The Nenana daily news., 1918-10-18
PIGEONS HELP
 ARMIES ABROAD
 ID MAKE GOOD

BEHIND BRITISH LINES IN FRANCE.-For the American soldier newly arrived in the lines in France, there is always a great interest at taching to the now widespread use of carrier pigeons. Little crates of the birds are found in many front line dugout, and they become great pets of the men, who watch their work with close interest.
 Normally, information in wartime is transmitted by wire but sometimes occasions arise when the wires prove insufficient or break down alto gether. Every front line unit must be prepared for such an emergency. So the pigeons are always kept handy, and from time to time are tried out" to be sure that they are ready for their work.
 The pigeons quickly become ac- customed to shell fire and they will carry important messages through heavy artillery barrage and thru gas clouds when no other method of communication is practicable.
 Pigeons were first employed by the British army in October, 1914, when an experimental shipment of fifty birds was brought to France. Their value was immediately recognized and the service rapidly grew to enor- nous proportions.
 Under present war conditions, the pigeons are most largely employed for two purposes-to bring back in- formation from the front line trench es, and during an advance to bring messages from the advancing tanks and infantry. Generally speaking, a 100-mile flight is<the outside limit for military purposes, even when messages are sent in duplicate. For distances of ten miles, single birds are relied on constantly, and there are very few failures.
 In war mobile lofts must take the place of stationary ones. These are usually small automobile trucks and contain from 60 to 70 birds. An important feature of the trucks is good lookout cage" on top so that the birds can easily learn the topog. raphy of the neighborhood before being liberated for their work.
 In the battle of the Somme in 1916, about 4,500 operation messages were brought in by carrier pigeons over period of three months.
 Carrier pigeons are very success fully used in connection with air craft in flight, and for distances up to 20 or 30 miles in fine weather can be relied upon to reach home with their message. They are re- leased in such a manner that they will first move with the wind, the airman throwing the bird forcibly downward and sideways in the direc- tion the wind is blowing so that the wind will assist it to clear the ma chine. With seaplanes, a number of cases have occurred where pilots in distress have been rescued as the result of pigeon messages. /: T
 There are several cases on record in which a bird has successfully delivered his message even when severely wounded. In the British army lofts, the inquisitive American soldiers have found several birds still at work who bear the marks of battle, including several veterans who are still flying regularly, though minus leg lost in action.
 The British pigeon officers tell of an historic pigeon, known in the service as the "V c bird," which ar rived torn and bleeding and with the cylinder containing his message ac- tually forced into his breast by the force of an exploding shell. This stout-hearted flyer fell dead when hiS rnoccoro x,,oc Iol;,,orol