Evening star., 1925-09-23
NEW ENTERS AVIATION FIGHT
AGAINST SEPARATED SERVICE
Tells of Achievements of Air Mail Made With Aid of
War Department and Defends Conduct
of Flying Branch.

Continued from First Page)
expressed confidence that the depart
ment had achieved that ambition.
He showed how the average time
IL takes to transfer a letter by air
mail from New York to San Francisco
Is between "a and SO hours. ITO send
the same letter by train" he con-
tlnued, would take five days-with
luck" And a letter mailed in New
YORK at the close OF business could be
opening Of business there the next
morning.
The opportunity for savings to
banks and business houses afforded by
this service is very great" he said.
The service is growing in popularity.
Al the rate Of our receipts for the
last week 1t is fair to estimate that
the total receipts on the New York-to-
Chicago services for the year will be
about a million dollars"
Glover Backs Now.
Members of the board questioned
Mr.. Glover about this same subject
and he substantiated all Of Mr.. News
statements. The Air Mail Service,
he said, had saved financial institutions
more than $2,50o,000 in interest rates
last year by transporting their Sc
curties days earlier than train mail
service could have done it. A single
pouch Of mail is the only loss charged
to the Air Mail Service in all of It's
existence, he said. This, he added, is
far lower than the train services can
show.
Mr.. Glover also cited statistics to
show how air travel is far safer today
than 1t was in 1919. During that
year, he testified. there was one
death in the Air Mail Service for
every 64,995 miles Travelled. This
year there has been one death for
every 1,250,777 miles Travelled. No
country In the world he declared has
developed it's air mail service to the
extent the United States has.
The statement. of Postmaster Cen
the board. follows:
Tells of Air Mail.
Our activities in the air" the Post.
master General continued, have been
directed toward the performance Of an
important public service In a manner
to demonstrate to men of means that
commercial aviation Is a possibility.
This is what we have had in mind in
carrying the transcontinental air mail.
1t Is not our belief that the Govern
ment should permanently continue to
provide this service under Govern
ment auspices and at Government ex-
pense, but the service Is a most i'm
portant one, and IL it was possible for
1t ever to. be undertaken by private
agencies, 1t was first necessary to
demonstrate that It was an entirely
feasible thing.
The department several years ago
In cooperation with the War Depart
ment, made several we'll meant but
unsatisfactory experiments with the
air mail; for instance. a service was
established between New York and
Washington, for which the War De-
partment for short time furnished
both planes and pilots. 1t was later
taken over completely by the Post
Office Department, but it was never
a success for the reason that the dis
tance between terminals approximate
ly 200 miles, was too short to permit
of any substantial saving in time and
1t was discontinued. Two other routes,
one between Chicago and ST. Louis
the other between Chicago and the
Twin Cities. undertaken, in 1920, also
failed to justify their continuance and
were bandoned.
Larger Scale Necessary.
1T became apparent that II the
service was ever going to amount to
anything 1t had to be undertaken on
a much greater scale of operation
and between points far more dis
tantly separated. Service on sections
Of the present transcontinental line
was inaugurated at different times,
that between Cleveland and Chicago
and Cleveland and New York in 1919.
but it was not until September g.,
1920, that through service between
New York and San Francisco was at
tempted. Even then the carriage was
not continuous. Mail would be trans
ported by plane from San Francisco
to Salt Lake City or some other point
along the line, then given to the Rail-
road Mail Service for night, to be
picked up again by plane at a point
farther along the next morning.
TT was not long, however, until
1t became apparent that II the service
was to amount to anything it had to
be operated by night as we'll as by
day. To do this required the estab-
lishment of lighted airway to guide
pilots, illuminated landing fields and
many other special facilities. includ-
This airway was established from
New York to Rock Springs, Wyo.,
1856 miles. at an expense Of $514 ,405.-
6S, and the first through day and
night service was started July l, 1924.
Schedule Now Maintained.
"Since that time We have been able
to meet our schedules with q degree
OF regularity that has been highly
gratifying. OF course there have
been instances Of delays and Interrupt
tions, Just a. there have been to pas.
senger trains. I am inclined to think
that inquiry would develop that our
delays have been less numerous than
those of the railroads.
The schedule westbound, New York
to San Francisco, a distance of 2,665
miles, is "a hours and 90 minutes,
which includes stops at Is stations for
service and exchange of mail; that for
the sastbound trip IL 20 hours and Is