Gunnison news-champion., 1920-06-25
AIRPLASE MAIL SERVICE
FOR IN>iSOS
IContinued from First PageJ

NNNl--A--sA4 -AN4l4 7 AAEN 1-"l
But ] thought yOu would BE- interest
81 IN knowing tha; ! have also taken
Up ~ith the PosroiFice Department the
Possibility OF securing an air mail ser
vic. from Denver for the first class
mail 20 Durango. and We have obtain
81 figures and estimates and some Of
trss" days there u Z strong probabili-
. Of or accomplishing that very
thing.
The Pos;ofIlce Department has al
ready had = route exam ned and laid
out ami estimates LAID upon u, from
. Denver 20 Durango by way OF Lead
VILE and GluuI-ou. A. you know the
distance from Denver 20 Leadyille by
railroad D. 2s5 miles. and the railroad
. schedule tIms l- 10 hUurs and 30 min.
utss. b. aerial route il H. only 15
miles and the time one hour
From Denver 20 Gunnls0n the dis
tan6s rs 2ss miles, and the railroai
B schedule time Is Is hour and 20 min
utcs. By air route Il b. l35 miles and
the tIIEs is one hour and 50 minutes
From Denver 10 Durango the railroad
distance b. 40 miles and the railroad
TIM. table time j. % hours and 20
minutes. By aIFp.ane route selected
Il j. 24O miles and the time is 3 hours
and 10 minutes.
They have figured on both the air
plane service and the balloon service.
OUIng TO the rough country between
Denver and Durango along this route
tentatively selected, the officials be-
lieye-especially in the winter time
that the only safe course at the pres
ent time, and until the airplane ser
vice h. more developed and more Ger
tain and safe, would be 10 contract
with the Goodyear people for one of
their "Blimps" which can make from
forty to sixty miles an hour. and carry
a very large load OF mail and num-
ber Of passengers, and can safely a.
ligh; anywhere. While with the orii-
nary airplanc that they expect 10 use
in the uanscOntinental route from
New York to San Francisco, and which
will be established about September of
this year, they have 10 figure on light
ing al q speed of about 30 TO 80 miles
an hour. and they have to have from
800 TO 100 feet Of fiat open country
TO safely alIght in when going at that
speed: and there are not many favor
able sites Of that kind between Denver
and Durango on the route that they
figure on.
The PostOfiice Department figures
that il will cost one hundred thousand
dollars a year 20 furnish this service
from Denver 10 Leadville, Gunnison
and Durango, and they believe that
sometime before long the business in
tercsts OF these cities will join with
the government in helping 10 defray
that expense, OF at least the difference
between the amount the government
pays the railroads for carrying the
tirst-class mail and the amount il
would cost to establish and maintain
this aerial mail service.
As a matter of fact, thought ] had
this matter provided for in the Post
office Appropriation bill passed by
Congress Just before we adjourned.
As you know, we appropriated 81 ,225,-
coo 10 establish aerial mail service
across this country as an experiment.;
and We also had in the bill a clause au-
thorizing the Postmaster General to-
contract with private concerns for the
carrying of the mail generally thru
out the United States wherever the
increased efficiency and expeditions
delivery of the mail would justify the
additional expense. But unfortunately
that particular clause got involved IN
partisan politics and the leading mem
bers Of the Postofiice Committee of thcl
House deliberately changed II TO read
NItIfFfI Llils SCI NphAi bt 'eAEAS
lishcd without any additional eNpensel
to the government" What that means
is simply this: That in the next Con-I
gress that item will undoubtedly be-
changed. restoring that original clause
that the postoffice Department recon-
mendcd, and great air-mail servIceI
will be inaugurated thruout the United
/ States, beginning with the first Of the
next fiscal year, July |, 1921. And
I this air-mail service from Denver to-
/ Durango can and will undoubtedly be-
/ established. 1t would have been es-
/ tablished this summer If that languagel
I had not been changed in the bill in
! the conference committee just before
/ il was finally passed.
! very hopefully and enthusiastically
( thought ! had an agreeable surprlse1
/ in store for the people Of Durango, and
| | am most awfully disappointed in
/ that language being changed. But all
! that means is that il will be deferred
a year, because ! feel perfectly con-
| fident that when Durango can get mail
3 hours and 10 minutes between Den
yer and that city, We will be able 70
make the necessary arrangements with
/ the government to secure that service,
and feel that the citizens of Durango
will be interested in this possibility
and what has already been done to-
wards accomplishing it.
Very cordially yours,
I sts- ~