The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-01-09
Four New Aerial Mail Routes
to be Established If Con-
gTess Grants
Money.
ONE DOWN THE RIVER
Hyaropianes Nay Soon be Carrying
Letters from St Paul TO New
Orleans With Many
Sscps.

/ United Press Leased Wire Service ]
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9-Four new
aerial mail routes, TO link the I'm
po-tant cities OF the country from
coast TO coast, viii be established If
congress grants an appropriation OF
s.. 900, 600. Postmaster General Burle-
son stated today A fifth route is
contemplated, but has not yet been
given the approval OF Iha rosEast3os
department.
The new routes as outlined by
Brrisson in letter 10 the congres-
sional postofTice committees are:
Chicago 10 San francisco, thus
giving aerial mail service from New
York 20 the Pacific coast
Pittsburgh 10 Kansas City via Gin
ciunati. Indianapolis and ST, Louis.
New York 70 Atlanta by an exten-
sion from Washington,
Minneapolis and ST Paul to st.
St Louis via Chicago
The other route now being inves-
tigafed is by hydroplane down the
Mississippi river from St Louis to
New Orleans, with stops at Cairo
Memphis and yicksburg.
Burleson estimated that the trans
portation Of 3sa ,oo5. 900 letters would
be greatly speeded up by the exten-
sions
The new routes would reduce
nearly one-haE the mail time be-
tween the cities, and are IN addition
to the lines already in operation
from WashingT TO New York, New
York TO Cleveland, and Cleveland TO
Chicago.
If the route from New York TO the
Pacific coast is put into operation.
the mail time viii be reduced from
80 hours and so minutes westbound
and l62 hours eastbound, Burleson
said.
The Pittsburgh Kansas City route
would mean that mail leaving Penn
syIvania al : a. N. could be deliy-
cred in Indianapolis and Cincinnati
in the forenoon, St. Louis at noon,
and Kansas City in the afternoon.
The present railroad time is twenty
four hours and fifty minutes, while
the flying time would be ten hours
and forty minutes. Mail between
Kentucky, Tennessee. Missouri, Kan /
sas and southwestern states would |
be advanced from twelve to twenty |
four hours.
The airplane would reduce the
mail time between the Twin Cities
and st. Louis from twenty hours and /
minutes TO seven hours /
and thirty minutes, saving one busf- /.
ness day between the northwest and /
southwest and sixteen hours in the +
delivery of mail from Chicago,
Atlanta service would reduce the |
mail time about fifteen hours AMI ,
thirty minutes while the Mississippi :
river hydroplane service would mean /
the delivery of St Louis and New
Orleans letters in Memphis the after
noon Of their mailing, instead OF the
following morning. as is done now.
There has suddenly arisen" Burle-
son said, through the epoch-making /
invention of the .sirplane, q mail
that VIII cut in half
the fastest railway time between our
centeTs, yet so critical
has congress been of the utilization
or the aifplane for mail service that
the postoffice department refrains
from recommending the establish
ment of other important routes, be- .
cause ii is as yet impossible to show
On them a substantial saving in the
cost of railway transportation and
The postoffice department has al
gays taken the position that when
American capital is ready to enter
he aerial transport field II will be
clad to advertise for contracts for
CARRYING maid by airplanes or air
ships over such routes rs viii greatly
improve the service and show a rela-
lively substantial reduction in the
transportation and distribution OF
nail by train.