Pigeon post
Pigeon post is the use of homing pigeons to carry messages. Pigeons are effective as messengers due to their natural homing abilities. The pigeons are transported to a destination in cages, where they are attached with messages, then the pigeon naturally flies back to its home where the recipient could read the message. They have been used in many places around the world. Pigeons have also been used to great effect in military situations, and are in this case referred to as war pigeons.[1]
Early history
As a method of communication, it is likely as old as the ancient
Naval chaplain Henry Teonge (c. 1620–1690) describes in his diary a regular pigeon postal service being used by merchants between İskenderun and Aleppo in the Levant.[4] The Mughals also used messenger pigeons.
Before the
Details of the employment of pigeons during the
During the establishment of formal pigeon post services, the registration of all birds was introduced. At the same time, in order to hinder the efficiency of the systems of foreign countries, difficulties were placed in the way of the importation of their birds for training, and in a few cases falcons were specially trained to interrupt the service during war, the Germans having set the example by employing hawks against the Paris pigeons in 1870–71. No satisfactory method of protecting the weaker birds seems to have been developed, though the Chinese formerly provided their pigeons with whistles and bells to scare away birds of prey.
As radio telegraphy and telephony were developed, the use of pigeons became limited to fortress warfare[
In modern days, a rafting photographer still uses pigeons as a
Paris
The pigeon post that was in operation while Paris was besieged during the
During the course of the siege, pigeons were regularly taken out of Paris by balloon. Initially, one of the pigeons carried by a balloon was released as soon as the balloon landed so that Paris could be apprised of its safe passage over the Prussian lines. Soon a regular service was in operation, based first at Tours and later at Poitiers. The pigeons were taken to their base after their arrival from Paris and when they had preened themselves, been fed and rested, they were ready for the return journey. Tours lies some 200 km (100 miles) from Paris and Poitiers some 300 km (200 miles); to reduce the flight distance the pigeons were taken by train as far forward towards Paris as was safe from Prussian intervention. Before release, they were loaded with their despatches. The first despatch was dated 27 September and reached Paris on 1 October, but it was only from 16 October, when an official control was introduced, that a complete record was kept.
The pigeons carried two kinds of despatch: official and private, both of which are later described in detail. The service was put into operation for the transmission of information from the Delegation to Paris and was opened to the public in early November. The private despatches were sent only when an official despatch was being sent, since the latter would have absolute priority. However, the introduction of the Dagron
The service was formally terminated on 1 February 1871. In fact, the last pigeons were released on 1 and 3 February. The pigeons that were still alive were now official property and were sold at the Depot du Mobilier de l'Etat. Their value as racing pigeons was reflected by the average price of only 1 franc 50 centimes, but two pigeons, reported to have made three journeys, were purchased by an enthusiast for 26 francs.
The success of the pigeon post, both for official and for private messages, did not pass unnoticed by the military forces of the European powers and in the years that followed the
Canada
Major-General Donald Roderick Cameron, then
Catalina Island
From 1894 to 1898 pigeons carried mail from Avalon across the Santa Barbara Channel to Los Angeles. Two pigeon fanciers, brothers Otto J. and O. F. Zahn, reached an agreement with Western Union where it would not build a telegraph line to the isolated island so long as the pigeons did not compete with it on the mainland. Fifty birds were trained, carrying three copies of each message because of the danger of hunters and predators. They made the 48-mile passage in about one hour, bringing letters, news clippings from the Los Angeles Times, and emergency summons for doctors. In three seasons of operation only two letters failed to come through, but at $.50 to $1.00 per message the service was not profitable, and in 1898 the Zahn brothers ended the post.[8][9]
Great Barrier Island (New Zealand)
Before the pigeon post service was established the only regular connection between the community on Great Barrier Island (90 kilometres northeast of Auckland) and the mainland was provided by a weekly coastal steamer. The island's isolation was highlighted when the ship SS Wairarapa was wrecked off its coast in 1894, with the loss of 121 lives, and the news took several days to reach the mainland.
The pigeon post service began between the island and Auckland in 1897. Soon there were two rival pigeongram companies, both of which issued distinctive and attractive stamps. The stamps have been eagerly collected for their novelty value, and some have become extremely rare.
Initially, the service operated only from Great Barrier Island to Auckland, the reverse route being considered uneconomic. On the island, pigeongram agencies were established at Port Fitzroy, Okupu, and Whangaparara. Birds were sent over to the island on the weekly steamer and flew back to Auckland with up to five messages per bird written on lightweight writing stock and attached to their legs. Great Barrier Island's pigeongram service ended when the first telegraph cable was laid between the island and the mainland in 1908.[10]
India
The Orissa police in India have established regular pigeon posts at Cuttack, Chatrapur, Kendrapara, Sambalpur and Denkanal and these pigeons rose to the occasion in times of emergencies and natural calamities.[11] During the centenary celebrations of the Indian postal service in 1954, the Orissa police pigeons demonstrated their capacity by conveying the message of inauguration from the President of India to the Prime Minister.[11] The last of the pigeon post services in the world (the one in Cuttack, India) was closed in 2008, although about 150 pigeons continue to be maintained for ceremonial purposes in Cuttack and at the Police Training College in Angul.[12]
See also
References
- JSTOR 44563742.
- ^ ISBN 0-85390-013-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7022-3641-9. Archived from the originalon 2008-05-14.
- ^ The Diary of Henry Teonge Chaplain on Board HM’s Ships Assistance, Bristol and Royal Oak 1675–1679. The Broadway Travellers. Edited by Sir E. Denison Ross and Eileen Power. London: Routledge, 1927. Entries for October 27, November 29, and December 6, 1675.
- ^ "Chronology: Reuters, from pigeons to multimedia merger". Reuters. 19 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
- Denver Post. Retrieved 24 March 2018.
- ^ "A History of the Canadian Coast Guard and Marine Services". Canadian Coast Guard. 2011-10-05. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ Zahn, Curtis (1958) "America's first Air Mail" article in The Natural Sciences Illustrated, New York, New York,: J. J. Little And Ives Co., Inc.
- ^ Jim Watson (2000-03-17). "Pigeon Post II". Stampnotes.com. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ "Great Barrier Island Pigeongram Agency:Mail Form No. 9". Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. 2009-05-20. Retrieved 2012-04-24.
- ^ a b "IndianPost". Indianpost.com. 1989-11-03. Retrieved 2017-05-14.
- ^ "Pigeon post in Cuttack". thehindu.com. 2018-05-05. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
External links
Media related to Pigeon post at Wikimedia Commons