Evening star., 1925-07-13

much Is wasted by the laggard pace
of the fast mail trains?
The proposed new feeder air lines
will run from New York to Boston;
from Chicago to Minneapolis and ST.
Paul; from Chicago to Springfield. H.,
and st. Louis; Chicago to Louisville,
Nashville and Birmingham; Chicago
to Wichita and Fort Worth. There
will be feeders from San Francisco,
through Fresno and Bakersfield to
Los Angeles.
AS fast as the lines established be-
gin to show justification, in the volume
of business produced, more lines will
bs projected, provided contractors can
be persuaded TO undertake the enter
prise. The lines are not to be sub
sidized; the contractor is limited by
law to the so per cent of the postage
on the mail carried. He must give
a bond to assure faithful performance
Of his obligations. On a route of l 900
miles, as, for example, from Chicago
to Birmingham, the contractor will
have to provide not less than 10 air
planes, half of which must be parked
at points along the route for emer-
gency use when the four or five in
active service are out of order. He
may relinquish his contract on as
days notice; and the Government may
cancel 1t upon 45 days notice, but
only for cause. e., if the service
is not satisfactory, through failure to
get through upon schedule time.
Postmaster General New believes
that the experiment of the Govern
ment air mail service in the first year
has been of great profit in demonstrat-
ing the practical possibilities and in
training night flyers. The United
States has been accused of tagging be-
hind Europe in aviation, he said, but
no country now possesses such ef-
|ficient and experienced night flyers as
we do. As for the risk Of loss in the
pioneering of the contract or CONNER
cial service, Mr.. New declares that it
1T like the experience of the pioneers
in early railroad building. AS soon as
the first railroads had demonstrated
their success, competing lines par
|alleled them, but the older lines would
have the advantage of experience
familiarity with the resources Of the
territory and usually could meet COM
petition and drive it out Of the field.
For q new company to equip ma:
chimes and terminals and light a route
for night flying will require a great
capital, not lightly risked in a divided
iiClo VI SOiLptlitlOil SO lOIlS dS OIn6T
routes are yet unoccupied. There is no
extraordinary hazard in pioneering
routes.
The National Transport Co., with a.
capital of 10000, 900, recently organ.
iZed, with Howard E. Coffin, president:
VIII Hays, former Postmaster Gen.
eral, in charge of public relations and
publicity, and Col. Henderson of the
United States Air Mail Service, gen
eral manager, will soon begin CONNER
cial operations between New York and
Chicago, carrying passengers and ex-
press. The Government service does
not carry express packages, beyond
parcel post up to a limit Of 10 pounds
per package.
While aviation has made strides in
Europe apparently not equaled in the
United States, the European activity
is largely due to its anxiety for mill
tary defense The United States has
surpassed Europe in training night
flyers, and is equal to the best in the
world in point of speed.
At the close of the war the speed
record was 166 miles an hour: it is
now 278 miles. Then the endurance
record was held by the Handley-Page
bombers, and was about four hours in
the air; now it is nine hours for bomb
ers and about the same for observa.
tion planes. In advertising for COM
mercial types, Col. Henderson stipu-
lated that they must have a speed not
less than 100 miles, carrying capac.