ality.

The result has always been the same: the moment they are released they
circle round and round for a time, as if trying to make out their
bearings, and then fly off straight for home.

This attribute has made them of great value to man in many ways.

In times of war, messages have been sent by their aid.

A man has made his way out of a besieged city, taking one of the birds
with him, and by its aid has been able to send word back that he has
reached his friends and will bring the needed help.

The Emperor of Germany has just got himself into trouble over
carrier-pigeons.

Wishing to see for how long a distance they could be relied on in case
of war, he sent a messenger over to England, who carried with him a
great number of these clever birds.

They were all marked so that they could be recognized, and on the shores
of Dover, England, they were set free. Six hours after they had all
found their way back to Duesseldorf, Germany.

The despatching of these birds attracted the attention of the English
people about Dover, and when it was discovered that they were the
property of the Emperor of Germany there was a good deal of talk over
it.

The English people are always afraid that some foreign nation is going
to try and invade their country, and imagining there was some deep and
dark foreign plot underlying the pigeon-flying, they demanded of the
authorities if the German Emperor had obtained permission to fly his
birds.

When it was found that permission had neither been asked nor accorded,
the fear of a plot grew so strong that the matter was finally carried to
the House of Commons, and an explanation demanded.

The Under Secretary of War stated that the subject was already under
consideration.

* * * * *

A rock covered with curious characters has recently been discovered in
Mexico, in the mountains of the Magdalena district, state of Sonora.

The characters appeared to resemble the Chinese so closely that a
well-educated Chinaman was asked to go to see the rock and give his
opinion about it.

He had no sooner looked at it than he declared it to be a veritable
Chinese inscription. He made a copy of it, and has already translated
enough to show that the writing was cut in the stone about two thousand
years ago.

There are ten lines of characters on the parts of the rock exposed to
view.

The Chinaman who translated the inscription said it was an account of a
C