Telegram to Postmaster Lock Haven , Sept. 4, 1918

September 4, 1918

Louis Gertson wrote a Western Union telegram to Lock Haven postmaster. He wanted to inform him how important it was to stay within the white markers set-up on fields to land the airplanes. The part of the field outside the markers was considered a poor landing area, in this instance the land was still too soft from rain. In the telegram Gertson notes that “no grass farm white markers are fixed at each end” and that he would advise the flyers. Gerston was a senior Post Office Department pilot whom Superintended Benjamin Lipsner designated as the official observer of the Cleveland portion of the New York-to-Chicago pathfinder flights, scheduled to begin September 5, 1918.