West Branch Times, West Branch, Iowa, Thursday, August 23, 1923
Transcribed by Sharon Elijah, July 19, 2018

O. J. CULVER IN CHARGE OF AIRPLANE LANDING FIELD

     O. J. Culver, a former resident of this community, has been placed in charge of the emergency landing field for the night flying mailplanes located one mile south of Rochester on the west side of the river.

     Mr. Culver’s duties will be to oversee the landing field of forty acres and attend to the lighting system. The field is equipped with a steel tower fifty feet high on which is mounted a search light throwing a shaft of light into the sky. At each corner of the field is a stationary light marking the field limits and enabling the pilot to make a safe landing in the dark. Smaller lights which wink off and on every few seconds are located at intervals of three miles along the lane of flight. Tests of the system are being made this week and it is announced that the regular night mail service will be started Aug. 21st.

     Each plane will carry 32000 letters, and the special postage rate is eight cents an ounce. The service will cut two-thirds off the time it takes mail to go from New York to San Francisco by train. – Tipton Advertiser