[7] A very important service was rendered only a short time ago by the
hydroaeroplane which might easily have served to save a human life if
the accident had been more serious than it actually was. Mr. Hugh
Robinson the instructor of the Curtiss hydroaeroplane school was having
Sunday dinner at the hotel in Hammondsport, where Dr. P. L. Alden, one
of the well-known physicians of that place, was also eating dinner, when
the doctor received a telephone message that Mr. Edwin Petrie's little
son had fallen from the steps of the Urbana Wine Company at Urbana, five
miles down the lake, and had a compound fracture of his thigh with a
serious hemorrhage. It was a very serious injury and the little fellow
was in intense pain, and Mr. Petrie asked the doctor to come as quickly
as he possibly could. Dr. Alden realised the urgency of the situation
and knew that delay might mean serious results from hemorrhage, so he
went immediately over to Mr. Robinson and asked if he would take him
across the lake in the hydroaeroplane right away. Mr. Robinson said, "I
will be ready in five minutes; just as soon as you can get over to the
field." Dr. Alden got his bandages and instruments and hurried down to
the shed where Mr. Robinson had already gotten out the hydro; he jumped
in and they were off without a moment's delay. They covered the five
miles in five minutes, at times running on the surface of the lake
because the wind was blowing so strong; as they ran up on the beach the
doctor jumped out and hastened to his patient. The boy was so much
interested in the fact that he was the first patient to be treated by a
hydroaeroplane doctor, and so fascinated at hearing Dr. Alden tell about
the trip, that he forgot for the moment the seriousness of his condition
and allowed the doctor to reduce the fracture without an anesthetic.
When all that could be done just then had been done, Dr. Alden and Mr.
Robinson returned in the hydroaeroplane as rapidly as they had come on
their errand of humanity, and at last accounts young Mr. Petrie was
getting well as fast as he could so he could have a ride in the
hydroaeroplane himself!–AUGUSTUS POST.
[8] In July, 1912, Captain Beck was granted by the War Department the
title of "Military Aviator"; the first time that any American has been
given this title, which implies finished skill in both aviation and
military tactics, and for which all the army aviators are to
qualify.–AUGUSTUS POST.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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