The Mena weekly star., 1921-03-03
FROM COAST or
 COAST, B HOURS
Dream of Aerial Mail Service Becomes Reality-Fliers Averaged Better Than 100 Miles an Hour-Story
 of the Flight.

1 Chicago, Feb. 24.-Mail from San Francisco to New York in thirty-three hours!
 This, the dream of the government air mail service, ceased to be a vision yesterday and became an accomplished fact.
 l When Pilot E. Nj. Allison, taking up the burden of his fellow annihilators of Long Island, at 4:50 o'clock this afternoon, he completed what is con sidered by the air mail authorities the most brilliant feat in history of the i air service.
 Starting at 4:3O o'clock Tuesday morning, relay of intrepid pilots sailed over mountains, braved snow storms and dangers that resulted in the death of one of them, guided air monsters thru the black of night-all to show that mail from San Francisco to New York in shirty-six hours was not merely an airmen's dream.
 Fastest Trip Ever Made. It was the fastest trip from coast to coast ever made. It also was the first time the government had attempt ed to run the transcontinental air mail on a schedule as rigid as railroad time table
 It was done-with two hours and forty minutes to spare, the corrected ! time being thirty-three hours and twenty minutes. allowances being made for time zone charges.
 This is flying at better than 100 miles an hour clip for the entire trip. The best previous time for the de- livery of mail from the Pacific to the Atlantic was seventy-nine hours and forty-four minutes by pilots flying in the daytime only.
 Pilot William C. Hopson arrived at the Mineola field from Cleveland fif- teen minutes after Allison Hopson brought one sack of transcontinentai mail and six pouches of the regular mail. He came thru from Cleveland without 9 stop.
 Eleven Pouches in Wrecked Plane.
 The seven pouches of transcontinen- tai mail which reached Cleveland from Chicago this afternoon were divided between Allison and Hopson lest some accident to one of the airpianes break the continuity of the trip from coast to coast.
 These pouches were among eighteen which originally started from San Francisco. The other eleven were in the plane in which Capt. William F. Lewis fell to his death at Elko, Nev.. Tuesday and will be brought to New York by the usual route.
 Credit for this spectacular success Ic tr f,, man who was slccning in regular bed here tonight and who intended, until awakened, to keep on sleeping for many hours to come.
 This young man is Pilot James H. Knight, who jumped into De Havi- land yesterday at 6:10 D. m. at Chey- enne and, with stops at Omaha and Iowa City, flew on thru the night over country strange to him, and sailed into Chicago this morning at $40 o'clock.
 Defied Snow and Darkness.
 Knights performance is heralded by the air mail superintendents as being proof that night flying can be success fully undertaken. 1t was showing and he could hardly see part of the time But he got there thirty minutes be- hind schedule.
 Ut was easy enough" said Knight. "I didn't have any trouble, except in finding Iowa City. Finding that town in snowstorm and fog is a tough pro- position. had to go down and mow the trees few times before I found it. The rest was not hard. Night flying is easy if you have a good map, and I did"
 Knight was wearing his nose in an adhesive cast.
 Broke it going over the Laramie mountains the other day" he said. My engine stopped and the only place had to land was the side of the mountain"
 The Story of the Flight.
 The story of the flight, as outlined by s. Nj. Moore, assistant superin- tendent of air mail, is as follows:
 Pilots Farr Nutter and Ray Little left San Francisco at 4:30 a. m, Feb ruary %. Capss'n w. E. Lewis and John L. Eaton relieved them at Reno. Captain Lewis was killed at Elko. Eaton was relieved by Pilot J. P. Murray at Salt Lake City and he arr rived at Cheyenne at 4:47 p. m.
 Pilot Knight left Cheyenne at 6:10 D. m. and arrived at Omaha at 1:10 a. m. and left there at 6:30 a. m, delayed on account of the storm.
 He3 sailed into Chicago at $40. a. m., travelling practically 1900 miles ! in fifteen hours.
 Pilot J. O. Webster then took up the burden, and lea ring Chicago at 8:59 a. m., arrived in Cleveland at 11:52 a. m. Pilot Allison showed remark able speed on the last lap by leaving Cleveland at 1:02 p. m. (eastern time) Bellefont, Pa, at 2:5S D. m, and ar irving at Mineola at 4:50 p. m.
 Nothing like this has even been ac- complished before.' said Superintend- | ent Moore. "I. sets a record and shows the wonderful future of the air mail service"
 
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