University of South Carolina Libraries
? OUR TROPICAL COLONY. Porto Rico the Beneficiary of Profligate Dame Nature. OB PRODUCTS 0? THE ISLAUD. _ _ "Coffee, Whkh Is of a Very Floe Quality, Staads the list. With Sogar and Tobac? co Respectively Second and Third. Scone of th? Other ProStahle Crops. UL Bounteous nature certainly intended Porto Rico to be well, provided with, avery tropical prodnct of the vegetable kingdom if we may judge 0y the varie? ties of shrub and tree found there. It will be hardly possible to enumerate all, since there are doubtless many spe? cies, the peculiar virtues of which are as yet undiscovered. In the first place, our pharmacopoeias are deeply indebted to the tropics for many cf their staples, such as guaiacum, ipecacuanha, aloes, I rhubarb, etc., all of which grow in I Porto Rico. Then there are trees and shrubs valuable for their gums, as the "inammy, " copal and the great trees of the high forests, the exudations from which are used as incense. Plants, the bark, wood or fruits of which are used in dyeing and tanning are the mulberry, wild ginger, anatto, indigo, myrrh, mangrove and dividivi or caesalpi?ia. All these grow practi? cally in a -wild state, as also do the - castor bean, cotton and rice. The forests contain trees which have been sought for centuries as precious dye and cabinet woods, chief among which are the logwood and mahogany, tbe i former growing in the littoral forests, particularly in the islet of Vieques and the latter on the hills. To these must be added the fragrant cedar, such as the j Cuban cigar boxes ,are made from, the j laurel, walnut, oak, locust and many [ others. The mahogany of Cuba, Santo : Domingo and Porto Ki co is held in higher esteem than that from Honduras, and logs have been shipped in times past worth $5,000 each landed in Lon? don. We send abroad annually $2,000,000 each for indigo and cabinet woods, which this island can supply for many years to come, basing future estimates upon what it has produced in the past. For raw silk the chief of our govern? ment burean of statistics, Mr. Austin, says we send away $25,000,000 an- j anally. In the sheltered valleys of Por? to Rico's mountains the mulberry finds * congenial home, and the silkworm likewise. But these are merely'*byproducts." The real staples cf the island have not as yet been touched upon. These are to? bacco, sugar, coffee, of which the island produces, roughly estimated, 7,000, 000 pounds of the first, 70,000 tons of the second and 17,000 tons of the third. According to the Spanish "Estad?stica General del Comercio Exterior," pub? lished in 1897, Porto Rico exported $646,566 in tobacco, $3,747,891 in sugar ?nd $8,789,788 in coffee. So it would seem that coffee is the great staple. Peculiar conditions of soil, climate and altitude are necessary to the production ci perfect coffee, and these are net found in combination everywhere, even i in the tropics. According to our bureau cf statistics, in 1896 we imported 580,- j 598,000 pounds of coffee, of which near- ; ly 4,000,000 pounds came from Brazil, : 50,000,000 from Venezuela, 38,000,000 from Central America, 24,000,000 from ! Mexico, about 19,000,000 each from Colombia and the West Indies and 32, 000,000 from "all other countries." Arabia, the ancient home of the aro ?attic berry, is not mentioned, and but ?small quantity came from Sumatra and none from Java. The coffee of Porto Rico ranks with the best, and, though tbis may seem a reflection upon our tastes, that is the reason it goes abroad and is not com- ; mon in our marts. The finest coffee plantations, and there are more than 1,200 in all in Porto Rico, are in the interior and the southern and western portions of the island, located, as a rule, above an altitude of 600 feet, where the heat of the lowlands is not felt, where tree ferns and bamboos wave their luxuriant fronds, where streams flow through tree shaded valleys and where the diseases of the littoral region tarely penetrate. The coffee tree is a render plant,requir? ing at first shade and protection from the winds, and these are afforded by planting rows of bananas and plantains for the first and windbreaks of large; | trees for tbe second. Coffee will begin j to bear in about three years and con? tinue to increase its yield for a dozen years thereafter, lasting perhaps a gen ?ration. Planted at a distance of 20 or i0 feet apart, the spaces between tho ?rees may be ntilized for vegetables, such as ^eddoes, yams and sweet pota? toes, while the sheltering banana plants themselves will yield a crop of fruit the second year, bufcshouM uct be allowed to remain after thc io::r:h year. A cultivation which has received comparatively little attention in this island is that of the cacao, the tree pro? ducing the chocolate bean, but condi? tions here are most favorable for its pei fect growth, and. like coffee, it flour? ishes in the hills and moist valleys. For