Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
| 04.1-06.0 | 06.1-08.0 |
08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |
Subject: Dead Media Working Note 04.4
Dead medium: the pigeon post
Source: The Pigeon Post into Paris 1870-1871
by John Douglas Hayhurst
Published by the author at 65, Ford Bridge Road, Ashford
Middlesex
1970
(((Hayhurst's tale continues and the highly intriguing
figure known only as "Dagron" makes his appearance on the
dead media stage.)))
"At the Exposition Universelle of 1867 in Paris, a
photographer, Dagron, had demonstrated a remarkable
standard of microphotography which he had described in
"Traite de Photographie Microscopique" published in Paris
in 1864. (...) Arrangements were made for him to leave
Paris by balloon, accompanied by two colleagues, Fernique
and Poisot, the latter being his son-in-law. For making
the journey by balloon, Dagron was to receive 25,000
francs (to be paid by the delegation at Tours) and
Fernique 15,000 francs (to be paid before he left Paris).
In the event of their deaths during the journey, their
widows would each have an annual pension of 3,000 francs
for life.
"They departed on 12th November in the appropriately
named balloons *Niepce* and *Daguerre,* but the latter,
with the equipment and pigeons in it, was shot down, fell
within the Prussian lines and was lost. The *Niepce* was
also shot down and landed in Prussian-held territory, but
Dagron and his companions just escaped capture, losing
still more of their equipment and becoming separated.
"Shorn of his equipment and finding unsatisfactory
replacements at Tours, Dagron failed to achieve what he
had promised by way of.... images 'prenant le nom du
point,' in other words, microdots. Dagron had sought to
reproduce a page of the *Moniteur* in 1 sq mm (...)
Dagron finally attained success on 11th December (...)
Thereafter, all the despatches were on microfilm, with a
reduction of rather more than forty diameters, a
performance that even today evokes admiration and yet he
was achieving it a century ago. These later microfilms
weighed about 0.05 gm and a pigeon would carry up to 20 of
them. (...)
"The introduction of the Dagron microfilms eased any
problems there might have been in claims for transport
since their volumetric requirements were very small. For
example: one tube sent during January contained 21
microfilms, of which 6 were official despatches and 15
were private (...) In order to improve the chances of the
despatches successfully reaching Paris, the same despatch
was sent by several pigeons; one official despatch was
repeated 35 times and the later private despatches were
repeated on average 22 times. (...) The practice was the
send off the despatches not only by pigeons of the same
release but also of successive releases until Paris
signalled the arrival of those despatches.
"When the pigeon reached its particular loft in Paris,
its arrival was announced by a bell in the trap in the
loft. Immediately, a watchman relieved it of its tube
which was taken to the Central Telegraph Office where the
content was carefully unpacked and placed between two thin
sheets of glass. The photographs are said to have been
projected by magic lantern on to a screen where the
enlargement could be easily read and written down by a
team of clerks. This should certainly be true for the
microfilms but the earlier despatches on photographic
paper were read through microscopes.
"The transcribed messages were written out on forms
(telegraph forms for private messages, with or without the
special annotation 'pigeon' ) and so delivered. (...)
The first private messages got to their destinations
fairly quickly, but with the increasing volume of traffic
during and after November and the deterioration of the
weather from mid-December, from handing in to delivery
could easily span two months."
page 20
"The despatches
"The content of nearly every despatch, official and
private, which was photographed is known today. As has
already been said, the letterpress of each set of private
despatches was used to provide a permanent printed record
and a total of 580 pages were bound together in six
volumes, a set of which is in the Musee Postal. (...)
"The official despatches (...) were in a mixture of
numerical cypher and clear language (...) The greater
part of all the official despatches was in manuscript;
messages in manuscript could be produced more quickly than
in letterpress (...)
"Before leaving the official despatches , it is
appropriate to mention two bogus official despatches sent
by the Prussians. When the *Daguerre* fell within enemy
lines on 12th November, 6 pigeons were saved from the
Prussians and used to notify Paris of the loss of the
balloon. The remaining pigeons were caught by the
Prussians who later released 6 of them with messages
calculated to dismay Paris. One message was:
'Rouen 7 decembre. A gouvernement Paris -- Rouen occupe
par Prussians, qui marchent sur Cherbourg. Population
rural les acclame; deliberez. Orleans repris par ces
diables. Bourges et Tours menaces. Armee de la Loure
completement defaite. Resistance n'offre plus plus aucune
chance de salut, A Lavertujon'
"The pigeons reached Paris on 9th December going to
the loft of Nobecourt, whose father carried the message to
Rampont. The fraud was apparent; it was known that
Nobecourt had been captured and Lavertujon, a French
official, was actually in Paris. Another message in
similar terms arrived addressed to the editor of *Figaro.*
These messages were tied to the pigeons with ordinary
thread, whereas the French always used wax thread; further
evidence of the attempt at deception. The conclusion that
the message had come from the enemy was, however, scant
consolation for the bitterness of learning almost
immediately that they were partly true: Rouen and Orleans
were in Prussian hands."
page 30
"(((The pigeon post service))) permitted the
transmission of postal orders with a maximum value of 300
francs (...) 1,370 orders with a value of 190,000 francs
were sent by pigeon.
"(...) the use of *depeches responses.* The method of
operation was announced to the public inside and outside
Paris in a special supplement to No 7 of the *Gazette des
Absents* (one of the miniature newspapers published for
carriage out of Paris by balloon) and again in No 8. In a
letter written in Paris and addressed outside, a
correspondent could ask four questions, each capable of
being answered by a 'yes' or 'no.' With the letter would
go a card purchased at a post office for the price of the
5 centimes postage stamp affixed to it. The recipient of
the letter then entered in four columns his answers as
*oui* or *non* on the card, taking care to get the order
right, affixed a 1 franc postage stamp to the card, and
sent it to the designated post office.
(((The cards were sent to the microfilmist Dagron at
his labs in Tours and Bordeaux.))) The message,
consisting of the address, the ouis and nons transcribed
as o's and n's, and the replier's name, was included in a
page among messages in clear language, and the whole
photographed and, in due course, formed part of a
despatch. (...) There were about 30,000 messages so
abridged, representing about one-quarter of all the
private messages.
"Also included in the private despatches were messages
under the heading 'Services et Autorisations' which were
intended to be official messages (...) There were many
abuses and numerous messages which were so sent were
personal message from officials with access to the
service. Dagron himself sent many messages on behalf of
others; these can be recognized by the real sender's name
being followed by that of Dagron.
"The success of the pigeon post (...) did not pass
unnoticed by the military forces of the European powers
and in the years that followed the Franco-Prussian War
pigeon sections were established in their armies. The
advent of wireless communication led to a diminution of
their employment although in certain particular
applications pigeons provided the only method of
communication. But never again were pigeons called upon
to perform such a great public service as that which they
had maintained during the seige of Paris."
(((Dagron died in Paris on 13th June 1900 at the age
of 81.)))
Dead
Media | 0.01-02.0 | 02.1-04.0
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08.1-10.0 | 10.1-12.0 |