeon service throughout Europe has
been more rapid than elsewhere, and army
posts support large numbers OF them.
Strict laws are made to protect those in
private lofts. As great military camp,
Europe looks upon the carrier pigeon as
menace to the country if not held uDder
strict military control. In Germany, for
instance, every pigeon raised by private
breeders must be registered, and the pigeon
cannot be taken out OF the country or sold
without permission from the military
authorities.
authorities reserve the right to claim and
take possession of every carrier pigeon in
the land. In addition to this, every fort
ress and camp on German soil has its
pigeon service and over ten thousand dol
lars is appropriated annually for the sup
port OF this service. There are upwards
of ten thousand pigeons belonging to the
war department, and every bird is care
fully trained and tested.
The United States military and naval
authorities have approved of the pigeons
as aids to the regular telegraphic means OF
communication, and there are several
posts established in the West and along
the Atlantic coast. But on the whole this
country depends more upon private
breeders for its supply of carrier pigeons
than upon the birds already in the service
of the army or navy.
Our great distance by sea from all other
powerful nations makes it unnecessary to
arrange for the services of carrier pigeons
as the European countries have done.
There is little chance of any foreign army
invading this country and destroying the
railroad and telegraph lines connecting
the big cities. Pigeon breeding and train
ing have therefore been carried on in the
United States more in the interests of
peace and pleasure. There are hundreds
of enthusiastic owners in every state of
the Union, and probably in no country
has the work OF rearing the birds been
attended to with greater intelligence and
success.