Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-07-12
AERIAL MAIL SERVICE.
A Letter Which Has Interested Post
Once Department Oflcials.

II there Il one thing more than another that
interests postal official IL Is scheme for rapid
mall service. Nearly every day some sugges-
ton is made looking to the expediency Of the
mail service and all are carefully considered.
Now and then il Is found practicable
to adopt some suggestion, and then q
new fast mail service 10 announced. The other
day MAJ Pollock, the acting second assistant
postmaster general. received letter which
made him rub his eyes and then pinch himself
to see IL he was dreaming. To say that he
was amazed will be putting it rather mildly.
The writer, without putting on any
frills, simply stated that he had invented q
machine for traversing the air. which he de-
signed for special fast mail service He then
inquired the cost Of mail service and asked
for other particulars with the view OF going
into the mail transportation business.
Maj. Pollock was 90 delighted that he sent
the following
ENCOURAGING REPLY:
81 have the honor to ackno Wedge the re-
ceipt Of your communication of the Sth instant
announcing the invention by you Of o machine
for traversing the air. designed for special fast
mail service and capable of carrying mail from
New York city to San Francisco in ten hours
and short distances in comparatively short
spaces Of time You ask as to the present cost
of carrying the mails and whether, il matters
could be shown satisfactory on your part there
would be any possibility OF your getting a job.
lin reply you are respectfully informed that
the cost OF carrying the mails for the fiscal
year ending June 30, 1890, has not yet been
definitely ascertained, but that the cost of
carrying them in the United States and terri
tories for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1889,
as shown by the last annual report Of the Post
master General, amounts to the sum of S34,-
024, 107.A
..As to whether there would be any posi-
bility Of your getting a job il matters could be
shown satisfactory on your part, depends
largely on circumstances and considerations,
some of which will mention. BY getting q
job suppose. of course. you refer to . Job in
carrying the mails. ! take it for granted that
you are aware of the fact that railroad compa-
mics have practically monopoly Of carrying
the mails on railroad routes. There
this service and their compensation
is fixed by law on the basis Of the amount Of
weight Of mails carried and it runs, and runs
pretty fast, too, all the way from SAT- per
mile to s2,s24 80 per mile per annum. In
that service, of course. there would be no
chance for a job for you. and we try to arrange
matters in such q way that there is no job in
any Of the postal service for anybody. In the
case of star service, however, there is great
competition among bidders and the service is
AWARDED to the lowest responsible bidder whose
proposal is in proper legal form. Consequently
In the star service there would be not only a
possibility, but q very strong probability, of
your getting a job, especially If you should
prove to be the lowest bidder and responsible
ALLOW me further to suggest that there might
be a better opening for your machine in planet
airy postal service, should that class of service
come to be finally established. II would fur
nish a broad field for the operations of your
invention and possibly profitable one. This
latter class OF service has never been estao-
lished, partly because of the supposed imprac-
ticability Of aerial navigation, the problem of
which has been now happily solved by your in
vention, but mostly because there has been as
yet no demand for it
"If your machine proves to be practical and
successful, Of which you seem confident. its es-
adjustment may be much nearer at hand than
is generally supposed by the unscientiic por-
ton of mankind.
should this airy service be established
Uncle Samuel would be enabled, by the aid of
your invention, to enter the great Universal
Astronomical Postal Union TO the tune OF
Yankee Doodle, with hat and boots on and with
flying colors.'