Evening star., 1938-12-11
MAGAZINE
THE DOVE OF PEACE PREPARES FOR WAR

vital information in the officer hands
mile back in minutes time. Drama
tizing all these points quite effectively
IS a single exploit of the famous
N1ockcr at Beaumont. Blinded in one
eye by a bit of shrapnel and his head
a welter of blood, the plucky bird
nevertheless came home with a mes
sage which resulted in the silencing
of a particularly vicious nest of enemy
batteries
Until two or three years ago The
Alocker lived at Fort Monmouth IN
luxurious retirement, surviving the
perlls of the war by nearly twenty
years. Sharing his honors were the
famous Spike. who had the enviable
record of delivering fifty-eight mes
sages in action, and Cuisy Bill, a tank
pigeon who served through the St.
Mhiel offensive and the Nerdun drive.
In the latter the bird was hit by
shell splinter which almost severed
his leg, yet he came doggedly back to
his base with the limb dangling and
the message tube still intact.
The charmed luck of some of these
birds is no less amazing than their
skill Big Tom had an eye shot out
early in the war yet went back into
service to live through two seaplane
crashes. The Dundee Life Saver came
through three plane crashes unscathed,
and in one instance flew twenty-five
miles in twenty-five minutes with the
message which saved the lives of two
fiers who had been forced down in the
North Sea.
With all the ingenious develop
mcnts in the arts of peace and war -
notably the advances in portable
short-wave and ultra-short-wave
radio transmitters - it seems strange
that modern armies still place so much
dependence upon method OF COM
munication which is at least 5000
years old. The fact remains, however,
that the trick of radio interception
has advanced just about as rapidly as
skill in transmission. And the fact
also remains that no way has yet been
devised for intercepting a homing
pigeon, Even the fleet hawk is no
match for him. For, as Major w. c.
Ellis, Signal Officer. observed. "A
bird that can do mile minute for
fun in race can really settle down
and scamper if his life depends
upon it!'
For these reasons. consequently.
the u S. Army devotes its tenderest
attentions to its skeleton force of some
l,5OO homers now in service. Housed
in model lofts at Fort Monmouth and
other selected posts, exercised daily,
fed scientifically and cared for by
experienced pigeoneers, these swift
couriers are as much part of the
service as the latest thing in anti
aircraft guns or chemical warfare.
Entered in twenty to thirty big races
every season - which, to them. is The
Life - and countless minor meets in
various localities, they are not only
thus kept in good condition but, from
these competitions, furnish the data
on which mating schedules are based
for the further improvement of the
breed.
From this nucleus of specially
trained birds. the Army can increase
its pigeon enlistment twenty or thirty
times almost overnight, for pigeon
racing has gained such widespread
popularity here in recent years that
there are literally millions of trained
homers available. Indeed, some OF
them are seriously engaged in the
work-a-day world, for one New York
newspaper has a loft of some It's
homers whose work has been so sue
cessful during the last five years that
national news service has now adopted
the idea.
The newspaper homers" are used