Abstract
Since the beginning of time, man's desire to control his own destiny has been responsible for many ingenious methods of long distance communication.
Tireless marathon runners, throbbing drums and intricate smoke signals indicate the age-old desperate human desire for rapidly received news. The Pharaohs of Egypt relied on the swiftest of dependable creatures, the homing pigeon, whose ability to unerringly fly hundreds of miles to their homes, helped them build a highly cultured civilization.
The earliest record of homing pigeons, in a domesticated state, is found in a painting done in the fifth Egyptian dynasty. Thirty centures before the birth of Christ, the People of the Nile depicted pigeons being released to the North, South, East and West to apprise the far-flung populace of a new King's ascendancy to the throne. These tidings were written on a tiny slip of papyrus which was carried in a goose-quill capsule tied to the bird's leg.
The Caliph of Bagdad established the first real 'pigeon-post' in the year 1146 A.D. Regular schedules were maintained as the birds brought news to the ruler and carried his commands back to his underlings. Even Baron Nathan de Rothchild found homing pigeons invaluable as he laid the foundation for enormously wealthy House of Rothchild. By winged messenger he received the facts which enabled him to out-think his ill-informed competitors.
In World War I homing pigeons were used when other forms of communication were impossible to establish. The 77th Division, famed 'Lost Battallion of Argonne,' was saved from total destruction by Cher Ami, last of the sticken group's seven homers. The doomed men were being unintentionally pounded to pieces by their own artillery. In desperation, Cher Ami was released into the metal-strewn sky. Although grieviously wounded in flight, the valiant bird finally fluttered down to the roof of his home loft at Rampant. German bullets had pierced his wing and had nearly severed his leg which supported the aluminum capsule. He recovered to become famous as the savior of hundreds of men whose message had read, "For God's sake, lift the fire."
Though still used as messengers in some parts of the world, the modem homing pigeon is better known in the world of sport. Pigeon racing grows more popular each year as hundreds of Americans take an active part in importing European birds. Pedigreed breeding has reached an all time high, with blood lines as pure and accurately cataloged as those of pure-bred race horses.
Pigeon racing is the national sport of Belgium and the 'Belgium racing-homer' stand for intelligent, fast and dependable birds of a very special type, due to the meticulous care given during hundreds of years of breeding and training. Most popular of all strains today are the Belgium Bastins, Belgium Stassards and a French homer developed by the Sion Family. Blood lines of these great fliers can be traced to champions of past centuries.
Pedigreed pigeons may be purchased from reliable dealers for as little as fifty dollrs per pair, but in many cases prices have been known to soar as high as twelve hundred dollars. Outstanding among racing pigeons in the United States are the descendants of those imported from Belgium in the early 1920's by Louis F. Curtis who spared no expense in developing the breed and is considered to be the father of the sport in this country.