Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-01-16
FUTURE AIR
MAIL SERVICE
IS ASSURED
Years Required to Perfect
System of Mail
Planes.

A lot of progress has admittedly
been made in the world in other than
posto!hce affairs. since the day when
the old stage and its six-in-hand lum-
bered up to the tavern with its pas
sengers and-important event-the
mail. The mail is the one big lottery
approved alike by church and state,
and in a way mildly satisfies that
spirit of gambling which seems inert
i'll even h most correct, for one
never knows what may come next
a bequest or a bill. says H. H. Wind
sor in the Popular Mechanics"
The history Of letter carrying has
always been an interesting picture. II
starts with the solitary messenger, on
foot, Drawing the dangers Of wild ami
mails and wild men. Then the mount
man on an Indifferent beast, and la
ter a regular Paul Revere with fire.
quent relays of fresh, fleet horses.
Next the stage with its impressive
function, h arrival was really ar
event. From stage we diverge to
steamboat and railroad train, and
some look forward to u near future
In which yer these two shall con-
Verge in those swift vehicles of the
air which are hoped to leave behind
all previous carrying agencies as a
mere speck on the horizon. Ever since
that British airlnan carried a piano
as ballast from somewhere in Eng
land to another somewhere in France,
anything short of moving a house
via the air route seems possible.
The service is SO new and inexpect.
ed. however. we should not be too i'm
patient of immediate results, for oh.
viously q generals important orders
which must reach a distant point re-
: o2r61eSS of 6an0ar RI life mr. 1nCs nj
machine, if only minutes car be saved,
is quite a different proposition from
the general bulk of business and per-
sonal correspondence which can al
ready be transmitted between points
a thousand miles apart in as many
minutes by telephone or telegraph as
an aeroplane would require hours to
accomplish.
Mere business documents will never
warrant the peril to life and limb
which is a accepted risk in warfare.
The few attempts with long-dis-
lance mail planes which have been
mad during the past 80 days sug-
gest the need of considerable perfect
ing of air craft before a regular, de-
pendable air service is possible. The
attempted flight from the Pacific
coast to Washington with only two
scheduled stops got no farther thar
IA 1AAo "iAAlC Lac dltcIilpl u starr
daily planes simultaneously from New
York and Chicago was a complete
fizzle: In each case the mail eventu-
ally vas brought by railroad the sec
ond half of its journey, and consumed
from twice to three times the time
il would have made on a fast mail
train. To accomplish even this, Car
Smith, a balloonist and aviator of II
years experience was killed, and. his
i. Tn4PhIna u.rarka6 0fhnr 0ViofnrS
were injured, and machines dam.
aged.
In our impotence Of results we are
apt to lose sight of the fact tina al,
travel will always be handicapped by
storms and air conditions which dc
not seriously interfere with either
railroad train or a steamship. both q
which have a substantial body OF
which to travel. An express trair
a ship car reef its sails. or lessen 1T
speed, and yet make Roadway: but al
air vehicle canno drop below a Ger
tain minimum speed and remain
afloat. In the present stage Of tn
art, the high-speed gas engine, thu
only present available power 70,
planes. is not only a delicate machine
lut very sensitive at atmospheric
1 changes, and the present type of tn
StA - plAAOo tAGuuAiSo W
4 conditions for rising and landing. an,
even for flying. Only a day or tw'
ago a naval hydroplane rising in a fol
collided with the top Of a clubhouse
However. all these ore incidents us
ual to development OF q new idea
and already several successful flight
have been made by compass-one O
407 miles-and long-di4tance flight
would probably be made at high ele
vations to avoid clouds and treacher
Gus earth currents.
Until a dependable night service
possible, there would seem little pres
ent advantage to business interests /
. an air man service which require
nine daylight hours, for at present al
mail between New York and Chicag
> must be posted either long before, q
received after business hours. Bot
! the 18-hour trains. in service IL
years up to the warA and the preser
, 20-hour trains.~ are far more service
7 able, for q letter leaving New Yor
7 at noon reaches Chicago at 9:151
m. the next day. Allowing one hou
s in which to deliver and two hours Il
reply, the answer leaves Chicago. {
e1k::26 d. m. and reaches New Yor
at 9:45 the following morning a Il
] tai Of less than 46 hours. again,
~ hours business time required b
air seryice-unless letters are to J