The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1919-07-26
PIGEON GENERALIZATION
BY FREDERIC J. HAsKIN

Washington. d. c., July 23.-When
the stories OF valor and dash, -ef hair
breadth escapes through seas of ex-
ploding shells. of forlorn hopes at
war have been written to stir the blood
Of future generations Of men and wom-
en-. the human hero will not have a
monopoly of the glory. In the signal
| corps there is a bird brigade. an or
ganization OF carrier pigeons, half a
hundred members of which have re-
ceived citations. medals, decorations
and other military honors.
Due Recognition.
When the record is made up due rec
of the wing for their feats In battle,
for the lives they have saved. for the
information of military value, beyond
transmission but for them, which they
have carried. Special Photographic
records are to be made of these bird
heroes. Those that still live are to be
given comfortable homes in the big
ZOOS of the nation where their admirers
may visit them. They will bufnish
their plumage above tables which recite
the stirring deeds in which they have
participated.
Chere Ami. the greatest of these
birds. died in Washington the other day
after a long and brave attempt to re-
cover from her wounds. The remains
are to be mounted and find place in
tnat sclentlnc nan OF lame, tne ,aHltll-
sonian institution. For Chere Ami, it
may be remembered. brought cut in
formation vital to the progress that
bloodiest of American drives, Tat of
Argonne forest. She was carrying this
message from the front line trenches
to loft at Rampont when the leg to
which the message holder was attached.
was shattered by bullet. The injured
limb was left dangling by the ligaments,
and the missile that had severed the
leg passed through the breast bone.
biting deeply. In spite OF these injuries
twenty-five miles and delivered the
message. The injured leg was ampu-
tated, and 1t was thought that Chere
Ami would recover. She was brought
to this country with the other birds
which won fame in battle, and was
operated upon, but human skill could
not save her life. and she died from
wounds received in battle.
Serat. York.
There Is Sergt. York among the
bird has a record of having delivered
fifty-two messages. No pigeon can
boast of a prouder war record than
Spike. He Is now stationed at one OF
the numerous lofts in Potomac Park.
Washington, where he is sitting on the
eat and a nice nest looking out upon
Washington monument and the new
Lincoln memorial, down the Mall to the
capitol a mile away.
Spike is a carrier pigeon like the 10000
other birds which We're a part of the
American army. He has two service
stripes on his left wing and wound
stripe on his right, having been gassed
near Sedan with the Forty second divi-
sion on the day before the armistice
was signed. After he was gassed Spike
had his tail feathers pulled out this
being the army treatment for gas cases
in the carrier pigeon service.
Spike had many narrow escapes. Once
with three other birds he was aban-
doned in a crate near the German lines
But even under these trying circum-
stances he found opportunity for heroic
use fulness. A machine gun section that
had been cut off from it's base found
cigarette paper In the capsule tied
to Spikes leg. The pigeon found its
way back to the loft and the section
was relieved in less than twenty-four
hours.
over five hundred birds were used
by our soldiers in the Saint Mihiel Of
fensive. Birds were rushed up to the
new sectors and with less than twelve
days training rendered rapid and de-
pendable service. The German birdS
messages they carried back to head
quarters were not of the same joyful
tenor as those rushed back by Ameri-
cas- messengers.
Loft Caught German Birds.
During the advance of the Yanks at
st. Mihiel, they came upon a hurriedly
abandoned German loft in flames. High
in the air above it, circled the former
occupants, alarmed and bewildered at
the catastrophe that had so. suddenly
come upon their home. American
pigeoneers hurried mobile loft to the
scene and the tired birds accepted It,
though most reluctantly, as a substitute
for their own. Messages of vital inn