Jackson County journal., 1919-06-13
carriers OF Vital Messages Ever
Since Battle of Marne
in 1914.
U-B0AT IS TRAPPED BY BIRD
"e"s from Trenches Taken at Eu,,
'peeo TO Headquarters and Supply
I'nes-Informaton Gained
FROM Captured Pigeons.

rarls.-At the Ternes gate of Paris
nas oe seen memorial, the work Of
Dai 'lioiul, on which is inscrihod
Monument to the Balloonists and Gov.
.lur @ Flgeons of 1870" What memorial
VIII acknowledge the services of car.
Iter pigeons In the worlds war Of 1914.
A'io remains to be seen, but their wort
aliio Darrage fire, bursting shrapnel
.ne zip-zlp of machine-gun bullets and
the death destroying gases was of
enormous value.
oailler pigeons were used on all tho
oattlefronts but their best work was
oh the western front, from the cbon-
iiel W the Swiss border and from rho
APPS to the Adriatic gulf. Thev cor-
lleu messages at the Marne, when tho
1iuliS were driven back by Marshal
'ohre. Hundreds We're used in the
pattle OF the User, in Flanders. when
the Belgians and the French hal+od
'ne German advance; and they made
nlanv and frequent trips in the first
pallie OF 1preS, in the drive on the
eiiahnel ports when the British, French
anu belglans stopped the Germans de-
clslFely In the final battle at the close
OF l9l4. They aided in the capture of
Neuve Chapelle by the British and
they died in numbers with the British
1omnles at the second battle Of Ypres
When the Germans advanced toward
the User canal using for the first time
poisonous gas. Again the birds did
Nalant service when the French tried
TO break through in the Champagne in
the fall of 1915 and in the whole
series of the Verdun attacks lasting
through July. Oftentimes the only COM
munlcatiOns with men in advanced sta
tons were the dogs that crept through
the barrages and the carrier pigeons
mat returned with messages. Where
telephone and wireless broke down
ana men could not survive the storm
OF shell fire, it is recorded that 81 per
cent OF the messages carried by carrier
pigeons came safely through.
Told of German Retreat.
When the Germans retired TO the
"Hindenburg line" it was carrier pig-
cons carried forward into the front
advance lines that brought back the
news of the retirement long before
telephone communication could be es-
tablished. Through the whole area
1900 square miles, on a front of 100
miles from Arras to scissors, carrier
pigeons did their work effectively. And
wherever the Americans fought, at
Cantigny Chateau-Thierry. TOrcy.
BOuresches, Belleau wood, Conde-en-
Brie, Buzancy, Jaulgonne, Fere-en- Tar
denois, Bligne, Cierges, Villers-Argron.
Flsmes, Frapelle, Bazoches, Juvigny,
st. Mihiel, Argonne forest-carrier
pigeons were likewise on the job.
A carrier pigeon aided in capturing
a U-bOat and her crew. A coast watch
er on one of the lOneliest parts Of the
west coast at sundown saw the tip Of
a perlscope arise and then the coming
tower of a U-bOat. The underwater
boat stopped, and the officers and crew
were seen on deck. The lookout man
tied note bearing the information to
the leg Of carrier pigeon and released
1t from his basket. The next morning
a German submarine, which had run
out of gasoline, and its officers and
crew were taken to a naval sub-base.
A British patrol boat was discov-
cred by German submarine and tor
pedoed and shelled. The skipper, hav-
ing on board carrier pigeon, wrote a
brief message, telling his position and
what had happened. AS the boat
sank, the skipper began swimming for
some wreckage to cling to. The pigeon
went up gradually in spiral, and the
Germans, seeing it, began shooting at
the bird The skipper, drifting on the
wreckage, gave up hope when he saw
the bird had been hit. Twenty miles
away, however, it lighted on a patrol
ling destroyer, its si1ver-gray plumage