A Valentine's Series postcard that was posted in Edinburgh using a ½d. stamp on Thursday the 25th. September 1913. It was sent to:
Miss Graves, 16, Patrick Street, Peel, I. O. M.
The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:
"Edinburgh 24. 9. 13. Dear Lilian, Arrived here safely after ... well, a passage indescribable. We have been seeing a little of Edinburgh today - lovely weather here (better than Peel). Love from A. M. C. Write soon."
Princes Street
Princes Street is named after King George the Third's two sons, the Duke of Rothesay and the Duke of York.
Princes Street is the southernmost street of Edinburgh's New Town, stretching around 1 mile (1.6 km) from Lothian Road in the west to Leith Street in the east. The street is now mostly closed to private cars, with public transport being given priority.
The street has virtually no buildings on the south side, allowing panoramic views of the Old Town, Edinburgh Castle, and the valley between.
One exception to the no-building rule is the Scott Monument. It is 200 feet 6 inches (61.1 metres) tall. There are 287 steps and no elevator.
The monument has four levels, each narrower at the base than the previous one. A total of 67 figurines from Sir Walter Scott's novels feature on the monument. It cost over £16,000 to build, having started with a budget of £5,000.
In the 1960's it was proposed to remove all the buildings and replace them with a pro-forma pattern building with a first-level walkway, thereby doubling the shopping frontage. Fortunately the plan was only put into action on a small scale.
The opening scene of the film Trainspotting where Renton is being chased by store detectives takes place in Princes Street.
The First Automatic Pilot
So what else happened on the day that the card was written?
Well, on Wednesday the 24th. September 1913, at Melun, French airman Albert Moreau demonstrated the first airplane with an automatic pilot, winning a prize for the design for stability control.
Moreau, taking a brave passenger with him, flew 17 miles without touching the controls of the machine. The New York Times reported:
"Throughout the flight, even when the machine banked over, and rolled so much that the passenger asked him to take the controls, Moreau sat calmly, with his arms folded, and the machine always righted itself."
George Coupland
Also on that day, philanthropist George Coupland dedicated a new hospital in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire in memory of his father John Coupland.
The hospital became known for treating wounded Allied soldiers during the Great War.
Wilson Rawls
The 24th. September 1913 also marked the birth, in Scraper, Oklahoma, of Wilson Rawls.
Wilson was an American children's writer, author of Where the Red Fern Grows and Summer of the Monkeys.
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