The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1918-06-27
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM ALTON
Blu RE AU
FREDERIC J. HASKIN. Director.
Washington. D. c.
THE DOVE OF WAR.
Washington. D. c,


pigeons to be used in France. The
department of agriculture has estab-
lished loft of the birds at it's expert
mental farm, where it will study the
problems of raising and training them.
Congress has passed a law making it
a serious crime to shoot a homing
pigeon. Pigeon training stations have
been esta blished in all parts Of the
country. and there is a pigeon recruit
ing Office in Boston. Homing pigeon
fanciers. who were a short time ago
regarded as followers OF a peculiarly
useless fad, are now officers of high
rank and among the most valued of
military specialists.
All of this is evidence that the
pigeon has become a bird of high i'm
portance. So much is heard of COM
munication in the war zone by tele-
phone and wireless, senaphore, rocket
and airplane. that the pigeon is apt
to be thought OF as a rather unfm-
mechanical appliances AS a matter
of fact the pigeon has proved the
surest and most reliable of all. and is
accounted by the French the only
means of maintaining iiaison between
forces under fire, and the only one
that can be used regularly under all
conditions.
When a successful barrage fire has
cut off force from other forces with
which it is cooperating, telephone
lines are Invariably destroyed, visual
signalling is rendered impossible by
smoke and dust runners are killed or
delayed. and airplanes often cannot
rise from the ground. But under
these conditions the homing pigeon,
SO tiny that he is barely visible from
| the ground. swift as an express train.
| stronger in will and memory than any
man, will carry a message safely
ninety-eight times out of one hun
dred. The French records show that
! only FL per cent of the birds released
with messages fail to reach their des-
| tinations. The loss of birds runs from
to Is per cent, but most of these
die of exhaustion after reaching the
coop.
The most important use of the
| pigeon. next to that in maintaining
| liaison between forces under fire, is
to carry messages from aerial observ-
| ers, whether in balloon or plane.
| Pigeons released at an elevation eight
thousand feet have successfully re-
turned to their coops, and they are
regularly flown from the eevatien of
six thousand. If the thing is skill
fully done, the bird can be released
from a plane travelling at one hun
dred miles an hour. And for this use
/ pigeons have the great advantage over
all other means of communication in
| That they can carry small map or
fifteen feet of moving picture film.
| Two pigeons are general released
with duplicates of any important mes
sage; yet SO completely are the birds
relied upon that if they are scarce, a
message is often entrusted to only one.
| The homing pigeon is a masterpiece
OF nature controlled by selective
breeding. He is perhaps the most
power is stored UP in his small body
that he can fly from 500 to 700 miles
in single day. His lungs are supple
msnted by nine airsacs under the skin,
which pump warm air into his blood
| and also add to his buoyancy. His
eyes have wonderful power and mo-
bility, enabling him to note every de-
tail of q landscape as he passes over
it at a rate of sixty miles an hour.
| In addition to these physical qualities,
he has tie mental gift of memory and
the moral one of will in degrees sell
dom attained by men. His mind liter
ally photographs the landscape for fu-
| ture reference, and he is capable OF
driving himself to the last ounce OF
energy in his body.
The most remarkable part Of his
equipment is a pair of ears which act
as compasses, ana enable him, to orien:
himself instantaneousiy when released
for a flight. Just how the ears per-
form this function Is not known, but
they contain several small canals sup
|
when these are injured. the bird loses
his sense of direction.
The koming pigeon is docile, intel
ligent. and full of temperament. Hi:
eye Is remarkably expressive He
must be kept in the pink of condition
best work. and has surroundings mus
be attractive and comfortable.
The usefulness of the homing pig
con, as is well known. depends upor
an instinct strengthened by selectiye
breeding, which irnpels him to fly bacI
to his home from wherever he find.
himself. His training consists sim
, ply In allowing his to exercise this in
stinct, flying longer and longer dis
tances as his strength and will develop
The signal corps necessarily buy
only young birds, paying two dollar
for each of them. These are PLACED
!. in coops on wheels which thus become
the homes of the birds. to which the.
will always return. The birds takel
; for physicaf-perfection and by testin,
them in flight. The so-called hominl
pigeons which are used for squad pro
. duction are useless for army purposes
Altho of the same variety as the fly
. ing birds, they have been bred 70
weight rather than speed. Henc
!, genuine flying stock is the only kim
the government will consider buying
HAD II not Deen Tor the pigeon ran
ciers, the government would now hav
considerable difficulty, not only in OBJ
tanning birds but in training them
The homing pigeon was largely use
in the wars of long ago, and ha
played some part in most moder
. wars, but it was supposed in thi
country to have been PRACTICAL
superseded by the various mechanics
means of communications; so tina
, some years ago the American arm
officially gave up pigeons. The interes
in them was kept alive only by fan
ciers. who formed several large asso
Citations and field annual meets TO
a the purpose of testing their bird:
There was no money in the business
: it was simply fad. When the wa
= broke out, a demand for homing pig
cons quickly arose, for as early as tn
: battle of verdun, pigeons played a
important part. American fancier
= might then have made some none,
| hut were fhWa rfed hY the War Ira