The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-09-04

OUCH is the exigency of war that even
" the gentle dove or peace Is pressed
into its service. The part played by
these birds, says Black and White, and
the yeeman service they rendered in the
South African war will still be fresh in
many memories; and Notwithstanding the
advent and progress of wireless teleg
raphy the faithful messenger is again
seeing active service, this time with the
Japanese and Russian forces.
With far seeing forethought. the ne
cessity Of which Is only now apparent the
Japs some five years ago established their
military and naval lofts: and by repeated
experiments since then they have organ
lied system calculated to bring forth
the highest qualities of the pigeons with
which their lofts were stocked Many
centuries before the winged messenger"
found its way into England, bird
known as the Oriental pigeon was used in
Eastern Asia. and descendants of this
race are still to be met with in China.
Recourse was at first made by our allies
to this strain. but the Oriental pigeon was
almost instantly discarded in favor Of the
bird now used by England and the con-
tinental powers. High officials in the
Japanese navy visited this country and
returned with many OF the choicest birds
London and fanciers in the Midlands
could supply. These safely withstood the
the birds now on active service. They
have quickly become acclimated. and
with The clearer and less humid atmos-
phere have accomplished performances
even more favorable than in the old coun-
try.
A great obstacle and one which at first
was considered fatal to the formation OF
a reliable service of messengers has
melted away. The natural enemy of the
pigeon, the hawk, has made havoc among
the Chinese pigeons, and the remedy
adopted in that country of soaring Off
these birds of prey by attaching light
bamboo whistle to the pigeons tail feath-
ers was not within the bounds of con-
sideration from a military point Of view.
The shrill sound made by these whistles
as the birds darted through the air in
their efforts to escape capture would
have been fatal to their use. The remedy
came with the adoption Of the English
pigeon. This bird, being built on more
speedy lines was found to outdistance the
hawk in a stern chase, and unless the
latter was in the upper reaches of the air
and was thus enabled to swoop down on
its prey, its terror no longer existed.
The actual pigeons imported by Japan
were Of necessity kept prisoners and
were used entirely for stock purposes
Had they been given their liberty they
would, in ali probability, have been lost
in a vain attempt to retain their old
homes. Being prolific breeders, however,
1t was but a few months before their
young were domiciled at numerous small
lofts situated near the Western coast
line, and to these lofts a regular service
of "homersi'5 now carry dispatches from
the warships., Each vessel leaving port
is now furnished with a supply of BIRDS
packed in fat wicker baskets with OPEN
ings at the side for feeding and watering
When it is required to send a message
ashore, the birds liberated are those be-
longing. to the loft which lis nearest the
vessels position.
1t has been found that birds liberated at
sea will rise to a height of 1,400 feet, this
being far in excess of the altitude reached
by pigeon when flying across land They
moreover shape more direct course and
generally make away without the numer-
Gus circlngs so noticeable under different