The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1919-01-11

90 nervous that they could not stand still-they
,,,oro lilo tha boir-spring of watch constantly
nreening and duckng and on the move In very
carly times homing pigeons were in vogue III
Egvpt Greece and among the Romans. h"cin7
pigeons has been royal and nauohil spur III
Belgium France Italy, Turkey. Egypt ana TIE
land for hundreds of years. 1t was ln'rouu'eu
into tbis country in the seventies and has ehJoEeu
q fair and steady growth until now there are
three national homing pigeon associations WIN
membership of more than 1000 breeders.
NIuch time is spent in teaching the pigeon all Oh
the tricks which count when the Dlru Is ac'u"i'
racing in competition with other pigeons IL Is
+ouoht IN enter the loft Immediately upon It's re-
turn for bird that does not enter so that the
message it carries be taken from IL Is vi Nei!
little value as n messenger Notmng Is n'ie
exasperating to the fancier or racer than 10 nave
the piceon return and cool its anatomy anu we"
the scenery for a half hour before entering the
loft If is nearly sufficient cause to make the
toipor of piceons lose his faith in pigeon nature;
besides it gives the neghbors chance 10 MAKE
remarks about the fullgrown men playing WIFI
hrdias Once the bird is inside the loft ii can
not emerge since each loft is equipped WIN
tran through which the bird can enter at any time
Int cannot go out unless the trap is set for exit
The ordinary barn variety of pigeon OF tnose
hrod for the production of squads for market ana
the racing homing pigeon should not De con-
fused They as distinct ana nave as hiah3
o;n+s Of difference as have the big draft horse
ond rho hjrh-strung nervous racing horse Inc
1,rorv nireon has very little homing ability,
,,bereos the homng pigeon is kept ana bred eN-
c,usivev for that faculty. They are also bred for
snaad and every muscle which is used in flight
q, daveopcd almost at the expense of the other
muscles of its body In races the actual speed
recorded is almost beyond belief Speeds or lo0o
70 900 wards per minute, or 80 miles per hour
b,vo heen made for short distances, and 1t is not
extraordinary for n bird to cover in excess OF ooo
p,ilec I'm n single day. The record for LOO miles
&c dov II hours "a minutes and ii seconds, ana
was made by a bird named Bullet, and the longest
successful race was 1859 miles from Denver,
Colo n Springfield Mass. (time % days, hours
% minutes) although instances are recorded
whore birds sent from New York to the Pacific
ooost rs breeders have liberation or escape,
returned from California, over the mountains ana
Mains 10 their old homes in New York.
Ar various times in this country the army and
n,rv have decided to carrier pigeons IN
tbair work but with indi fferent success until the
rocant war The old reports are rather amusing
whom considered in the light of present-day know
,dce of what can be done with the birds when
handled nroperly Pigeons used in the navy
more Than 20 years ago. but failed through lach
of nroner care. At the time of the Mexican Dor
der trouble pigeons again tried, but will
little success for the same reason and through
lack of time for acclimatization
Homng pigeons were first put on a business
like basis in the army in March. 1917, in tn
eastern department. In November OF That yea
the piceon section of the land division of the Sig
nal corps was organized and since then rap
progress has been made in this country an