Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1919-05-08
PIGEONS IN THE WAR
Invaluable .Ser>ice--Flight
of so Miles in CAB Minutes

the United States navy proved them
selves the most efficient arm of the SER
vice. No other method of communicate ton
or signaling compared with them. In
thousands of flights over the enemy coun-
try and the battlc-fronts, the plucky lit
tie birds could be counted on 9S per cent.
of the time. The missing birds prob
ably lost their way In the smoke Of bat
tie. or were brought down by shock of
exploding shells so close were they to
the firing lines. says the st. Nicholas.
In a single year the navy birds at the
front made rs fights, covering total
of 1895 miles. They carried messages,
which meant life or death to our boys. in
incredibly short time, often under the
direct fire of the enemy. The birds were
taken into the front-linc trenches or
carried with the advancing troops. Their
most important work, however, was prob
ably in the aeronautic service. Carried
aloft on aeroplanes, they sped back to
their homes over sea and land, carrying
priceless information. Some 219 fights
were made from seaplanes down at sea"
When an aeroplane is forced to come
down at sea, it's position is especially
dangerous. The frail craft is at the
mercy of every wave; there are no life
boats, and scarcely spar TO hold to.
No matter how remote the aeroplane
wreck may be, the pigeons, with uner-
ring instinct, soon find their way home.
carrying news from the wreck. An
American air-pilot, Lieutenant Stone,
found himself in such a plight off the
coast of France. He released his birds
and watched them disappear. His mes
sage reached his naval base in short Or
der, and scouting seaplanes and motor
boats were quickly sent out to his re-
lief. He was not found for 20 hours but
his life, like those of many others. could
only have been saved by the faithful
pigeons
One of the naval carrier pigeons. Red
Cloud" flew $50 miles in the incredibly
short time of 163 minutes. The longest
! flight on record. by the way, is 1,630 miles.
covered in less than three days. No
boats which sail the seas, and scarcely
any aircraft can rival these birds. AS
one of the sailors in charge OF the car
rier- pigeons explained, they have no
engine troubles Another bird, peer
less Pilot" averaged three flights a day
, for II months. 1t is not generally known
| that the Germans had some $1,000 car
rier- pigeons in service, so important did
they consider their work. The allies had
marched through Belgium. they confls-
Gated every pigeon, and announced that
any citizen found with a carrier pigeon
! in his possession would be instantly shot.
In dispatching pigeons at the front the
messages are always sent in duplicate.
/ The officer in charge carries a little pad
made up of sets of three sheets of pa
per, two thin sheets for carbons and a
| third heavier sheet for the record. The
! sheet, which measures three by five inch
es is ruled with columns for the date,
| the number of the message, the time,
| the officers name, and the position from
which the bird is set free. The message
itself is usually written in cipher. By
using two carbon sheets, the three leaves
. are filled with one writing. The two thin
sheets are then detached. rolled up and
each inserted into n water-tight alumni
mum tube, which is fastened to the leg of
a pigeon. The two birds are then re-
leased. carrying duplicate copies of the
message, which gives two chances that
message will be delivered. The birds OBJ
ject at first to the little cartridges and
try to peck them loose. but soon grow
! accustomed to them.
The carrier pigeons used by our navy
abroad have been British or French
birds. The champions have been brough,
to America and will be used for breed
ing birds for American flights. Specia
attention will be paid to this work il
future at all naval stations. The Brit
ish and French birds would Of course
be useless if liberated in America since
their homes lie so far away, and in try
ing to find them they would be lost a.
sea When the American aircraft star
on their trip across the Atlantic. to keel
in touch with both continents, they vii
carry both American and European
birds.