The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1932-12-16

Roared airplanes and pilots, a new Santa Claus
band
might be aptly used to describe the situation Of
air mail and air express this Christmas.
Truly, arplane pilots will be roaring through
the skies carrying Christmas gifts and greetings
from one end of the United States to the other.
And quite fitting it is, too, that gifts should
rive in this manner, for isn't it true that those
reindeer steeds of Santa's always had a pro-
pensity for air travel? Always the pictures we
have seen of them show them coming down the
sky about to settle on the snowy roofs of houses
below them.
But now, instead of Dasher and Dancer Pran-
Ger and Vixen, Donder and Bitten, the six fast
animals who for so long have pulled Santas
sleigh loaded with gifts to our chimney tops
1t is Pratt and Whitney, Curtiss and Fokker,
Boeing and Corsair, airplanes and engines, that
zoom through the skies carrying the great load
Of Christmas mail.
And that rotund figure with white beard and
jolly face who dressed in a bright red costume
trimmed with Arctic fur has been supplanted by
a different breed of man, one who is leaner of
figure and sterner of face. He is no less jolly
by nature, perhaps but he is serious with the
new intelligence of air navigation He and his
fellow pilots men who have been selected
to fly the mail because of their superior qualities
as aviators.
In the accuracy and speed of air mail dispatch
is more than usually evident at Christmas time
Beginning about the first of December air line
employees start preparation for the rush of air
mail and express that will begin about that
time and by three days before Christmas will
have reached almost cyclonic pitch. As the
influx of mail increases extra planes and pilots
will be called into service and in some instances
1t will be necessary to cancel passenger reserva-
lions that the a w0Ud
cupy in ship can be utilized for carrying more
mail
1t is a common sight around an airport at
Christmas time to see people who have DELAYED
their Christmas mailing until the very last min
ute hurrying in their cars on foot and
on street cars TO get their packages in plane
which will get them TO their destination In time
Practically all types of merchandise is &C
cepted by air lines for transport and variety
of gifts find their way into the cockpit.
A Chinese fisherman who lived on the coast
of Alaska last year sent a 40 pound Alaska
salmon to his sportsman friend in New York
for whom he worked during the fishing season
as guide With such a tremendously rapid
medium of transportation as the airplane that
accomplishment fell into the realms of the COM
monplace. No more precautions were taken for
preparing that fish for a 2.5O0-mile ride across
the continent than would be taken by con-
fectioner preparing an icing to be delivered to
suburban customer 20 miles away The fish was
packed in bit of dry ice. placed in the COM
partment of an airplane and about 4S hours
later was served in the course of Christmas
dinner for a group OF New Workers.
A young woman living in Los Angeles sent as
q Christmas gift to friend living on the snow
swept prairies Of Illinois bouquet of orchids
Santa Claus with his very swift reindeer couldn't