Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-01-25

WASHINGTON, Jan. z2-The air
mail service has reached a Crisis
in its development The Postof1ce
department has asked congress TO
lapprcpriate an extra 100000 To- tor
it this year with which to expert
ment with night flying The Budget
| Bureau disallowed this item IN sup
hitting the appropriation
to congress. The position is now
taken by the p~ostofice authorities
that unless the million is granted
and the air mail service allowed 10
go on with its development it would
| be better to drop the whole thing
on the plea that 1t Is d playth1ng
and not a utility. Either go ahead
| or quit, Is the attitude of the post
office. If the airplane mail ser
vice is abandoned that NJ be the
end of the development of COM
mercial flying in this country.
The paradoxical thing is that the
postoffice has succeeded with n
air transportation of mail to a de-
gree that even the aviation enthu-
| siasts scarcely believed possible as
recently as the year 1918. In the
| spring of that ear the p~ostoffice
started out to demonstrate by act
ual test whether it was feasible
to attempt to carry mail by airplane
The answer to the questions may be
read in the performance records
| of the present year., $4,000 miles
Travelled by planes carrying mail,
with a total weight of nearly l.
225, 900 pounds, and not a fatality.
1t has operated with an efficiency
record of approximately 95 per cent
for two consecutive weeks last
summer every scheduled trip was
started and finished on time.
A record like this makes the
| American air mail service que
tionably the best in the world, and
Indeed it is so acknowledged to be.
The experiment has shown trium-
phantly that mail can be trans
ported safely through the air. But
the same experiment has also
shown that airplanes as at present
operated, namely, in daylight only,
cannot compete with trains as mail
carriers as a practical business
proposition.
Twice as Fast as Mail Trains
The airplane. even heavily loaded
and allowing for the time it takes
to transport the mail between the
postofices and the landing fields,
which necessarily are located on
the outskirts of cities and not al
jacent to p~ostofices as r the rail-
way stations, is twice as fast as the
mail train But the train has this
great advantage-it al keep UP its
As miles an hour for "a hours a day
whereas the plane Is limited to the
daylight hours The train there
fore makes up, or nearly makes up,
in running time what 1t loses by
speed Air mall If it is to be a
commercial success, must be able to
command as much higher rate of
postage than train mail AS planes
must now be operated, they do not
give a service of such superiority
that business men will pay for 1t
at a commensurate rate.
When the air mail service first
started, the p~ostofice put planes
on several runs between cities 10
great distance from each other. The
service between Washington and
New York may serve as an illus
tration why such runs were note
practicable. 1t is 235 miles between
these WI cities A mail train
makes the distance in five hours; a
plane can fly 1t in two. But allow
ing for the time 1t took to get the
mail to and from the landing fields
three hours became the air mail
schedule between these two cities.
II was supposed that the planes
would so expedite mail delivery that
business houses would willingly
pay extra postage for the conven-
fence, and this extra postage would
pay for the service. Obviously 1t
had to be a daytime service. for
after the close of business hours
the train, which took a letter for
two cents, was just as serviceable as
the airplane.
Consequently. the planes had to
be started in the morning; and the
hour OF 1880 a m was found e
be the latest at which the planes
could be dispatched with guarantee
of delivery of mail that same day
in New York But business mer
! cannot get to their offices and gel
off important mail in time for it Il
J be taken to the starting field for
. 1880 mail plane After the novelty
, wore off, the business fell off. and
not even by reducing the postag,
cost could the service attracs bust
t ness The business ma wants hi
letters to travel at night, so that /
he gets them Off by the close of hi
business day they can be delivered
Lat their destination the naxt daS