American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1919-01-31

- tire Erencn regiment u u -"
their comrades, completely surrounded rr Tour
day. and with no method of communicating word
of their plight to the general in command. Ihat
fourth night one of the men scouting In NO Mans
Land stumbled over a dead comrade on whose
back was strapped a basket carrying TWO n'ic
pigeons that during the four-day battle had been
safeguarded by the body of their caretaker. len
derlv the scout brought the basket and birds
back to the colonel on the hill. Early the next
morning messages were written, ai1xed TO the
legs of the birds, which, exhausted ano uust-
soiled, but imbued with ~indomitable spirit ana
pluck, were Iberated-wafted into the air by the
prayers and wishes of the regiment, bearing with
them the only remaining hope for these thousands
of men and the happiness of other thousands In
their families at home. Shortly afterward both
birds huttered YEARLY into their loft back at
headquarters; and in a sortie ordered by the gen.
eral the enemy was driven back and the regiment
saved.
One of the officers of that regiment is now In
Washington, and he has promised himself that
now the war is over he will have a loft Of the
best birds he can get, and the best care and at
tentIon that is possible viii be but a slight part
of his measure Of appreciation and gratitude to
the little feathered messengers to whom he and
his comndes owe their lives.
These little birds have been used In almost
every conceivable way to get word back to the
reserves or to headquarters when all other
means 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
ton they have an enviable record. There has not
been a single accident to a plane, nor the loss OF
a 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
plied- without number, but IL 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
mower to know as soon as it is released in what
direction its home loft is and to fly directly to 1t.
The perfection to which orientation is developed
In the highly bred and trained homer was recently
demonstrated at a pigeon fly conducted by the
pigeon section of the signal corps, when 3,100
homing pigeons were released In Washington for
n fly TO New York city. 224 miles. To a single
bird, these pigeons ran out of their coops and
arose in the afr with the speed OF an express
train, and after taking a half circle to get their
hearing were off for New York. Every one of
the pigeons was reported to have arrived prompt
iy and the first arrival made the trip in 5 hours
and 40 minutes. Surely 1t did not stop to read
many sign posts on the way.
Just how the homing pigeon developed this
mower of orientation is a moot question, but 1t Is
certain that 1t has been cultivated through cen
turtles until now it Is almost uncanny. What
,rides the pigeon back to the loft where 1t first
sfook 10 the air" is a 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
ultv atmospheric conditions, sight, or memory.
Personally, / cannot call 1t anything more or less
tban instinct, highly developed. We find It in
resser degree in horses, dogs and cats, and In
other birds it seems to be developed a little less
markedly. but with sufficient accuracy SO that
they migrate annually thousands of miles without
the aid of any other compass than their instinct.
when we remember the potent power Of selec-
lion and think of the years and generations Of
careful breeding and selection which the homlng
pigeon has undergone II is not SO wonderful that
they have developed the homing instinct to a high
degree. / have seen their cousins, the f~an-taIIed
nigeons. bred to such a degree of hneness that
shay weighed o~I . fSw ounces apiece and were