Telegram to Benjamin Lipsner, September 4, 1918

September 4, 1918

Louis Gertson wired, “Everything in readiness here” to Capt Benjamin B. Lipsner in an 18-word Western Union telegram. The telegram, via William B. Carlisle, postmaster of Chicago’s Aerial Mail, was sent September 4, 1918 and received at 5:37 p.m. Gertson, a senior Post Office Department pilot, was designated by Captain Benjamin B. Lipsner as an official observer of the Cleveland portion of the Chicago to New York pathfinder trip. As a pilot, Gertson’s flying time extended to well over 5,000 hours, including much of it at night, exceeding that of any other pilot.