every pound of chocolate used in the United States we havs to send abroad. That its manufacture, if not its cultivation, is profitable, we have but toread the advertisements of various dealers to ascertain. French and Dutch, as well as American packers of choco? late, have made fortunes, and the de? mand for it constantly ^creases. It is indigenous to the American tropics, as its name, derived from the Aztec "chocolatl," indicates. The cacao attains a height of 20 or 30 feet, comes to maturity at about the same age as coffee and yields abun? dantly. It may be grown on rocky hill? sides, where nothing else excepting coffee perhaps could get a foothold, and delights in the warm, moist valleys of the coast region. At least one island in :o SENORITA. ? the West Indies, that of Grenada, has been raised from poverty to compara? tive affluence by the abandonment of sugar as an exclusive cultivation and the substitution of cacao. I The same locations are also favorable to the growth of all the native spices, as well as those long since introduced, such as cinnamon, nutmeg and pimenta Vanilla will grow in the damp forests, and ginger, citron and arrowroot may be cultivated profitably. The last named has made the fortune of many a farmer in Bermuda and St Vincent, and there is no reason why it will not do as well in this island. Like the native cassava, from which flour and cassareep are ob? tained, the arrowroot grows best in the fertile soil of the many steep acclivities. It is estimated that our imports of fruits and nuts, "nearly all of them of tropical growth and many of them from these very islands," amount to $17, 000,000 per year; of fibers (jute, sisal hemp, etc.), about $12,000,000, and of cacao, $3,000,000. The fibers can be produced, in such barren spots as the Bahamas and Yucatan, where the soil is too poor lor anything else, and it is doubtful if they could be made a profit? able cultivation in this island. But rice, of which we import; to the amount of $2,000,000 annually, grows weil, though most of it is of the so called "mountain variety" and is consumed here. Two of the great staples, sugar and tobacco, should not be overlooked, though it is believed that lands suita? ble fer their cultivation have been mainly occupied. Sugar i s at its best in the coastal lowlands. It was introduced early in the sixteenth century, probably from the Canaries, and has found here as congenial a home as in Cuba, and the methods of cultivation and manu? facture are the same. There are more "trapiches de buey"-ox or bullock mill??-run by natives of small means than there are vast "haciendas" and "ingenios," as in Cuba. There is, of course, no region like the famed Vuelta Abajo of Cuba for the raising of high grade tobacco, but the "weed" of Porto Rico is said to press it close in quality. The peculiar soil of the Abajo is found here in many rich valleys, such as Palmas, Cagnas and Cidra, and the climatic conditions are similar and favorable. As most of the tobacco raised on the 200 "estanoios" goes to Cuba, there is more than a sus? picion that Porto Rico's product may be found incorporated in not a few of those "genuine havanas" for which the gilded youth of our country pay fabu? lous prioes. To recapitulate the chief products of Porto Rioo and their zones of cultiva? tion : Along the coast are the cocoa palm, pineapple, banana, near3y all tropical fruits and vegetables. The palm will bear in six or seven years from plant? ing, and continue at least 60. The sugar cane, like the banana, flourishes in this zone as far up as a thousand meters above sea level. Under favorable conditions it matures in from II to 14 months, and reproduces itself daring five years thereafter. The cotton plant flourishes within the same belt, produces in from seven to nine months, and endures for three or four years. The yucca is likewise in the coast belt, living for years. Maize, found everywhere up to 3,000 reet above the sea, ripens in from three to five months and must be planted an? nually. . Tobacco, which flourishes within the same area, also requires annual plant? ing and matures in from four to six months. Coffee and cacao flourish anywhere above 500 feet The latter is best at ? 