60 LIFE OF TEGETMEIER 



enlisted the aid of pigeon-flying friends in 

 Belgium, and after considerable work succeeded 

 in arranging for the first great pigeon race from 

 the Crystal Palace to the Belgian capital, on 

 June 24th, 1871. The event aroused widespread 

 interest, and the following year he undertook 

 the management of two great pigeon " tosses " 

 from the Palace — one to Brussels, the other, 

 the " All England " race, the latter being a 

 combined show and race. The birds were divided 

 into classes in accordance with the distance their 

 owners lived from Sydenham, up to twenty-five 

 miles, 25 to 50, 50 to 100, 100 to 150, and so 

 on : and all birds whose lofts were within thirty 

 miles of the Palace were exhibited and judged 

 before the " toss." The several classes were 

 released separately, each lot of birds being started 

 as soon as the sky was clear of the former class, 

 as it had been found that when a very large 

 number of pigeons took the air together they 

 got in each other's way and " got off ' badly ; 

 and rapid journeying was the great point in the 

 favour of the pigeon that Tegetmeier desired to 

 bring home to the public. 



Continually he urged the use of pigeons for 

 military purposes in this country, as they were 

 used by the other nations of Europe. He lectured 

 in 1876 on the subject before the Royal Engineers' 

 Institute at Chatham, showing what had been 

 done with pigeons in this direction, and what 



