Evening star., 1941-10-16


sas'sss'' - sssszz@ ing about the
Henry McLemOre. Tennessee VAL
ley Authority, Alcoa, Lookout Noun
tain or morale at Fort Oglethorpe,
and before you know it you are
doing monograph on one of Mr..
Engels monologues.
Mr.. Engel, who operates baseball
teams, radio stations. night clubs
and county fairs, among other
things, is now engaged in producing
what he hopes will be a super hon.
ing pigeon for the use of the United
States Army Signal Corps.
Long pigeon fancier, with a
30O-bird loft on his country estate,
Mr.. Engel is not completely satisfied
with the homing pigeon as he is TO-
day.
He isn't mad at the ordinary hon.
ing pigeon, mind you, but he feels
that the homing pigeon, as a carrier
Of messages in battle, has not de-
veloped along with the other weap-
ons of modern warfare and needs a
shot in the arm or wing
You know, of course, that the orr
| dinary homing pigeon does not fly at
night. He is heller when the sun
is up, but once it goes down so does
the pigeon Nightfall finds him
tucked away on a limb OF a tree. no
matter how vital the dispatch that
is banded on his leg. An entire army
can be in distress for all the pigeon
cares. Once darkness arrives. he
wants to hit the hay and get himself
| some shut-eye.
Here on his place in Chattanooga
Mr.. Engel is attempting to eliminate
the sleepiness in homing pigeons by
crossing them with owls and hawks.
He is convinced that a cross between
a pigeon and an owl Will result in
an old rounder of blrd-a sort of
feathered Tommy ManWlle-Who
won't even give hoot for late hours
and who would just as lief start out
on fight at midnight as he would
at noon.
Mr. Engel says this is not entirely
his own idea.
The Army experts at Fort Mon
mouth. N. j.. have been working
along similar lines for quite a while"
Mr. Engel told me You know Fort
Monmouth. That is where they are
training falcons to fight enemy para
chutists. Instead Of attacking other
birds. the falcons are being taught
to swoop down on parachutes and
with their powerful talons and beak
rip the silk to bits. A falcon is a
! very rough customer and WE'LL
/ trained flock of them would be much
more effective against parachutists
than soldiers. 1t would be almost
impossible for a soldier floating
earthward to hit them with a rife"
Mr.. Engel feels that a cross be-
tween an owl and hawk and a hom.
ing pigeon would be the perfect mes.
sage carrier. He would fly at night,
for one thing. Thanks to his owl
blood. he could turn his head all
the way around and thus avoid
being surprised from the rear by
an enemy attack. And, having some
hawk in him, he would be a good
fighter and able to protect himself
in any beak-to-beak conflicts with
| enemy birds.
Being a dreamer as well as per-
fectionist, Mr.. Engel already has
looked past the day when his pigeon
hawk-owl hybrid will be perfected,
and considered the next step in the
development of the pigeon.
He thinks he would like to add
dash Of chicken to the pigeons
makeup.
This would just about make the
homing pigeon a perfect bird he
explained. "A touch of Duminecker
of Rhode Island Red or Buff Orping-
ton is sure to come Why? Well,
the reason is obvious It would
make the pigeon good to eat. Sup
pose squad of men was cut of,
surrounded by the enemy. and with
out supplies, The pigeon, after de-
livering his message, would be there
as foodstuff A man would have to
be pretty hungry TO eat the ordi-
nary homing pigeon, because he Is
awfully muscular. but if the pigeon
had little chicken in him he would
be tasy morsel, indeed"
Mr.. Engel told me that he had
some luck in crossing the pigeon
with the hawk, and that he had
heard that at Fort Monmouth they
| had produced a-well, what would
you call cross between a pigeon
and hawk, higeon?-a higeon
that had flown upward of so miles
in night tests.
The next thing you know these
hybrldS will be making the rounds
of the night clubs. and getting their
names in the cafe society register.
distributed by McNaught Syndicate, Inc)
Virginia Plans. New Spun