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Carrier Pigeons Messenger Pigeons
Carrier Pigeons Messenger Pigeons
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Nook version of vintage monologue originally published in 1873. Contains lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the last 150 years.
Read excerpt -
Even this speed cannot be maintained without rest, for the carrier-pigeon has not the endurance which belongs to many birds of passage. It always descends at night for shelter and repose, and hence it can rarely fly across a wide expanse of water. To this was partly owing the failure of the attempt to use them for conveying intelligence from the arctic explorers, and partly to another cause. Some writers, chiefly poets and ro¬mancers, would have us believe that the carrier-pigeon finds his way home from re¬mote places by a kind of instinct; but this is not the case. Its flight is guided by sight alone. When let loose from confinement it rises to a great height in the air by a se¬ries of constantly enlarging circles until it catches sight of some familiar landmark by which to direct its course. If flown on a foggy day it soon becomes bewildered and either returns to the place of flight or is lost. Let loose from a balloon on a clear day, and too far above the ground for objects thereon to be discerned even by its piercing vision, instead of rising, it drops perpendicularly, like a plummet, until it nears the earth, when it begins to wheel round in a descend¬ing spiral, constantly increasing in diameter, evidently for the purpose above mentioned of ascertaining its locality, and discovering some indications for the direction of its course.
Lowering the pigeon
Carrier-pigeons were of great service to the French during the late siege of Paris by the German army. This had been fore¬seen by the German commanders; and in order to prevent the importation of these invaluable messengers from Belgium, where they are raised and trained in almost incredible numbers, they were very early in the struggle declared contraband of war. But in this matter at least the French had been provident; and long before a German soldier had crossed the Rhine the military authorities had collected twenty-five thousand pigeons, which were distributed among the commanders of the various cities and for¬tresses most exposed to the danger of a siege, to be used as a means of communication. A depot was established at Bordeaux for the reception of new pigeon recruits. After the fatal lines were drawn around Metz and Paris, and all telegraphic communication with the world outside had been severed, news and orders were sent and received daily by the pigeon post. The missives had to be written on the smallest scraps of thin paper, in order not to impede the pigeon's flight, and the camera and microscope were called into requisition to crowd the greatest amount of news into the smallest compass. A whole side of the London Times was on several occasions photographed on a thin piece of paper less than five inches square. This microscopic newspaper, em¬bracing news from all parts-of the world, was at first read by means of a powerful microscope; afterward it was thrown upon a white wall by means of a magic lantern in a darkened room, where it was read by thousands of people.
The German commanders tried many expedients to break up the pigeon post, with¬out success. As a last resort they brought to camp a large number of trained hawks, which made sad havoc among the aerial messengers. This was denounced roundly by the French newspapers and orators, but surely without reason.
In ancient times letters were fastened by a cord about the pigeon's neck, but at the present time the paper containing the mes¬sage is attached either to the leg or under the wing. It must be very light, in order not to interfere with the pigeon's flight.
Read excerpt -
Even this speed cannot be maintained without rest, for the carrier-pigeon has not the endurance which belongs to many birds of passage. It always descends at night for shelter and repose, and hence it can rarely fly across a wide expanse of water. To this was partly owing the failure of the attempt to use them for conveying intelligence from the arctic explorers, and partly to another cause. Some writers, chiefly poets and ro¬mancers, would have us believe that the carrier-pigeon finds his way home from re¬mote places by a kind of instinct; but this is not the case. Its flight is guided by sight alone. When let loose from confinement it rises to a great height in the air by a se¬ries of constantly enlarging circles until it catches sight of some familiar landmark by which to direct its course. If flown on a foggy day it soon becomes bewildered and either returns to the place of flight or is lost. Let loose from a balloon on a clear day, and too far above the ground for objects thereon to be discerned even by its piercing vision, instead of rising, it drops perpendicularly, like a plummet, until it nears the earth, when it begins to wheel round in a descend¬ing spiral, constantly increasing in diameter, evidently for the purpose above mentioned of ascertaining its locality, and discovering some indications for the direction of its course.
Lowering the pigeon
Carrier-pigeons were of great service to the French during the late siege of Paris by the German army. This had been fore¬seen by the German commanders; and in order to prevent the importation of these invaluable messengers from Belgium, where they are raised and trained in almost incredible numbers, they were very early in the struggle declared contraband of war. But in this matter at least the French had been provident; and long before a German soldier had crossed the Rhine the military authorities had collected twenty-five thousand pigeons, which were distributed among the commanders of the various cities and for¬tresses most exposed to the danger of a siege, to be used as a means of communication. A depot was established at Bordeaux for the reception of new pigeon recruits. After the fatal lines were drawn around Metz and Paris, and all telegraphic communication with the world outside had been severed, news and orders were sent and received daily by the pigeon post. The missives had to be written on the smallest scraps of thin paper, in order not to impede the pigeon's flight, and the camera and microscope were called into requisition to crowd the greatest amount of news into the smallest compass. A whole side of the London Times was on several occasions photographed on a thin piece of paper less than five inches square. This microscopic newspaper, em¬bracing news from all parts-of the world, was at first read by means of a powerful microscope; afterward it was thrown upon a white wall by means of a magic lantern in a darkened room, where it was read by thousands of people.
The German commanders tried many expedients to break up the pigeon post, with¬out success. As a last resort they brought to camp a large number of trained hawks, which made sad havoc among the aerial messengers. This was denounced roundly by the French newspapers and orators, but surely without reason.
In ancient times letters were fastened by a cord about the pigeon's neck, but at the present time the paper containing the mes¬sage is attached either to the leg or under the wing. It must be very light, in order not to interfere with the pigeon's flight.
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