Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current, 1919-01-09

their comrades. completely surrounded for four
days. and with method Of communicating word
Of their plight to the general In command. That
fourth night one of the men scouting In No Mans
Land stumbled over dend cOmrade on whose
nck was strapped basket carrying two little
pigeons that during the four-day battle had been
,lfegunrled by the body of their cnretrxer Ten
Lerly the scout brought the basket AMI birds
back to the colonel on the hill. Enrly the next
'nornng messages written. affixed to the
Eggs of the birds, which. exhausted and dust
SOiled. hut nbued with intOmituble spirit ana
pluck were liberated-wnfted into the air by the
prayers and wishes of the regiment. benring with
them the only remaining hope for these thousands
" men and the happiness Of other thousands In
their fnmes Ut home Shortly nfterwIrd both
birds futtered wenrlly into their loft back Mt
headquarters: and in sortie ordered by the gem
raj the enemy driven back and the regiment
saved.
One of the officers Of thnt regiment Is in
Washington. and he hns promised himself that
now the war Is over he will have loft Of the
hest birds he cnn get and the best care and nj
,entinn that Is possible will be but slight pur
If his measure Of appreciation and gratitude t."
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 or to headquarters when ul other
means of communication failed.
cnntry and the navy. hut are used frequently by
the air service. At the Dunkirk hydropune sta
ton they have an envinble record There hns not
been single accident to plane nor the loss Of
II plane In combat. where word of the occurrence
was not brought hack by the pigeons which nre
Il part of the equipment of the planes. Instances
of the value of the messengers could he multi.
plied without number. but 1t is more interesting
to recount how these birds are bred re,ired and
housed under conditions
The pigeons ability to do all of these wonderful
tasks lies In its faculty OF orientatinn that is its
power to know rs soon as 1t is released IN what
direction its home loft is and to fly directly to it,
The perfection to which 'orientation is developed
in the highly bred and trained homer WIS recently
demonstrated mt pigeon fly conducted by the
pigeon section of the signal corps. when 300
ho,nng pigeons were released In Washington for
Il fly to New York city, 224 miles. To a 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 one OF
the pigeons was reported to have arrived prompt
~ and the first arrival made the trip In S hours
and 40 minutes. Surely 1t did not stop to read
| many sign posts on the way
| Just how the honilng pigeon developed this
power of orientaton is a moot question. but II is
certain that 1t has been cultivated through cen
turies until 1t Is almost uncunny.< What
| guides the pigeon back to the loft where 1t first
| "took to the air" Is u quality called by mnny
names, and you vii, find thai, each person knows
| thnt he has the, answer to the riddle Some call
Il innate love Of home; others attribute It to fac
| uty atmospheric conditions sight. or memory
| Personally cannot call II anything more or less
INN instinct, highly developed. We find It in
| lesser degree in horses. dogs and cats, and in
other birds it seems to be developed little less
| markedly, but with sufficient accuracy 10 that
| they migrate annually thousands Of miles without
| the aid of my other compass than their instinct
when we remember the potent power Of seicc-
/ t,on and think OF the years and generations Of
| careful breeding and selection which the ho,ning
pigeon has undergone II is not 70 wonderful that
they have developed the homng instinct to a high
i degree have seen their cousins. the fan-taed
pigeons bred to such a degree OF Oneness that
| nay weighed only few ounces apiece aud were