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[[three newspaper clippings]]

[[top clipping]]
Aviation Meet!
WILL BE HELD AT NATIONAL AEROPLANE COMPANY GROUNDS,
GALVESTON
Sunday, March 17
5 - Aeroplanes - 5
WILL BE ON EXHIBITION.
Aviator Paul Studensky Will Carry United States Mail.
GENERAL ADMISSION........25ยข
Children Free Only When Accompanied by an Adult.
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[[/top clipping]]

[[left clipping]]
AVIATION MEET
[[short line]]

All In Readiness for Exhibition of Birdmen Sunday---Bomb Throwing Competition and Aerial Post Features.
[[short line]]

The extensive preparations which have been in progress for the aviation meet to be held at the grounds of the National Aeroplane Company Sunday afternoon are now completed, and all is in readiness for what is expected to be an exhibition of aerial navigation of greater magnitude than any which has yet been held in Galveston. The meet will be unique for the South in at least two particulars, the mail carrying flight and the bomb throwing competition which have been arranged as features of the program.

Aviator Paul Studensky in a Curtiss type biplane and Aviator J. Hector Worden in the monster Beech-Farman biplane, which is said to be the largest flying machine in America, will be the principal performers of the afternoon. The machines have been placed in excellent condition for the exhibition flights, and some spectacular work on the part of the two birdmen may be expected. 

The bomb throwing contest is to be an interesting part of the meet, as this is one of the uses to which modern aeroplanes will be first put in the event of their being utilized as fighting craft in warfare. The bomb throwing will consist of aviators flying over the field and dropping baseballs or oranges at a mark on the ground. Howard Linn, president of the company, has arranged to award a prize of some magnitude to the aviator of his company who makes the best record in bomb throwing for the season, and scores of all contests in this line will be kept hereafter.
 
The aerial post, which is to conclude the program, is to be, of course, the biggest feature of the meet. All arrangements have been completed with the postal authorities, and promptly at 3:30 o'clock Aviator Studensky will rise from the field with the first bag of United States mail ever carried by an air route in the South. The bag will be carried to some spot on the mainland and will there be dropped by Aviator Studensky, to be taken to the nearest postoffice and distributed for the usual rail delivery. Employees of the Galveston postoffice department will be on the ground to receive the mail, to cancel it with a special stamp, and place it in the bag for the flight. The special stamp which has been prepared bears the legend, "Galveston, Tex. - U. S. Aerial Mail - March 17, 1912." Special souvenir post cards have been printed for the occasion, and will be on sale at the grounds for the convenience of those who wish to send messages to friends by the aerial route. 

The program for the day will be as follows: Gates open 1 o'clock; fancy flying, 2:30 o'clock; bomb throwing competition, 3 o'clock; departure of Studensky with mail, 3:30 o'clock. 
[[/left clipping]]

[[right clipping]]
FIRST AERIAL POST
[[short line]]

Plans Completed for Aviation Exhibition Sunday, to be Terminated by Cross-Country Mail Carrying Feat.
[[short line]]

Plans for the aviation meet to be held Sunday afternoon at the grounds of the National Aeroplane Company have been practically completed by the directors and an exhibition of some magnitude is promised the people of Galveston who delight in the thrills occasioned by the daring feats of the birdmen. Extensive preparations are in progress for the mail carrying flight of Aviator Paul Studensky, which is to conclude the exhibition, and which is to be the feature of the afternoon. Postmaster H. A. Griffin of Galveston Wednesday afternoon wired Postmaster General Hitchcock at Washington for permission to entrust a bag of mail to Aviator Studensky for the flight to the mainland and the bag will be delivered to Studensky at the aviation field by Mr. Griffin himself. It will be carried to some point on the mainland, to be decided later, and from there delivered to the railroads for the usual distribution. Special arrangements will be made by the directors of the aeroplane company whereby Galvestonians wishing to send messages to friends by the first aerial post ever established in the South can be accommodated.
 
Aviator Studensky and Aviator J. Hector Worden will be the principal performers of the afternoon. Before starting on his cross-country flight Aviator Studensky will give an exhibition of fancy flying in the Curtiss type biplane, which he has recently learned to pilot, and Aviator Worden will be seen in the gigantic Beech-Farman biplane, which is said to be the largest heavier-than-air machine ever flown in America. Aviator Worden has been practicing in the big biplane for two weeks on the Denver beach and has made a number of successful flights. In one of these flights, made Monday morning, Worden performed the feat of running afoul of a protruding tree stump on the beach, carrying away part of the landing gear of his machine and continuing his flight, landing almost two miles away. This is believed to be the first time in the history of aviation that an aeroplane has been partly wrecked while in the air and continued its flight and is a demonstration of the wonderful stability of the big biplane.
 
In addition to the flights of Sunday afternoon the half dozen machines of the National Aeroplane Company will be on exhibition at the hangars and lectures will be given in the construction and control of the air craft by special demonstrators. The flights will start promptly at 1 o'clock Sunday afternoon, so as to provide ample time for those who wish to attend both the aerial exhibition and the baseball game scheduled for 3 o'clock the same day.
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[[/right clipping]]