Telegram to John Jordan, September 5, 1918

Captain Benjamin B. Lipsner, superintendent Division of Aerial Mail, brings John A. Jordan up to date on the departures of pilots Max Miller and Edward V. “Turk” Gardner from Belmont Park, Long Island, New York. In Chicago, Lipsner wires the Western Union telegram to Jordan via the postmaster at Bryan, Ohio. This is the first day of the New York to Chicago pathfinder flights, September 5, 1918.

Miller leaves close to scheduled time [7:08 a.m. rather than 6:00 a.m.] while Gardner is delayed due to a broken gas pump [leaves at 8:50 a.m.]. Lipsner advises Jordan to remain where he is until further notice and to “look up several good mechanics to be on hand.”

John A. Jordan, a special representative of the Post Office Department, was in Bryan to secure an agreement with Mrs. Alice Willett for a lease of 50 acres of her farm as a landing field for an airmail station. The purchase of land would occur later.

Reference:

Jones, A.D. Aerial Mail Service: A Chronology of the Early United States Government Air Mail March. Mineola, NY: American Air Mail Society, 1993.

Where this page came from

This page was imported from Smithsonian National Postal Museum. Released by the Smithsonian Institution under CC0 through Smithsonian Open Access.

Nobody has written it yet — it is the source material at a new address, which is why search engines are asked to skip it and why no one earns from it. It is up for grabs: take it on, and it is yours to rewrite and to earn from.