1,000 or 1,500. It requires three or four j years for first fruits, and endures for 40 yena, cr tbe average length of man's life. FREDERICK A. OBKB. ON A BIKE BUILT FOR TWO. And the Startline News Was Kot Known Until Afterward. A cyclist whom we will call Baxter j was strolling along the avenue when he I noticed a pretty girl in a neat cycling costume standing by a tandem. She had her back turned to him, but he saw she wore a trim costume, had a neat ankle and a nicely arranged lot of hair. Bax? ter is very particular about a girl's hair. This girl looked so attractive that he paused. There was something pa? thetic in her attitude, he thought. Was she waiting for a cavalier to join her on the tandem? A wild idea entered Baxter's head. He would do a daring thing. H8 walked up to the girl. She turned a frank, merry face on him as I he approached. I "Pardon me," he laughingly said, "but are you locking for an accompa? nist?1' and he pointed to the tandem. . "Well," she smilingly answered, "now that you mention it, I guess I am." A moment later they wera whirling up the street When it began to grow dark, they turned back. "My tandem?" cried the girl. " Why, it isn't my tandem." "Not your tandem?" shouted Baxter. "Whose is it, then?" "Why," said the girl, "I thought it was yours." "Heavens, no!" groaned Baxter. "But you acted as if it was yours," said the girl. "What shall we do?" moaned the girl. "Take it back," said Baxter. So they rode back in silence, and when they were about a block away the girl said : "I guess I'll stop here." Leaving the tandem as near to the place where he saw it as he could, he scuttled away in the darkness.-Cycling Gazette. TWO HUMOROUS BROTHERS. They Won Wagers on the Strength of j Their Own Homeliness. Many years ago there were two broth? ers, named Joel and Jonathan, who were famous throughout Wayne county, Ind., because they were both such frights. One day they were on their way to Cincinnati by w*igon in the days of the old canal. The wagon was of the covered variety, and only Joel was visible to the natural eye as the vehicle plunged into and out of the chuck holes that infested the way. Joel was said to be the next to the ugliest man in all the country round, and his brother took precedence. The two brothers met a stranger, who, attracted by the supremely homely face of Joel, stopped his horse and said: "Excuse me, my friend, but would you mind tellin rae your name?" In a sepulchral tone that fitted well the hideous face Joel replied: "Well, ? guess I hain't never done nothin that would make me ashamed to tell my name. My name is Joel" "Where do you live, if it is a fair question?" "I live in Wayne county, Indianny. " "Well, stranger, I've seen much of Indianny, but I'll bet you $10 that you're the ugliest man in the state." "Well, I hain't no gambun man/' replied Joel, "but I hain't never ?een nothin in the Scriptur' ag'in bettin on a sure thing, an I'll jest take t?iat bet." Turning to the wagon cover and peer? ing into its depths he called: "Jonathan, stick your head out hyer. " Jonathan did as he was requested. The stranger paid the money without a word of complaint.-New York Mail and Express. He Got His Leave. The Rev. Robert Nourse relates thi3 ! story in The Congregationalist: On a certain Sunday morning the or? derly of the colonel of the Eighth Ohio presented himself before that officer. "Everything all right, colonel?" he asked. After looking around and find? ing that the tent had been put in order and his boots blacked he replied in the affirmative. "I have a favor to ask, " said the orderly. "State it," said the colonel. "I beg that I may go off today, colonel, and go a little earlier and re? main a little later." "For what rea? sons?" demanded the colonel. The or? derly produced a letter and said, "Sir, I have received this from the president, and he invites me to dine at the White House." The president of the United States is in every way to be ranked among the great rulers of the world. But the gen? uine and unaffected democracy of the man who now holds that exalted office is shown in this incident, which could not be paralleled in any other country in the world. Santiago's Distinction. Santiago de Cuba has an ecclesias? tical distinction, and that is that it is the oldest bishopric in the western world. When all Pennsylvania was a traceless waste, an archbishop ruled a see of no mean proportions from that city and under that title. From the city of Santiago also went out the two great missionaries to the Indians and negroes, the first, Las Casas, who evangelized nearly all Central America, and the second, St. Peter Claver, who worked among the negroes cf Brazil. Philadelphia Call. | Millionaires' Street. The latest census proves that in up? per Fifth avenue there is a stretch of houses a mile and a half loug that con? tains dozens of millionaires. It is for its length the highest socially, the most architecturally handsome ? and by far the most wealthy street in the world. New York Telegram. Mrs. J. M. Bull, wife of the pastor of the Methodist Episcopal church at Worthington. Minn., supplied the pul? pit on a recent Sunday in the absence of her husband. The first baby gets its photograph taken every three months. The other babies are lucky to get their? taken once in three years.