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Smithsonian sunburst Smithsonian National Postal Museum
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  • Telegram from Jordan on September 6, 1918
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Telegram from Jordan on September 6, 1918

Object Details

Description
The first line of the Western Union telegram was in code [in care of] C 651 and contained sixty words charged to the U.S. government. Capt. Benjamin B. Lipsner received this telegram from John A. Jordan, who wired it from Bryan, Ohio, at 7:28 p.m. on September 6, 1918. A handwritten notation in the lower left corner reads, “Rec.d 8:23 p.m. Phoned Capt. Lipsner. . . .”
The telegram from Jordan, a Post Office Department representative, informed Lipsner in Chicago that pilot Edward V. “Turk” Gardner landed in Bryan, Ohio, at 5:15 p.m. on September 6, 1918, the second day of the New York-to-Chicago pathfinder survey flight. Jordan told him that Gardner took-off for Chicago at 5:50 p.m. without difficulty.
Gardner assumed he would be landing in Chicago at night in poor light. He told Jordan to have runway lights available--two fires lighted in corners of the landing field and a third smaller one in the center of the field near the area where he would be landing. Jordan added that Gardner by error had left a sack of mail in Bryan, Ohio, and ended by informing Lipsner that he was leaving for Chicago.
Data Source
National Postal Museum
Date
September 6, 1918
Object number
1982.0157.757
Type
Covers & Associated Letters
Medium
paper; ink; adhesive
Dimensions
Height x Width: 6 1/2 × 7 15/16 in. (16.51 × 20.16 cm)
Place
Ohio
See more items in
National Postal Museum Collection
Topic
Benjamin B. Lipsner Airmail Collection
Postal Administration
Record ID
npm_1982.0157.757
Usage
CC0
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm82e5fb1e4-a364-4964-a65d-34bc7e64d2a2
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HomeSmithsonian National Postal Museum

Plan a Visit

Open daily 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Admission is always free!

2 Massachusetts Ave., N.E.
Washington, DC 20002

The museum's main entrance is located on the corner of First Street and Massachusetts Avenue NE. Other entrances have variable hours.

street map of Postal museum

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