Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 206, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 September 1918 — BIRDS ARE VALUED [ARTICLE]

BIRDS ARE VALUED

Carrier Pigeons Do Excellent Service for Army. Many Now'Being Trained at the University of Wisconsin Under the Direction of the Government— Made Splendid Record. Carrier pigeons for the army are now being trained at the University of Wisconsin, and special experiments with the birds are being carried on under the direction of the government This new war work has been taken up under the direction of Prof. L. J. Cole, head of the department of experimental breeding. Twenty-five young pigeons have been received from the signal corps for use In flying investigations, and 14 old birds for breeding purposes have been donated by a Cleveland pigeon fancier. / Lieut. W. L. Butler of the central department of the signal corps at Chicago and Maj. Frank Griftin of the Washington office were at the university recently making arrangements for the work. A warning not to shoot pigeons has been Issued by the bureau of information, at Washington on account of the large number of homing pigeons which are being trained in various parts of the country. Now that the training is also being carried on in Wisconsin, the people of that state are being warned not to shoot pigeons, and if any bird Is found bearing the label “U, S. A. O. 18,” the mark borne by all government pigeons, it should be reported to the chief signal officer at Washington. In the present war homing pigeons play ,a large part in the carrying of Important because they can fly home when telephones, telegraph and wireless have been destroyed, and are. rarely hit by gunfire. The process of training a pigeon for military purposes consists in first taking it about 1,000 yards from home and loosing it so that It can fly back; then the distance is increased and the direction changed a§ the training progresses. The average speed of a homing pigeon is from 1,400 to 1,700 yards a minute, although many make much higher speed than this. Important messages in the army are usually sent by two birds in order to insure spfe delivery and but few messages are lost. A small aluminum container is fastened to the birds’ legs to carry messages, or else the bits of paper are tied directly on the legs. Stories are recorded daily in the war of life-saving feats accomplished by homing pigeons. A crew of a vessel struck by a submarine recently had just time to free a homing pigeon before the ship sunk. Although the bird wah wounded by shots from the German submarine, it flew to another craft 12 miles away and saved the lives of the men floundering about in the water. Men are in great demand in the homing pigeon operator branch of the signal service. No man of draft age can be inducted into this service, but there is a call for men below twentyone and over thirty years of age for this work.