-Bachelor. THE PHILIPPINE MINES. Odd Reasons Why They Have Never Been Developed. TO DISTURB THE EARTH A SUT. That Is tb?? Belief of Many Residents of the Philippines-Rich Coal and Iron Mines-Why the Gold Mines Have Never Been Worked-The Thrifty Chinese. IV. While Spanish apathy and misrule have done much to prevent the develop? ment of the mineral resources of the Philippines other causes have contrib? uted a powerful influence toward the same end. Many native tribes are cos molaters and believe it to be a morta1 sin to disturb the earth. Other tribes are devil or spirit worshipers, and fear to incur ghostly wrath by opening the ground. The Chinese come chiefly from the Amoy and Canton districts, where all the open country is a graveyard in which it is a crime to injure a grave, not to speak of the vengeance of the . phantom dwellers of the tombs. The friars oppose mining in the view that it. would demoralize their parishioners. Thus, although the evidences of min? eral wealth are everywhere, practically and almost literally nothing has been done toward its utilization. The rock formation of the archipelago is volcanic, sedimentary and coralline. Among the volcanic class are basalt, obsidian, lava, tufa, sulphur and ar? senic. Not 25 years ago Sir John Bow X ATI VE WOMEN OF LCZOX. ring examined the sulphur deposits of Taal, not far from Cavite, and de? clared them of excellent quality. Dr. Kato pronounced them as capable of yielding 500, OOO tons of sulphur at a fair profit. They are utilized by the na? tives only, the Spanish authoriti- cav? ing refused any concession to open up the property. Among valuable sedimentary rocks are marble, white, yellow and mottled, gypsum and alabaster, iron ore, lignite, brown coal, cement rock, slate, lime? stone and sandstone. The gypsum is ! quite pure and yields a first class plas j ter of paris. The alabaster varies in color, ranging from white into several pleasant tints. The iron ore is of vari? ous kinds. A deposit at Zebu is largely pyrites and is well suited for making sulphur and oil of vitriol. In Negros and southern Luzon are fine beds of I limonite, or bog iron ere, and hematite, ! or red iron ore. They are quite free from sulphur and phosphorus. In Mo? rong is a wonderful bed of rich iron ore I resembling the magnetite of Lake j Champlain. At' Angot is one of the i richest iron ores known. It approaches the Jnragua ore of eastern Cuba and is i noted for its purity. The supply seems inexhaustible. The mines were once worked by an English concern, which figured out a profit of 50 per cent per j annum upon a capital of not less than i i $100,000. But they did not know the I country. What with sedulas and special taxes, inspectors and assessors, military commanders and half caste politicians, transit duties and export taxes the profit was turned to loss. Then when they closed their works temporarily, hoping to obtain relief, the workmen and sol diera stole all the stock, the machinery and, piece by piece, the buildings them? selves. Complaint was made to the gov? ernor general, who promptly and polite? ly ordered an investigation. This was over 50 years ago, and the investigation is still going on. The mines are now worked by natives, who make enough in one day to support them a week. Respecting lignite and coal, opinions are so various that no judgment can be given until a thorough geological survey has been mada There are millions of tons of both fuels in Luzon, Mindanao, | Negros, Panay and especially Zebu. At j Zebu they crop out upon the surface and ; have been used by the inhabitants for cooking purposes from time immemo- j rial. While there is no doubt as to the j quantity, there is much as to the qual- j itv of the coal. In Manila Spanish pro- ! moters exhibit first class specimens of | anthracite, semibituminous, bituminous ! and brown coal, but every report from j British, German aud Scandinavian en? gineers who have used native ocal in j their steamer furnaces ?3 that it con- j tains so much slag, sulphur and phos- ] phorus as to make it dear at any price, j The local Spanish steamers use it and | pronounce it satisfactory, and the Span- ! ish navy uses it in those waters. As, j however, coal is carried to the Philip- ; pine ports from Borneo and Australia, it may be inferred that the mines which are worked do not furnish a good arti? cle, yet it does not follow that all of the beds are alike. On tho contrary, it is probable that they are unlike and that there are deposit? of coal equal to the ?amples shown by speculators. Petroleum exists and is found in Lu- ? zon and Mindanao. It is utilized by the natives for medicinal purposes aud for household ose. but not iudo6triallv. i A good cement rock is common. It makes a brown cement equal to ?ose dale. but inferior to Portland. Among the metals which hare been ?ennd are quicksilver, tin. zinc, lead, copper and platinum. These have been discovered by mineralogists. Wheiher they exist in paying quantities is un? known. I Gold, the curse of Spain, is believed j to exist in large quantities throughout the islands. Under any other adminis j tration it would be the basis of a flour? ishing industry and in every prcbabil j ity the source of