Lights of New York

Nikola Tesla, seventy-eight-year-old inventor, is a firm friend of New York's numerous pigeons. An ill or wounded pigeon is a challenge to him. When he encounters one in the street, he takes it to his room high in a midtown hotel and ministers to it. Sometimes he has as many as a dozen pigeons in his room at a time, some ill, some with broken legs or wings. So experienced is he in pigeon surgery that his careful ministrations have enabled many a bird to fly from his window after being under his care for weeks. In extreme cases, he seeks assistance from the best bird doctors in the city. But that is only a last resort. Skilled bird doctors are busy and Tesla believes that individual care brings better results. It is said that during the last few years, he has had under his care more than 10,000 pigeons. He also spends much time finding the owners of lost or crippled carriers.

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Tesla's love of pigeons goes back 7 years. A school boy in Jugo-Slavia, he was so thrilled with a beautiful pair of pigeons owned by his teacher that the schoolmaster gave them to him. Looking back on his long life, the man who was to become internationally known in electricity, holds that no gift-or-honor ever gave him more pleasure. For hours, he studied the play of light on the plumage of the two birds, finding in the colors endless combinations and each seemingly more beautiful than the others. Closing his eyes, he can still see that proud pair of pigeons mincing along in the sunlight. American pigeons cannot approach those of the Old world for brilliance of plumage, he holds. Nevertheless, he so loves all pigeons that he cares for those New York street pigeons that so often need human assistance.

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