PIGEON FLYING.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5209, 1 December 1877, Page 1 (Supplement)

PIGEON FLYING.

(By James Greenwood, in the Graphic.)

As long ago as Christmas last there mi ;ht have been seen, exhibited iu the window of a tavern in the uufashio able neighborhood of the leather market at Bermondsey, an ao tractive placard, headed iu large type, “ A Rare Tie it for Lovers of the Fancy I” and further setting forth that on a certain Monday in the forthcoming August there would be decided cm the premises a Grand Sweepstakes Pigeon Race, open to all who were willing t > conform to the roles, the most prominent of which was that for five months all members should subscribe the sum of one shilling a week. From the enthusiastic remarks of two young fellows, who were spelling out the announcement, and who evidently were authorities on the subject, it was thought worth while to make a note of the date, with a view if possible of being present when the great event was consummated.

Not much dilfiuulty was experienced in redisc ivo.iug the place after an interval of seven months Only for the absence of engines one might have thought that the tavern was on fire. The pavement was thronged, there was a mob in the road, while high up on the roof, amongst the chimney-pots, were many coatless, hatless men and lads nimbly coming and going and gesticulating excitedly. Within the house the crowd was denser than without. The bar space, the passages, a large room on the ground floor, and a larger still overhead, were filled to overflowing by a frightfully unclean company, almost every memierc-.f which was the proud possessor of a live pigeon. There were some few wiio kept the idol of their wor.-hip iu a handsome box of polished mahogany, but the majority carried their precious property in a stout brown piper bag, perforated at the sides for ventilation ; and thisreceptaclc, toavoid accidents, was bestowed in the owner’s cap, which almost invariably was of limp material, and shaped like a pudding basin.

Tlie excitement was great when I reached tlie place of meeting, for tlie“c’rect card” had been issued hut a few minutes hefere. The starting points were cast, west, north, and south, at a distance of five measured miles, and tlie one winning-post was head-quarters—-.tlie room iu which the two umpires and the referee sat awaiting tlie result. But the difficulty was to adjust satisfactorily the “ timing” of each pigeon. The owners of some of the birds resided iu the same street, while others lived its far as a quartet of a mile off. Every pigeon Who ever thrown up would, of course, make the best of its way home to its accustomed abode on tlie house-roof, where were in vhdlant waiting those skilled in the art of capture, and long of leg and sound of wind for a smart rim. The business of the correct card was to make known what was tlie “ carrying time” allowed in each case, or iu other words, how many seconds or minutes were granted for a bird’s conveyance from tlie dormer whore it alighted to tlie room where the judges sat. The stai ters (accompanied in each case by those whose interest it was to “ see fair’’) wore each provided witii a curious kind of timepiece —a watch enclosed in a liUle flit box with a Jock, and an opening in tlie lid, through which the fane of the dial was visible. Tlie-judges luck these boxes and hold the keys, and a “ master watch” likewise in a locked box remains at home, and is hung against tlie wall in the judges' room. It was understood that the starts should take placo at about 4 o’clock, and a few minutes after tlie feverish expectation beg in to manifest itself throughout the neighborhood. Du the roof of the tall old houses all round about anxious scouts were st itioued, witli their eyes screened with their hands, t scnnniug the heavens as castaway sailors hungering and thirsting for sight of a s ul skan the wide expanse of ocean. Mcu, pale and anxiouslooking, congregate at street corners, calling

up to those on the roof, “Are they coming? Are they coming !” -with as painful eagerness in their voice as in that of the wicked Blau Beard’s victim when she interrogated Sister Aim, who was Jooki ig for help out of a window. With startling sudderuKSs, how wer a shrill whistle is presently heard, and a watchman, who with one arm is embracing a chimney-put, is seen to wildly wave the other, and then to thrust his lingers in his mouth again, and emit a blast more ear piercing and pro’onged than the first. Now the street from end to end re ootids with shrill wln'stlngs, an 1 ere thirty miy be counted is see i tearing no the middle of the road a shodes-, jaclo-tles--, oapless young fellow, with his right hand grasping a precious something concealed beneath the bosom p irt of his shirt. Rale and breathless he makes for the tavern, and bounding over the threshold with a hop, skip, and a jump, in a jilfv he is in the jury-room where the master watch is hanging, and pine s from his breast the first pigeftn ! But not necessarily the winner of the race ; that cannot be decided until the starter* return, and report the exact moment when each bird was de-p-itched.

I was curious to ascertain the manner in which a pigeon was primed to do Ills “speedy utmost,” and was not i little surprised to find that he is not primed at all On the contrary, the bird is kept as hungry as they dare keyp him—that is the spur relied on to incite him to make haste home, where he is aware there is an ample board spread for him. Butin this nice discrimination must be used, Hhe is too “ sharp set” the bird may he tempted to halt for refreshment on the road. I was seriously informed that a single beau might turn the balance one way or the other.