The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-08-04
VAR PIGEONS OF JAPANESE
LOFTS VERB EsrABLISEED FIVE
 FEARS AGO.
English Racing Pigeons Adopted-wal
 vessels Supplied With Baskets of the Birds-ArrivaI of Bird With Message Announced by Means of Electric

bAEus-AEEAfaA SA DAAu hA1n AeasaSe
 Announced by Means of Electric
 Bells. z
 Such is the exigeney of war that even
 the gentle dove of peace is pressed in-
 to it's service. The part played by these
 birds, says Black and White, and the yeoman service they rendered in the South African war will still be fresh in
 many memories: and notwithstanding
 the advent and progress of wireless Itelegraphy the faithful messenger" is lagain 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 establish
 ed their military and naval lofts; and
 by repeated experiments since then lthey have organized a system calcu- lated to bring forth the highest quali- | ties of the pigeons with which their lofts were stocked Many centuries be-
 fore the winged messenger" found its way into England. a 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 Eng land and the Continentay Powers. High officials in the Japanese Navy visited this country and returned with many of l the choicest birds London and Fanciers | in the Midlands could supply east, and are parents of the birds now on active service. They have quickly become Iacclimatized, and with the clearer and Hess humid atmosphere have accom- lplished performances even more fa- lvorable than in the old country.
 A great obstacle and one which at first was considered fatal to the forna-
 ton of reliable service of messengers,
 has melted away. The natural enemy | of the pigeon. the hawk. has made hav- oc among the Chinese pigeons. and the remedy adopted in that country of
 soaring off these birds of prey by at
 taching light bamboo whistle to the pigeons tail feathers was not within
 the bounds of consideration from a mill itary point of view. The shrilI sound
 made by these whistles as the birds
 darted through the air in their efforts
 to escape capture would have been ta- | tai to their use. The remedy came with the adoption of the English racing
 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 it's prey, it's terror no longer existed.
 The actual pigeons imported by Ja- lpan were of necessity kept prisoners, land were used entirely for stock ,pur-
 poses. Had they been given their lih- erty they would, in all probability. have
 been lost in vain attempt to regain their old homes. Being prolific hreed- CTS, however, 1t was but a few months before their young were doniciled at numerous small lofts situated near the western coast line, and to these lofts a
 regular service of ''hpmers" now carry dispatches from the warships. Each vessel leaving port IS now furnished
 with supply of birds, packed in fiat
 wicker baskets with openings at the side for feeding and watering. When 1t is required to send message ashore, the birds liberated are those belonging to the loft which is nearest to the ves- lsel's position.
 It has been found that birds liberated at sea will rise to a. height of fourteen hundred feet. this being far in excess Iof the altitude reached by a pigeon when flying across land. They, more lover. shape a more direct course, and generally make away without the nu- merous circlings so noticeable under different circumstances. This, doubt less, is largely due to the particular strain of birds in use. many of those imported from the Midland fanciers having for generations been trained to fly across the English channel from the
 French coast. The principle of the survival of the Attest adopted by Eng l fish breeders would doubtless lead to a strain especially adapted for flying un- der the conditions mentioned.
 The arrival of a bird carrying dis patch at the Japanese naval lofts is announced by an ingenious arrange ment of electric bells. After entering an outer cage the bird passes through a long box, opened at each end, before entering the loft itself. When an arri- val Is expected the loft end of this box lis closed with glass doors, and the
 weight of the bird on entering the box
 causes it to tilt sufficiently to allow a shutter to drop behind the pigeon, which is thus held captive. At the same moment an electric bell rings and
 does not stop until the bird is removed from the box and relieved of it's dis patch, the latter being at once sent to
 headquarters, where it's code is deci- pherad. As these birds are often kept | in the basket aboard ship for several weeks, the messenger on it's arrival is allowed to remain undtsturbed in the loft for an equal period, in order that l It's love of home may be unimpaired; ]; otherwise there would be an element of uncertainty when it was called upon for future service.
 | With an army on the march the use | of pigeons as messengers has so far proved a failure, all experiments to get these birds to return to a loft continu- l ally on the move having been void of success. Japan has, however. with the tenacity of purpose for which she is fa-