In 1877, the government accepted a gift of 420 pigeons from Mr. De
Roo, and had the Administration of Post Offices construct in the
Garden of Acclimatization a model pigeon house, which was finished in
1878, and was capable of accommodating 200 pairs.
At present, the majority of our fortresses contain dove cotes, which
are perfectly organized and under the direction of the engineer corps
of the army.
The map in Fig. 1 gives the approximate system such as it results from
documents consulted in foreign military reviews.
According to Lieutenant Grigot, an officer of the Belgian army, who
has written a very good book entitled _Science Colombophile_, a
rational organization of the French system requires a central station
at Paris and three secondary centers at Langres, Lyons and Tours, the
latter being established in view of a new invasion.
As the distance of Paris from the frontier of the north is but 143
miles at the most, the city would have no need of any intermediate
station in order to communicate with the various places of the said
frontier. Langres would serve as a relay between Paris and the
frontier of the northeast. For the places of the southeast it would
require at least two relays, Lyons and Langres, or Dijon.
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