The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-07-25
AIR POSTMEN
OUT ON STRIKE
Mates Quit in Sympathy With
Two Ousted for Refusal
to Fly in Fog.
ALL SERVICE Is TIED Up
Deaths Are Laid to Faulty
Machines-Ordered to
Take Chances.

Twenty air mail pilots, all former
army f1iers, yesterday announced that
until two other pilots discharged for
refusing to fly in fog and bad weather
in machines they believed unsafe are
restored to their jobs all air mail
carrying will stop. The airmen sa!
they gave the post Office authorities
twenty-four hours notice of their de
termination to quit and that late yes
terday an answering telegram from
Second Assistant Postmaster General
Otto Praeger was received at Belmoni
Park announcing the discharged men
would not be reinstated.
The pilots charge that Mr. PraegeI
delivered an ultimatum. Fly or quit,
to the pilots who protested concern
ing the deadly combination of bad
weather and bad machines. THIS. they
say, is particularly unjust since Mr.
Praeger himself has never had his
foot inside of a flying machine" Sew
eral of the striking pilots. WHO can
do everything but turn ship" inside
out. expires ssed willingness yester-
day to give their boss a really inter
esting ride.
The men assert with some bitterness
that they are willing to take the ordi'
nary chances in the air, but that since
July Is, when the rains started. there
have been fifteen accidents. in which
ten planes have been smashed and two
fiers, McCusker and Sanborn, killed.
Machines Called Unsafe.
These two men were sent UP in the
air in machines they told their supe.
riors were unsafe to fly in" said one
striker yesterday, and his comrades
agreed with him. One of the two ma
chimes in which the men met death had
been repaired three times and was nc
good, the men asserted.
The striking fiiers claim that since the
two discharged pilots, Leon Smith ano
z. Hamilton Lee, were dismissed OF
Tuesday there have been no air mails 10
Washington. Not only are some individ'
ual planes bad. the fiiers say. but the
type OF plane used for the service is
wrong.
The machines have high compression
Liberty motors which give them a SLOW
speed of 100 miles an hour and a fast
speed of considerably more than that
This makes them exceedingly hard &c
handle and especially to land.
In heavy weather the very powerful
Liberty motors used compel the air post
men to travel at a low altitude. and ir
such conditions the engines are liable tc
stick or freeze, leaving them with {
very small range of country in which &c
select a landing ~field which can b'
reached by gliding. New machines
would cost little and would save mer
and mail from destruction they say.
A request for stabilizers. instruments
which show whether or not the machine
is flying on an even keel in fog. was re
fused by the Post Office Department
The stability indicators cost only 81;
each the men say but in answer to theiI
request Mr.. Praeger declared that they
should steer by compass, as the turn in
dicators are too expensive"
Determination was shown in the dis
charge Of two men according TO th'
strikers. Two other pilots Stevens and
Webster. two of the oldest in the ser
vice. who also refused to iy under bat
conditions, were merely transferred
from the Washington to the Bellefontt
air route.
The telegram received from Mr.. Prae
ger in reply to the fiiers' notification
was as follows:
"Orders regarding Pilots Smith anC
Lee have not been revoked. They cam,
into service as every other pilot will
the knowledge that they must comply
with the Department orders to fly will
the mail and where flying conditions ar
such that they cannot operate have th'
option to resign. II they refuse TO car
ry out the orders Of the Department anC
fail to tender their resignation remova
| from ONCE must be. made.
Every pilot Is expected to carry ou
his duty in accordance with his oatl
and sense OF loyalty to the service anC
to aviation in general. Call attention
OF employees TO sections 1890 and I'll!
of Revised Statutes. PRAEoER."
Mail Service Ends.
As matters stand now air mail will
not he carried either to Washington o.
! Chicago to-day as all the pilots at Chi
cago. Cleveland. Belletonte and Wash
! ington have agreed TO stand with tn
, Belmont Park fiers.
1 The telegram OF protest against hyin,
| under adverse conditions which was sen
on Wednesday TO the Post Ofice official
at Washington stated that the discharg
! Of pilots Lee and Smith without investi
cation or justification was considered
direct attack On every pilot In the aeria
mail service. inasmuch as 1t was the mis-
fortune OF the discharged pilots to b
the ones who were in a position whicl
/ compelled them TO refuse TO fly in orde
to protect their lives.
"In order to be fair we will defe
action for twenty-four hours" the tele
gram stated. This everlasting 'hy' re
I ga rdless OF weather conditions, or resign
must cease, as we are human as well a
| the rest"
| Previous protests to the Post ono
ohiciais had been made the men said.