HOMING PIGEONS ON THE WESTERN FRONI.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 155, 1 July 1919, Page 9

HOMING PIGEONS ON THE WESTERN FRONI.

(To the Eilitor.l Sir.—i read with interest tlii" report of the recent meeting of the Northern Pijjpon flub. Especially whs 1 interested in that portion of the proceedings ivhere mention v.is made of homing pigeons donated by the club for service on the western front. For the benefit of those interested, nnil in fairness to those who supplied birds, as one of the organisers of the local movement I would like to point out that of G:t birds dispatched. 50 were supplied by the members of the Auckland Flyin-iYlilb. 11 by tlie hite .Mr. Cowsill, the remaining two by the present Northern I'lub. J merely mention these facts chiefly in the hopes that as the Auckland Flying Club were responsible for the majority of the birds donated, honour shall be driven to whuiu honour is due.—l am, etc. KAGINU I'iUEO.Y. THE (To tlie Editor.)

Sir. —At the general meeting of the U.S.A. last week a quiet gentleman tried to put in a word for the outcasts, but as everyone was enrapt in a vision nf himself in Parliament, probably the only person to notice his impertinence was myself. I spoke to the gentleman afterwards about the conference remit, of which I complained in a letter to yon He said he had noticed the. letter, but had been told it was based on a mistake. I, of course, had been told the same, but with all due disrespect to the Press, 1 cannot gi> so far as to pretend that a "dementi uttered in the ear of one or two is sufficient to undo the effect of an error published throughout the. Dominion. I must persist, therefore, in submitting that the following from your paper of May 2S still requires an explanation:—'"The executive submitted a remit, which was passed, reading as follows: 'That it be a recommendation to the Government that for the purpose of inclusion under the benefits conferred by the War Pensions an.l Repatriation Acts, returned soldiers who were domiciled in New Zealand prior to the war, and served with a force other than the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, shall

bo eligible only on proof being shown that they enlisted in Now Zealand prior to such service with another force-" If that does not mean the exclusion of New Zealanders who were in Britain and joined up there at the outbreak of war, then I shall be obliged if you will explain in a foot-note what it docs mean. May I add that the "benefits" which appear to have excited such conservative concern, make no particular appeal to mc. It i» simply that, as a good poet and patriot, one likes to assert his rights to even the myths and legendary lore of his country. —I am, etc., BLACK WATCH. FIREWOOD FOR LOCOMOTIVES. (To tbe -ditor.) gir,—You advocate the use of firewood for the locomotives to tide over the coal shortage on the railways. No doubt the professional engineer will scoff at such an amateur suggestion, but I can assure you it is quite feasible. In the early years of this century, firewood was used almost exclusively on the railway from Bcira to Salisbury, a distance of 400 miles, including a climb over an elevation of UOOO feet. The timber —chiefly mosassa. a poor burning wood —was cut into billets about ISm Ion"- and built into stacks alongside the lim. at regular intervals. The locomotives were large, weighing 01 tons, with the ordinary lire-boxes designed for burning coal, yet they succeeded in climbing to this groat altitude daily with fully loaded trains, and only firewood for fuel. The facts are impressed on my memory by a terrible accident occasioned by a tipsy fireman who was running with an achpftn open for the sake or getting a better draft, neglecting to shut it when crossing a wooden brid-e. It was tbe dry season, when everything was like tinder. Some pieces of glowing charcoal, dropping through the open ashpan, lodged in crevices of the timber supports, where they smouldered unnoticed for several hours. When the next train came on to the bridge it collapsed under the locomotive and the three white men on the engine were killed. At one time T worked at a locomotive shop in England while they were building a number of large engines for Brazil, the tenders being provided with iron cases for carrying firewood. Whilst not recommending the substitution of firewood for coal, I have no doubt it could foe used at a pinch. Most of the trees now burnt as useless when clearing the land would serve for locomotive firewood if out into handy billets. Besides supplying a market for what at present is an unsaleable article, the railways would not be wholly dependent on the coal mines. —T am. etc., H. DOBBIE. TThe engines on tho Trans-Siberian railway were before tho w.'r stoked snlolv with wood, and the same fuel is no doubt used to-day.— E<L±