The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1919-06-26
BURLESON HID AERO
MAILLOSS, CHARGE
Hartman Banks Consign-
2 ment, Worth $4,000,
Burned in Ohio.
DEPARTMENT Is ACCUSED
Letters Taken From Train
without Sender's Permis-
sion, Says Banker.

WARRINGTON juno 6o---NnaibeS e'"e
the Post once Department. without the
knowledge. or consent Of the addressor,
has taken from trains valuable mail
sent as first class matter, transferred 1t
to the experimental air mail service,
lost II through destruction by fire OF
the airplane to which It was transferred
and then sought to keep the facts from
tho addressor are contained in letters
man, president of the Hartman Ma
tionei Bank of New York. to Senator
wadsworth IN. " and to postal off,
Gals.
The correspondence was made public
in connection with a resolution intro
duced by Chairman Stevenson (Minn.)
of the House Committee on Post Offlces
and Post Roads demanding the facts in
the incident, which Is said to involve
remittance letters, drafts and checks
agsregating $4,000 in value. addressed
by the New York institution to the Fed
eral Reserve Bank, the Illinois Trust
and Savings Bank and the Union Trust
Company. all Of Chicago.
According to the Information con-
tanned in the Hartman correspondence
the Post Once Department has sought
to cover the trail of the transaction
which involved taking FIRST class mall
matter from a train en- route between
New York and Chicago and starting II
from Cleveland in an airplane.
The correspondence includes exchanges
between Mr.. Hartman and First As
sistant Postmaster-General Rooms and
Second Assistant Postmaster General
RI ~ hat
neither Of these officials was prepared
to deal frankly with Mr.. Hartman
while the Waiter was seeking to ascer-
tain what had become Of the lost mail
matter. In a letter to Senator Wads-
worth Mr.. Hartman wrote:
ION May "a last we mailed to our
correspondents in Chicago our regular
remittance letters containing drafts
checks. SC. to an amount aggregatins
$4,000 odd, which letters were never
received.
other Mail Lost.
I'VE have been tracing the thing and
ind that there were other letters from
this city lost W the same mail The
only satisfaction we could get from the
Post Office Department was that some OF
the mail had been los,.
"A rumor came to US that the Post Of
nee Department has not been frank in itf
statement, and upon investigat ton we as.
certained that some of the mail on the
train en- route to Chicago was taken of
to go by way OF aeroplane from Cieve.
land to Chicago. The aeroplane caught
fire and portion Of the mail was de-
stroyed.
II have wired the Postmaster Genera
asking by what authority the department
hazards bank mail in experiment. ant
stating that considered 1t a high
handed outrage. In any event why wa;
this loss mysteriously covered up from
the banks. not even being reported t
the press, so that the banks could pro
tect themselves with their customer.
against possible loss and Inconvenience
but got no satisfaction.
This seems to be a new Burlesor
game, and l ask that you investigate Sc
| that a repetition of the offense may no
be in order"
In letter to First Assistant Postmas
| ter General Rooms Mr.. Hartman pointed
out that the Federal Reserve Bank o
Chicago had been responsible for hi
| first information as to the probable fat,
of the lost mail after he had failed {,
get such information from the Post ono,
Department.
1T would appear from the above tina
responsibility for the loss OF our Letters
is pretty generally recognized by vari
Gus Government agencies, although w
are kept In the dark. do not believ,
any further comment is necessary jus
at this time, but I will assure you tina
II cannot get satisfaction ! will 6,
| further.
Hot Under the Collar.
ct am very hot under the collar owe
| this matter. and I cannot yet under
| stand why the Government lends itsel
to experimenting with valuable mai
and when accidents occur 1t endeavor
| to hide the performance and give mis-
| leading accounts of losses.
1--WE have suffered to a considerabl
| extent due to this experiment whicl
| has ended 50 disastrously, and l canno
even get the assistance OF those in you
| department who are responsible for tn
loss"
In his letter to Mr.. steenerson NJ.
Hartman said:
"The matter is so serious that thinl
| some action should be taken so tina
we may be assured that in the futur
such experiments will not be made witt
valuable mail matter. putting the bank
to extreme Inconvenience and possibl
loss"
Tho Stevenson resolution, which Is
privileged measure and may be called VI
and passed at the end OF a week with
out committee action, in addition to ask
ing for the facts in the case of the los
Hartman letters, asks by what author
ity first class mail without arplan
mall stamps affixed Is transported b.
! airpiane; to what extent this practic
| extends; whether the Department re
fused or neglected TO inform the Harri
man Bank OF the facts in connection
with the loss OF It's mail: whether II 4
| an established policy of the Department
to transport mail by airplsne withou
the consent of the sender. and undo
the rules of the Department what pre-
caution a sender can take against having
his mail transported by airplane.
POLK TO BE CONFIRMED.