Viewing page 59 of 179

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

75

[[newspaper clipping]]

Galveston Daily N
GALVESTON, TEXAS, MONDAY, MARCH 18, 1912-TEN PAGES

AERIAL POST IS PROVED A SUCCESS
[[line]]
AVIATOR STUDENSKY CARRIES BAG OF MAIL TO LA MARQUE POSTOFFICE.
[[line]]
3,000 PEOPLE SEE FLIGHTS
[[line]]
First Aerial Postal Service in the South Draws Large Crowds-Twelve Hundred Pieces of Mail Carried.
[[line]]
Aviation at Galveston assumed new importance Sunday afternoon, when Paul Studensky in the Curtiss type biplane designed and built by Lester V. Bratton made a successful flight with a pouch of United States mail from the aviation field to La Marque and safely delivered the mail into the hands of Postmaster Bogatto at that station. This is said to be the first aerial postal service to be established in the South and attracted much attention from citizens of Galveston, as well as from other parts of the state. 
The gates at the grounds of the National School of Aviation were opened Sunday afternoon at 1 o'clock and within a short time fully 2,500 people were inside the grounds. The people came on the street cars, in automobiles and in vehicles of all kinds. The baseball game at Beach Park between the Sandcrabs and the New York Giants seemed an unimportant matter as compared with an aviation meet in which the now well known Paul Studensky would make several flights, drop imaginary bombs at an imaginary battleship, execute all the fancy dips, curves, volplanes and other maneuvers of a skilled aviator and finally, with a bag of United States first class mail, fly across Galveston Bay and land the mail at the La Marque post office. 
[[bold]]The Attraction of the Day.[[/bold]]
This mail-carrying stunt was easily the attraction of the afternoon and the more than three thousand people who entered the grounds came more to see this one feat than all the other maneuvers, contests, and races that had been announced. A special postal station had been established within the aviation grounds by Postmaster H. A. Griffin, which was in charge of Postal Clerk Shirley Forsgard. Postcards showing the little Curtiss type biplane in which Studensky was to make the mail-carrying flight, the special aerial postal station and Aviator Studensky in the act of re-
[[end of left column]]
[[begin center column]]
ceiving a bag of mail from the hands of a postal clerk were sold on the ground and many visitors availed themselves of this opportunity of sending some mail matter to their friends and relatives in other parts of the state, in other states or even in other countries, by the first aerial postal service to be established in the South. From the time the gates were opened to the time the mail bag was closed at 3:30 o'clock there was a constant stream of people purchasing postcards and stamps and writing brief messages. The several improvised tables used as writing desks were always crowded with those writing messages. A special stamp bearing the words "Galveston, Tex., U. S. Aerial Mail, March 17, 1912." was placed on each piece of mail which went into the bag that Studensky carried. 
The program as scheduled in advance called for the departure of Studensky with the mail at 3:30 p. m., but on account of several delays he did not make his get-away with the mail sack until after 4 o'clock. At 3:30 the mail bag was closed at the special aerial postal station and taken in charge by Postmaster H. A. Griffin and carried to the machine which was then standing in front of the grandstand. Here, with appropriate ceremony, he delivered the bag of mail personally into the hands of Aviator Studensky and gave final instructions as to its delivery. Kodak men and camera fiends were numerous at the time of this delivery, and it is to be doubted if any man other than "Teddy" has been shot at more times than Aviator Studensky without being hurt. The plucky little aviator says he feels real famous to see so many kodaks and cameras pointed toward him. 
[[bold]]1,200 Pieces of Mail.[[/bold]]
The mail bag when closed at the special aerial station contained something more than 1,200 pieces of first-class mail matter, principally postcards mailed by those in the grounds. This amount of mail matter, together with the bag in which it was contained [[hole in paper]] thirty or thirty-five pounds [[hole in paper]] curely tied, on the machine [[hole in paper]] the aviator's seat, in such a way that it would not interfere with the operation of the controls. The machine was then rolled by the mechanics and helpers to the west end of the aviation field and all was in readiness for the first flight in the South with pieces of United States mail matter. 
