The Sport In America

Donnie Zehr May 05, 25

The sport in America is not fifteen years old, and even of this the first seasons were given to the short-distance sweepstake races, popular among a certain class of the English. The first incentive to distance-flying was in 1878, when one hundred dollars in gold was offered to the owner of the first bird to return from a station five hundred miles away. The first attempt to win this was made the same year from Columbus, Ohio, to New York, four hundred and seventy-five miles, but both birds started were lost. It was the next year that the real competition begun. Philadelphia birds were first to be started, but the owners in their haste to be first did not comply with the conditions, and the record made was lost. As a preliminary journey for the birds of New York and vicinity, they were sent to Steubenville, Ohio, three hundred and forty miles, and to the surprise of every one there were returns the day of liberating. The first bird home was "Francisco," owned by Mr. L. Waefelaer, Hoboken; time, eight hours eighteen minutes. Nearly a month later, when the entry was called for the Columbus race, six birds were offered, three from New York and three from Brooklyn. All six returned. The first to make the journey was "Boss," owned by Oscar Donner, Brooklyn, arriving before noon of the second day. This year the "Nun," owned by Mr. J. R. Husson, made the journey from Cresson, Pennsylvania, to New York, two hundred and forty-three miles, in two hundred and thirty-seven minutes, - the mile in about fifty-eight and a half seconds.  The effort from this time on was for a one-day journey from the Columbus distance, or " 500 miles" as it was termed. The best returns through the several years were : The last-named distances were the greatest ever covered by a homing pigeon. The marvel for the performance is not that the birds should have returned from so many miles, but that they should have supported themselves by the way and yet have escaped the hawks and gunners.

The records for distance journeys made by American birds are shown in the chart above. Other records than these which at the close of the season of 1885 remained to be beaten were the work of the bird Arnoux, mentioned above, during the season of 1885 was proof of what a good bird could accomplish. Its training journeys up to the first race amounted to about 150 miles. The races in which it engaged were 130, 196, 272, 372 and 535 miles; in all, 1655 miles. Sent later to 515 miles, and still later to 1010 miles, it made the record for the four months of 3180 miles It was sent later still to fly from Boutte, La., but had not returned at the opening of the season for this year.

It was in 1882 that young birds were first sent to fly from over 250 miles. The best results of the many efforts made each year to cover a greater distance within the day of liberating have been :he journeys enumerated were not by any means the extent of the flying, but were those in which all were interested, and tend to show the progress made by American fanciers. There were, besides, club races to every center, home and home races engaging the birds of different cities, and journeys of venture.

Up to the nineteenth  of the Eastern bird, the dragon, horseman, and bagadotten, were used as flyers by the English, while the Belgians found their purpose served by the bird breeding naturally in the cornices of the public buildings and the outbuildings of the farms. Facilities for transportation were limited, and distances to be traversed were in consequence equally so. Speed was sufficient for the ends of competition, and speed was attained. Development of the power of orientation was not necessary, as the bird could see its home, or at least known objects, from the height to which it would naturally rise. In these early days the birds were carried to the starting-point in hampers strapped to the shoulders of a man, and whatever the distance, it was a long and weary time for both conveyor and birds. Sometimes, when the entry was large and the distance excessive, a cage of many compartments was built upon cart, and this, drawn by horse or dog or pushed by a man, traveled to its destination. When the first birds were sent to Paris, one hundred and fifty miles, it was thought a foolhardy enterprise; but when the first bird returned it was carried through the streets of the capital upon a wagon draped with the national colors, and preceded by musicians playing upon violins, while at the street corners salutes were fired. It was an ovation to a hero, but was no greater honor than was accorded to the first return in the seven hundred and fifty miles journey from Rome a few years later.

As facilities for transportation increased the distances were extended, and new elements were brought into the composition of the bird to meet the greater demands upon it.