Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1919-01-10

SASAA9 tire French regiment was cut OH Irom
their comrades completely surrounded Tor TOUR
days. and with no method OF communicating Woru
of their plight to the general in command mat
fourth night one of the men scouting in No Mans
Land stumbled over dead cOmrade on whose
back was strapped a basket carrying two little
pigeons that during the four-day battle mao Deen
safeguarded by the body of their caretaker. Zen
derby the scout brought the basket ana Dlrus
back to the colonel on the hill. Early the next
morning messages written affixed to the
legs of the BIRDS which, exhausted and dust
soiled but imbued with ind0mitable spirit ana
pluck, were Hberated-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 Doth
birds futtered YEARLY into their loft back at
Headquarters; and in a sortie ordered by the gen.
era 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 loft of the
best birds he can get and the best care and at
tention 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 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 used frequently by
the air service. At the Dunkirk hydroplane sta
lion they have an enviable record There has not
been a single accident to plane nor the loss of
a plane in combat, where word of the occurrence
was not brought back by the pigeons which are
d part of the equipment Of the planes. InstanC es
of the value of the messengers could be multi
piled without number, but it is more interesting
to recount how these birds are bred, reared and
housed under conditions.
The pigeons ability to do all of these wonderful
tasks lies in it's faculty of orientation that is it's
power to know as as it is released in what
direction it's home loft is and to fly directly it.
The perfection to which orientaton is developed
in the highly bred and trained homer was recently
demonstrated at pigeon fly conducted by the
pigeon section of the signal corps, when 300
homing pigeons were released in Washington for
fy 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 express
train and after taking half circle to get their
bearing were off for New York. Every one Of
the pigeons was reported to have arrived prompt
lv and the first arrival made the trip in hours
and 40 minutes. Surely it did not stop to read
many sign posts on the way.
Inst how the homing pigeon developed this
newer of orientation is moot question: but it is
certain that it has been cultivated through CEN
tures until now it is almost uncaEny What
guides the pigeon back to the lott where it first
s+ook to the air. is quality called by MANY
omos and YOU will find that each person knows
tbat he has the answer to the riddle Some call
i innate love of home; others attribute it to fac
ultv. atmospheric conditions, sight, or memory
personally cannot call it anything more or less
tban instinct, highly developed. We find it in
1ossnr degree in horses, dogs and cats, and in
49, birds IT seems to be developed a little less
uoorledlv. but with sufficient accuracy SO that
thew migrate annually thousands of miles without
tho aid of any other compass than their instinct
when we remember the potent power of seec
ton and think of the years and generations of
caraful breeding and selection which the homing
tnoon hos undergone it is not wonderful that
thew have developed the homing instinct TO high
degree ! have seen their cousins, the fan-tailed
ngeons, bred to such degree of fneness that
they weighed only a few ounces apiece and were