Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1901-07-26

ne New popularity Vi llS CalllSi
Pigeon" is the title of an article by
George Ethelbert Walsh, which ap-
pears in the St. Nicholas.
Both in war and peace the carrier
pigeon has won new laurels in the
past year, and it's popularity as we'll
bred pet and domestic messenger has
become as great as its usefulness as
a carrier of war dispatches where tel
egraph and telephone lines are not
established. That so innocent crea-
ture as the dove-like carrier should
be selected for important war pur-
poses, and taken into the service for
furthering the bloody conflicts of mod
ern armies seems out Of keeping with
the aims of nature and an abuse of
mans power The pigeon is eminent
ly a peace-loving bird and its nature
is so different from those of tha
screaming eagle and falcon that as an
emblem of war it should be 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 campaigns between the Eng
liah and Beers. and scores Of mes
sagcs were carried from one part Of
the English army TO another by means
of the birds. Colonel Has5ard of the
Royal Engineers, a stafi-officer at the
Cape, has made a life study Of the
caTTierpigeons, and before the war
broke out he had established pigeon
posts between most OF the beleagured
cities. From Ladysmith, Kimberley
and Ma2eking, pigeons early in the
sicses regularly brought messages
from the English soldiers cooped up in
the towns. Sir George Whites first
message from Ladysmlth was carried
by pigeon, and this means OF com
municatirg with the outside world
continued until The number Of birds
in the city Vas exhausted. So
It was only a short time before the
outbreak OF the war in South Africa
that the English government had de
cided to establish a service of carrier.
pigeons, In the navy, pigeon posts
were recognized means of carrying
information as early as 1896, and
there are over a 1000 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.
hned almost exclusively to the Cape,
where the nature of the country
makes the homing-pigeon service Of
more value than in England.
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 a great mill.
tary camp Europe looks upon the
carricr-pigeOn as a menace to the
country If not held under strict mill.
tary control. In Germany. for in.
stance, every pigeon raised by private
breeders must be registered. and the
pigeon cannot be taken out of the
country or sold without permission
l. t4u NHG 4Ailllllly duluOIlLlGS. III lUe
event Of war the German authorities
reserve the right to claim and take
possession OF every carrier-pigeon in
the land. In addition to this, every
fortress and camp on German soil has
its pigeon service, and over $4,000 is
appropriated annually for the support
Of this service. There are upwards
of 10000 pigeons belonging to the war
department, and every bird is careful
~ trained and tested.
The United States military and nav.
al authorities have approved of the
pigeons as aids to the regular teie.
graphic 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 it's
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 1t unnecessary to arrange for
the services of carrier-pigecns as the
European countries have done. There
is little chance Of any foreign army in.
VadinS this country and DESTROYING
the railroad and telegraph lines CON
meeting the big cities. Pigeon breed
ing and training have therefore heen
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 at
tended to with greater Intelligence
and success.