The first start of Studensky did not prove successful, as he failed to get sufficient momentum to rise from the ground high enough to clear the hangar at the east end of the field. He shut his engine off as soon as he saw he could not clear the hangar and stopped the machine near the east fence. The machine was again rolled to the west end of the field and a second start was made. This time the aviator rose from the ground, and, clearing the hangar about twenty feet, flew away to the east, circling over the city to the north. Turning about over the interurban tracks he made another circle immediately over the field, all the while climbing higher and higher. As he passed over the field the second time he was flying at an altitude of about 1,500 or 2,000 feet. Swinging to the westward again after he had passed over the field, the little biplane was headed northwest and the flight to La Marque was begun. 
[[bold]]Delivered at La Marque.[[/bold]]
A party of men from the National Aviation School had gone out on the day before and had selected a spot near La Marque at which a landing could be made
[[end of center column]]
[[begin right column]]
[[image labeled "Southern Aerial Mail" Studensky being handed mail bag by Griffen]]
and had marked this spot so that it could be found by the aviator. As he flew away toward this sport all eyes watched him eagerly to see that he did not lose the precious United States mail. Many who had heard Postmaster Griffin's parting instructions to the aviator, "Deliver the mail into the hands of the postmaster at La Marque, but in your flight, if anything goes wrong with your machine, throw the mail overboard and save yourself," were watching to see if anything was going wrong with the machine. The wind seemed somewhat treacherous, and they were afraid that with the extra load the plucky little aviator could not make the flight. However, the machine kept going into the northwest, all the while growing smaller and smaller until it appeared a mere speck in the distance and finally was lost to view altogether. 
As the last speck of the machine disappeared from view in the distance many of the spectators left the grounds, but others remained to see his return. After landing the mail he returned to the field, making his landing before 6 o'clock, having been gone shortly more than thirty minutes. Thus was the first "Southern aerial postal service," and it was pronounced an entire success by all who saw the flight. 
[[bold]]Dropping Imaginary Bombs.[[/bold]]
Before the mail-carrying flight Studensky made an exhibition flight over the field, during which he dropped baseballs at a target on the ground. The baseballs were imaginary bombs dropped at an imaginary battleship, and had the target been as large as a battleship it would doubtless have been blown to atoms. Studensky rose from the field, flying straight away toward the east into the teeth of the wind until he had attained an altitude of perhaps 1,000 or 1,200 feet. He then circled to the northward over the city and back to the west of the field. Making a straight flight over the field he passed over the target, which was a piece of canvas spread on the ground dropped two baseballs. One ball struck within ten yards of the target and the other within twenty yards. The target was only a small piece of canvas, about the size of an ordinary wagon sheet. The balls fell in line with the target and his flight, and had the wind been blowing a strong gale they would likely have struck the target. Circling the field once more, Studensky made a landing at the west end of the field. This was the only flight of the afternoon other than the mail-carrying flight made later in the afternoon. 
The wind was treacherous, bowing in little gusts, which made the machines rock and roll in the air. This fact accounts for the failure of the other aviators to venture up during the afternoon. The crowd was somewhat disappointed that they did not see the big Beech-Farman biplane, said to be the largest heavier-than-air machine ever flown in America, but with the splendid flights of Studensky they could not complain. 
In connection with the race to be pulled off next Sunday from Houston to Galveston between a locomotive, an automobile, a motor cycle and an aeroplane, it is planned by National Aviation School to have Aviator De Kor, who is to pilot the air craft in this race, to land in their field on the Denver Resurvey. The matter has been taken up with Aviator De Kor, but as yet no agreement has been reached. 
[[line]]

Transcription Notes:
mandc: "toward this sport" should be "toward this spot;" "bowing" = blowing in little gusts" The photo appears to be an actual photograph perhaps pasted over a photo printed in the newspaper, as there is no break in the article's text.