vast wealth. But the I Spaniards will not work themselves, ? nor permit foreigners to come in and j carry off the profit. The Visayas are j too intractable, the Negritos too savage and the Tagals too poor and indolent to engage in the hard labor of mining. Chinese labor is excluded by law. So the mines remain undeveloped. The only men who profit by the mineral re? sources are the thrifty Chinese, who go about the archipelago and obtain gold dust and nuggets from the natives when no Spaniard is in sight. Yet even under these auspices a steady stream of gold flows from the Philippines to Hongkong and to Canton. In northern Luzon there is a ledge of gold bearing quartz which is worked by the natives. They build a fire on the rock, and when it is nearly red hot they throw water upon the surface, which immediately cracks and crumbles. The brittle pieces secured in this way they pound between two stones until reduced to dust and then wash the latter to obtain the finely di? vided gold distributed in the powder. It is very slow and laborious work, and yet it supports several Tagal tribes and a number of Visaya communities. The industry has been going on for at least 200 years, and although constantly in? terrupted by soldiers and other inspect? ors it gives enough profit to insure its continuance indefinitely. The Spanish law prohibits all mining without .first indulging in a large amount cf red tape. The miner must locate his claim and have it surveyed. As there are no official surveyors in the mining country this compels his send? ing to Manila for a professional. The map and claim must then be submitted to the department of mines and forests and to the bureau of mines. The pro? ceeding is slow aud expensive. Besides these difficulties the claimant is liable to have some dishonest official or un? scrupulous half caste politician file a protest for claim of prier discovery or some church follower bring forward an ecclesiastical title to the territory. If the mine is in the least valuable, there is bound to be one or more lawsuits, and justice iu the Philippines is not bandaged, but is afflicted with a vision which sees only the color of gold. How much gold there is in the Phil? ippines will never be known until a different government controls the terri? tory. All that is certainly known is this : First, there are at least 500 square miles where there is placer gold, and, second, there are 50 places where gold bearing quartz in true fissure veins has been discovered and traced from 5 feet to 500 feet each. The ledge worked by the natives in north Luzon has been ex? amined by English assayers in Hong: kong and found to range from ?10 to $ 100 a ton. An American mining expert has assayed an ore from Mindanao and reported it as running $250 to the ton. Among the places where gold in paying quantities has been discovered is Para cale, in the province of north Cama? rines. Here no less than six veins have been found and traced considerable dis? tances. There is a large vein at Pangot cotau, in the province of Benguet. Third, the mines in north Pangasinan. There are both placer and quartz mines in the Malaguit mountains, in north Camarines ; placer mines at Mont Alban I in Manila province; fine gold veins in northern and central Suragaoand, in east Mindanao; auriferous and argentif? erous quartz in Zebu ; gold quartz in Negros island, and placer mines in Panay. There appear to be large de? posits of petroleum in the subterranean depths of Luzon, Panay and Mindanao. There are also silver, quicksilver, lead A PAS1G I?IVEU WASHERWOMAN. and copper at various places in the archipelago. Every scientist who has visited the Philippines has proclaimed his belief in a great mining future for the islands, and the Chinese yellow books refer to Lu^on as a land rich in precious metals. At one time the Chi? nese and half castes worked many mines in northern Luzon, but in every in? stance they were attacked and slaugb tered by soldiers at the instigation of some covetous official. These are some of the resources of the Philippines which Providence has put into the hands, of the United States. VVlTJJAM E. S. F ALES. Old Sewinp Machines made new at Ridel's --mammy- -ai - If yoa want your macbioe csade cew ; rir g it to Randie. EATING IX GERMANY. THE SARCASMS OF A VICTIM WHO SURVIVED ITS CHARMS. He Kick? All the Way Down the Bill of Fare and Is Particularly Irritated Over a Dish of Powdered Horse Kadish Served Witt Frozen Whipped Cream. When you have examined the con? stitution of the German cuisine, you are tempted to grow loquacious. You are conscious of having discovered that the psychology of a nation cannot be ! constructed upon a mere analysis of its ? made dishes. Your estimate of Brillat ! Savarin sinks. Ce could not tell you what you are, even from all the menus of your lifetime. Freiligrath's philo? sophic conclusion that "man is what j he eats" you straightway