Democratic Sentinel, Volume 19, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 23 August 1895 — PIGEONS CARRY THE MAILS. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

PIGEONS CARRY THE MAILS.

hie Only Feathered Postal Service Operated in the United States. The only regular pigeon post service m this side of the continent or the other is that which bears messages every day in the summer season between Los Angeles, Cal., and the little town >f Avalon, on Catalina Island, and »ears them at a speed which can be

beaten only by the telegraph or telephone. The steamers run once a day between island and mainland, and once it has cast loose from the wharf the island, with a summer population of perhaps several thousands, is as completely cut off from the world as though it were in midooean, and yet the shore is a scant twenty miles away. The demand for some additional service grew, and last summer the Island visitors and residents were relieved from their isolation by the establishment of a carrier pigeon post between Avalon and Los Angeles. The message bearers usually start without delay and arrive at their destination with a certainty and promptness almost incredible. The air-line distance from Avalon to Los Angeles is about fifty miles. This was accomplished by some of the Catalina flyers in fifty minutes. From three to four hours is required to make the trip by railroad and steamer. The fact that the birds could fly from Avalon with such rapidity and certainty filled those of the island visitors who were unfamiliar with the habits of the Intelligent homer with amazement, and nl&Hy people were quite unable to grapple with the statement that carrier pigeons have been flown successfully for a distance of 1,000 miles and more. One bird liberated in Spain not long since covered a distance of 615 miles in a single day—that is from daylight till dark. Races between pigeons and telegrams have not infrequently resulted in the pigeon arriving at his destination in advance of the message by wire. On one occasion a pigeon and a postal card started together on a trip of 540 miles,

and the message borne by the bird reached the person to whom It was addressed some hours before the card was delivered. While it is the carrier’s Intense love of home which renders him available as a bearer of dispatches, neither mate nor young is the attraction which attracts him. It is the perch and nest box. He Is as averse to change as a pet cat, and will fight for his own to the bitter end. The employment of pigeons to carry messages from Catalina has its solitary precedent In the temporary establishment a.few years since of a pigeon post across i the English channel from Boulogne to London, a distance of 135 miles. In summer the messages would arrive in London at midday, whereas the Paris mail could not be expected until nearly 12 o’clock at night.

BLUE JIM, A CATALINA SPEEDER.

RECEIVING A MESSAGE IN THE LOFT.