Evening star., 1925-09-15
NEW AIR MAIL BIDS
ARE OPENED TODAY
Forty-Five Cities to Be
Connected When 8 More
Routes Are in Operation.
the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
The era of commercial aviation in
the United States takes an advanced
stride today.
The air mail service of the Post
Office Department, pioneer In demon
strating the feasibility of the airplane
as means of transport in continuous
day and night flying, Winter and Sum-
mer. will open bids for contracts for
carrying mail on eight new air routes.
Through the stimulus of these con-
tracts, commercial aeronautics is ex.
pected by air. pioneers of the Post
Office Department to move onward to
take it's place eventually as one of
the principal methods of communica-
ton and transport in time of peace
and to become the nucleus of an effec-
tive air force for use in event of war.
IS Cities Involved.
The new air services will directly
connect up 20 important cities by air
mail routes with the 16 cities which
have been receiving similar service on
the transcontinentar air mail route for
more than a year. In addition to
these As cities which benefit directly
from the service, many other cities
will enjoy the advantage of speedy
transmission of mails by combining
the air routes and the railway mail
services.
In a few weeks additional air mail
routes will be advertised by Post
master General New to connect up
other cities in various parts of the
country.
The contracts for the eight new
routes will call for an extension of
the air mail service of 1852 miles.
Fulfillment of the contracts will re-
quire about 100000 miles of flying
yearly on the six round trips per week
scheduled for each route. Only day
flying will be scheduled for the eight
routes, which are as follows:
Eight Routes Involved.
Boston, Hartford and New York,
distance, 100 miles: time. hours and
20 minutes; postage, 10 cents an
ounce.
Birmingham, Nashville. Louisville.
Indianapolis and Chicago, distance,
$50 miles time, hours and 25 MIN
utes: postage, 10 cents an ounce.
Minneapolis, ST. Paul, La Crosse
and Chicago. distance. 352 miles;
time, hours and 20 minutes; post
age, 10 cents an ounce.
Dallas. Fort Worth, Oklahoma City,
Wichita, Kansas City. st. Joseph,
Moline and Chicago, distance, 1000
miles; time, about IL hours; postage,
10 cents an ounce.
ST. Louis, Springfield On.), Peoria
and Chicago, distance. 275 miles;
time, 3 hours and minutes; postage
10 cents an ounce.
Pasco, Wash; Boise, Ida, and Elko.
New, distance, 445 miles; time, s
hours and 10 minutes; postage, 10
cents an ounce.
Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New. and
Salt Lake City. distance, $40 miles;
time, s hours and 20 minutes; post
age, 10 cents an ounce.
Seattle. Portland, Medford, Sacra
mento, San Francisco. Fresno. Bak-
ersfield and Los Angeles, distance.
1,150 miles; time, south bound. IS
hours and 25 minutes with hours
and 40 minutes ]ayover at San Fran
cisco; north bound, Is hours and 10
minutes with IS minutes stop at San
Francisco: postage. Is cents an ounce
for entire route; 10 cents for 1000
miles or less.
Requirements Cited.
The law under which the Post
master General advertised for bids
for the contract services specifies
that a maximum of four-fifths Of
the postage received from mail car
ried may be paid to contractors.
Each bidder must detail the equip
ment he proposes to furnish, such
as the number of planes for use and
for reserve, their type, construction.
horsepower, speed and cruising
radius.
Accepted bidders must execute a
formal contract within 80 days after
acceptance of their proposals and
furnish a bond of not less than
$40. 900 for faithful performance.