qualify as true only when referring to cannibal? ism. And you will aver that only in the case of paleolithic man can you construct a man from the crumbs that fall from his dinner table. And this you will waut to prove, and conse? quently will grow talkative with pre? senting of much evidence. And yet, in your sane moments, "you will have a sneaking affection for the statement that a German is a German because he eats what he eats. As a gen? eral rule he may be said to eat five times a day. But his hunger is con? stantly being stilled. He starts early in the day with a cup of cafe au lait and a small buttered roll. This keeps him going till ll o'clock, when he demolishes a slice of buttered rye bread spread with slices of hard boiled egg, raw chopped beef or cheese. This 1 rashes down with a glass of ale, thu*: stilling his inner man till dinner time. Dinner takes place to? ward 1 o'clock and consists of soup (generally nourishing), a plate of meat, with potatoes and fruit (eranberries, prunes or apricots), occasionally cheese, seldom sweets, rarely a green vegetable. Three hours later coifee is taken, serged with a piece of cake or thick bread and butter. This is the hour pre? cious to the gossip and the busybody, the time for spreading scandal. Toward 8 o'clock the appetite again asserts itself. The hour of the ubiquitous sau? sages has arrived. Their name is legion, and they share the honors with slices of ham, smoked goose breast, pieces of raw pickled herring, and in summer hard boiled eggs and potato salad. Such is the German method of spread? ing the meals over the day. Of course there are exceptions. Many families have two ample meals a day, but the bulk of the population eats mostly but? tered bread and snacks. In justice to Germany one must say that the fare in many a home will compare favorably with that of many an American family. In the German restaurant the cuisine is on the whole monotonous and the food singularly insipid. All meats seem to have the same flavor, all are served with the same heavy, viscous sauces, and invariably escorted with the same soaplike potatoes. Stodginess and heavi? ness are the great blots on the German fare. The element of variety, too, seems I considered superfluous. In the concrete the subject is almost foo painful to face, the difficulty being to steer clear of exclamations denoting positive offensiveness. Some of the kickshaws which figure regularly upon the German tableare reputed to be most sustaining. They certainly are intense? ly and ostentatiously wonder inspiring. One preparation is everywhere met with under the name (more or less pho? netically spelled) of beefsteak a la tar tare. Its basis is raw chopped beef; this, spread cut into a pat of elliptical shape, is crowned with the raw yolk of an egg, raw finely chopped onion is sprinkled over it, a garniture of gher? kins is added, and the whole is eaten with much gusto and no worse conse? quences than a durable thirst In many of the dishes you discover j all the humor, feeling and imagination j of a Wagnerian composition. You find the resolute desire to build up harmony i upon discord. Of this nature may be ; considered the traditional menu of New Year's eve, carp, pancake and punch. These three, brought into immediate juxtaposition and consumed in plethoric quantities, generally have the desired effect-that of inducing a hysterical good humor. For stodginess notbing beats the fa? vorito dish, panache. It consists of pickled pork, sour cabbage and a puree of split peas boiled down to the con? sistency of stiff dough. Experiments on this mass produce deplorable capers and cause one to grunt mournfully. A va? riety of this diet is found in Berlin. You substitute boiled balls of dough and indifferent prunes for the peas and. cabbage, and you have the dish popu? larly termed "the Silesian kingdom of heaven.'* Cold eels, imbedded in a translucid, glutinous substance, figure in all workmen's taverns, while roast goose is de rigueur for all solemnities. A dainty which we have recently met with in Berlin recalled Darwin's * remark that "hardly any experiment is so absurd as not to be worth trying." It consisted of finely powdered horse radisb served up with frozen whipped " cream One may sam up one's judgment by saying of German cooking what the art critic said of narure. "It has infinite potentialities." Not the least of tbese is its ambition to discover victims that survive its charms only in the form that the walls of Jericho survived the trumpet blast of Joshua.- Lippincott's Magazine. Protected Carrier Pigeons. Carrier pigeons in China are protect? ed from birds of prey by a little appa? ratus consisting of thin bamboo tubes fastened to the birds' bodies with thread passed beneath the wings. As the pigeon flies along the action of the air through ^ the tubes produces a shrill whistling sound, whioh keeps birds of prey at a respectful distance.