The Elk Mountain pilot., 1919-01-09

L z they nNVe accomplished uA"h eA'S'.
vXNvSI activities In the battle of Dethun'
SvS/ court and Dead Mans hill. An en-
tire French regiment was cut on from
their comrades, completely surrounded Tor 1our
days. md with no method OF communicating woru
of their plight to the general In command. That
fourth night one of the men scouting In No Mans
Land stumbled. over dead comrade on whose
back was strapped basket carrying two little
pigeons that during the fOur-day battle had been
snfeguarletl by the body of their caretaker. Ten
derby the scout brought the basket nnd BIRDS
back to the colonel the hill. Early the next
morning messages were written. nfhxed TO, the
legs of the birds. which. exhausted and dust
s"iIcd, bur imbued with indOmitabe spirit and
pluck were liberated-wafted into the air by the
prayers and wishes OF the regiment bearing with
hcin the only remaining hope for these thousands
of and the happiness of other thousands IN
their families at home. Shortly afterward Doth
birds futtered wearily into their loft back at
hentauarter and In a sOrtie ordered by the gem
.r.,I the enemy was driven back and the regiment
saved.
One of the officers OF that regiment II now In
Washington. md he has promised himself that
now the is he will have a loft Of the
best birds lie get, and the best care and at
rention that Is possible will be but slight part
OF his measure OF appreciation and gratitude to
the little feathered messengers to whom he and
his comrades their lives.
These little birds have been used In almost
every conceivable way to get word back to the
reserves to headquarters when all other
of communication failed.
Carrier pigeons are not only used by the In
fantry and the navy, but are used frequently by
the air service. At the -Dunkirk hydroplane sta
tion they have an enviable record. There has not
been u single accident to plane. nor the loss Of
n plane In combat, where word OF the occurrence
was not brought back by the pigeons which are
a part Of the equipment Of the planes. Instances
Of the value Of the messengers could be multi
piled without number, but 1t Is more interesting
to recount how these birds are bred. reared and
housed under war conditions.
The pigeons ability to do all Of these wonderful
tasks lies In Its faculty of orientation that is its
power TO know as 1t is released in what
direction its home loft Is and to ny directly to It,
The perfection to which orfentation 10 developed
in the highly bred and trained homer was recently
demonstrated at a pigeon ny conducted by the
pigeon section Of the signal CORPS when S.1OO
hominR pigeons were released in Warrington for
fly to New York city. 224 miles, To single
bird, these pigeons ran out Of their coops and
arose in the air with the speed Of an express
train, and after taking half circle to get their
bearing were of for New York. Every Of
the pigeons reported to have arrived prompt
Iy and the first arrival made the trip In hours
and 10 minutes Surely 1t did not stop to read
many sign posts on the way.
Just how the homlng pigeon developed this
mower of orientation is moot question, but 1t Is
certain that It has been cultivated through CEN
turtles until now 1t Is almost uncanny. What
xuides the pigeon back to the loft where 1t first
took to the air'.is quality called by many
names, and you will find that each person knows
that he has the answer to the riddle. Some call
n innate love of home; others attribute 1t to fac
ulty. atmospheric conditions. sight, memory.
Personally, cannot call 1t anything more or less
than instinct highly developed We find 1t in
lesser degree In horses, dogs and cats, and iii
other birds It seems to be developed little less
markedly but with sufficient accuracy thnt
they migrate annually thousands of miles without
the aid of any other compass than their Instinct
When we remember the potent power Of selec-
yxfvL Cf In
careful, breeding and selection which the homlng
pigeon has undergone 1t is not SO wonderful that
they have developed the homing Instinct to a high
degree. have their cousins. the fan-tailed
pigeons. bred to such degree of hneness that
they weighed only few ounces apiece and were