[CW] W0BMU, Tex and the Lake Erie Canal Swing

[D.J.J. Ring, Jr.]

> On Fri, May 13, 2022, 10:29 AM Carmen K1LKP <K1LKP at comcast.net> wrote:
> A BIG THANK YOU GOES OUT TO
> N1EA - DAVID FOR THE FOLLOWING
> INFO.
> https://archive.org/details/W0bmuHowardtexHarveyW0bmu
> ENJOY
> TEX WAS A MEMBER OF THE CFO CLUB.
> SADLY, HE IS NOW A SILENT KEY.
> 73 ES HAVE A FUN FILLED WEEKEND.
> K1LKP


Tex was really funny, he'd brag that since he was a Radio Officer on a
barge at age 15 on the Erie Canal he proudly claimed he had a "Lake Erie
Swing" (LES), and of course I corrected him: TEX YOU DON'T HAVE A LAKE ERIE
SWING, YOU HAVE A LAKE ERIE CANAL SWING. Oh, did he think that was funny!

Listen to the way he sent on his 1912 Vibroplex Blue Racer.
https://archive.org/download/W0bmuHowardtexHarveyW0bmu/lake_erie_swing.mp3
and https://archive.org/download/W0bmuHowardtexHarveyW0bmu/w0bmu_1.mp3

The Lake Erie Canal inland waterway connects the Hudson River at New York
State capital, Albany, NY (the most northern Hudson River deep water port)
through a series of locks to Lake Erie at Buffalo, NY and from there
navigation to the USA Midwest is available directly from New York City's
deep water Atlantic port on the confluence of the Hudson River and the
Atlantic Ocean at Lower Manhattan.

This was a very big deal: The Erie Canal allowed for east–west navigation
from the coast to the Great Lakes within US territory.

The canal system thus gave New York a competitive advantage, helped New
York City develop as an international trade center, and allowed Buffalo to
grow from just 200 settlers in 1820 to more than 18,000 people by 1840.

The port of New York became essentially the Atlantic home port for all of
the Midwest—because of this vital connection and others to follow, such as
the railroads, New York would become known as the "Empire State" or "the
great Empire State". [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal]

Howard Harvey, most often called "Tex" took his Radio Officers license
before the U.S. Commerce Department and lied about his age and obtained a
job as a radiotelegraph operator on a barge travelling the Erie Canal. He
had been using this Vibroplex Blue Racer made in 1912 for over 75 years. He
would often tell me that he had a "Lake Erie Swing" and he did as he
learned that particular method of sending while on the Lake Erie Canal, but
I would correct him being much too precise, by saying "No, you have a Lake
Erie Canal swing." to which he would just double over laughing. Tex last
lived in Creve Coeur, Missouri about 1,000 miles from me in Massachusetts
but he would put in one of the few audible signals (the other was K0PNB
from St. Louis, MO) from the Western side of the Mississippi River during
daylight hours on 40 meters- which means he had an outstanding signal. This
is a one of the recordings that Macalee "Lea" Hime, AB5TY of Texas made of
him at my request. Also heard is Kenneth Cooper W2BNA who breaks in at an
inportune time during the recording for posterity. Tex was so happy about
this recording being preserved as an example of "Lake Erie Swing" that he
even spoke about it on his death bed. 73 and BV OM.

Included in this archive is a PDF file of a letter from Macalee "Lea" Hime,
AB5TY, "Girl Railroad Telegrapher". It also includes a transcript of the
recordings. The letter is here.
https://ia800606.us.archive.org/22/items/W0bmuHowardtexHarveyW0bmu/19990403_letter_from_macalee_hime_ab5ty.pdf

The last recorded archive of the Queen Bee Net web page is here.
https://web.archive.org/web/19990204024557/http://www.fortunecity.com/greenfield/vine/82/

Many of the Queen Bee Net members were (are) members of CFO.

73

DR
N1EA
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