In America

Donnie Zehr May 05, 25

In our country of magnificent distances and tardy messengers, pigeons are more largely employed as couriers than is generally known, in as much as the service is mainly for individual convenience. Very many business men in cities communicate with home in the suburbs by pigeon- post, or use the birds between office and factory. Farmers use them as messengers through the neighborhood, and from the post-office and the town. Country physicians often have an apartment prepared for the birds in their conveyance, and carry their birds on their rounds as regularly as they carry their instruments and their bottles, using them to bring word later on from their patients, and to send word home when there is need. And even the New York brokers promise to follow the example of Mr. A. De Cordova, who says, "I use my birds to bring the reports from Wall street to me at Chetolah, my summer residence near North Branch." Mr. R. D. Hume of Fruit Vale, California, claims to use pigeons with complete success between his factories, some three hundred miles to the north. Years ago certain of the Wells-Fargo agents in the mountains of Nevada used pigeons to bring them the news from the nearest station the same day, that by regular means would not have reached them until the third following. There are many prominent business men and capitalists in the vicinity of New York today who owe their prosperity to the foundation laid years ago through advice conveyed by pigeons in advance of the mail by stage.
The use of pigeons by Mr. C. T. Arnoux as message-bearers, in the yacht races of last September, proves conclusively the value the birds might have as messengers from off the water. The purpose was the thought of the last moment, and when almost too late to make the necessary preparations. The arrangements were hasty and the material homed at several centers, some of them miles away from the center of use. Still, with all drawbacks, insufficiencies, and mistakes, it was evident to, the most prejudiced that with birds trained for the work, and with the atmospheric conditions at all favorable, the birds would six times out of seven prove to be of the greatest value; and failing the seventh, we would be only where we are without them. The messages were each not less than ten pages of manifold note, and were carried upon the middle feathers of the tail, to which they were fastened by fine copper wire, wound about and pressed flat, to hold the message close to the feather. The editor of a newspaper served by these pigeons said, "It gives me a peculiar sensation to receive copy from the hand of one I know to be out of reach upon the water, and to feel that he may talk to me but I cannot answer back. It is a wonder to me after this experience that the officers of any vessel, excursion steamer, yacht, sail or tug boat should be willing to leave the shore without this means of communicating with it."
Very many of the merchant marine, especially in European waters, have pigeons on board for use in communicating with the vessel from the small boats away from it or from shore. These birds, it is said, never mistake another vessel for their own when at dock or in the harbor. It has been remarked of several flights that the birds in exercising, when far out of sight of land, will go away for hours at a time, and upon their return will have dried mud on their feet and legs, showing them to, have been upon shore.
Mr. A. P. Baldwin experimented with pigeons for sea service twice in 1885,and to his satisfaction. One bird liberated by Officer Croom of the Waesland at one o'clock in the afternoon, when three hundred and fifteen miles from Sandy Hook, was in the loft at evening. Another let go from the Circassia at nine in the morning, when two hundred and fifty-five miles out, brought a message before evening.