Evening star., 1924-06-15
Tests Prove InnOUatiOn
in Commercial Flying
Is Practical.
VIDE AREA SERVED
ON 2,6OO-lMILE ROUTE
Rates to Range From 8
to 24 Gents Per Ounce,
According to Zone.

Tuesday morning, July l, the United
States government, through the Post
Office Department, will take the big
gest stride forward in the history OF
commercial aviation in the world.
At 10 o'clock, eastern time. an air.
mail plane will rise from Hazelaurst
Field, Long Island. and hy west. At
s o'clock, Pacific time, another plane
OF the service will leave the Presidio,
California, with it's nose pointed east.
inaugurating the permanent trans
continental air-mail route, which in
wolves continuous day and night fly
ing. and will insure delivery of mail
at either New York or San Francisco
in from thirty-two to thirty-four
hours after it has been dispatched at
each end of the continent.
Tests Proved Feasibility.
A year ago the air-mail division
conducted a series of transcontinental
day and night flights % determine
the feasibility of such parma nent
operation. The results we're excellent,
and the reward is permission TO add
this latest discovery of exped:ting
mail to the program of the depart
ment.
Residents and firms of New York
and San Francisco and Of points along
this 2,6S0-mile delivery route will re-
ceive the maximum results OF the new
service, but cities and towns within
a wide radius OF these principal sta
tions will share in the many dement's
to be derived from the alrpiane's lat
est contribution to commerce.
For example. should a Washing
tonian desire to send a letter 10 San
Francisco that letter will be elig, BILE
for transportation via a1rplane, ana IL
il is in the post Office 1ot later than
1880 pm. it will be on It's way west
in the air shortly after 10 o'clock the
next day. The letter will be sent to
New York on a mail train that night
and taken to the field the following
morning.
Twenty -four Cents an Ounce.
Because it is going to San Fran
cisco, it will have to bear "a cents in
postage for each ounce or fraction
thereof. as California is in the tn :rd
zone as determined from Washington.
The second zone lies between Chicago
and Cheyenne. and the postage rate
is 16 cents from either the east or
west coast, while the first zone IS
bounded by New York and Chicago,
and the charge is cents. If a Wash
fngtonian has a letter for some point
in Missouri, it will be carried by air
mail either from New York or Cleve-
land (reaching both places by train)
to Chicago. where it again will be pu:
on the ground for railroad transpor-
tation to it's destination.
officials of the Post Office Depart
ment emphasize that there is no need
in sending letter from Washington
to a nearby place in the east, such
as Harrisburg, Pa, because a train
could carry it to that place before
the letter could reach the plane.
Train Routing Planned.
A plan for routing tho airplane
mail by train after 1t is taken from
the airplane is now being worked
out. No additional charge will be
made, the zone rate carrying it to
the addressee. The sections of the
country to be served by this airway
across the continent. as determined to
date, and the air-mail route cities to
which mail will be dispatched for
further transportation by rail follow:
Westbound-Illinois, Iowa Except
Iowa City,, Kansas, Minnesota, Mis-
souri,, Wisconsin. from Chicago; Idaho,
Oregon, Utah. Montana, Nevada (ex-
cept Elks,, from Salt Lake City; Cali
fornia and transpacific. foreign. from
San Fransisco; Colorado and Wyoming