Evening star., 1932-02-21

was to iron out inequalities In amounts
paid to contract airmail operators for
f1yine the United States mails.
Though the act has been in full oper-
alton more than a year, the range of
prices paid per pound for flying the
mil Is exceedingly wide, according to
the latest official reports Of the Post
Office Department aifmail service, COW
ering operations during the month of
December.
The lowest paid of the contractors,
on a poundage basis, Is National Air
transport, flying between New York and
Chicago. For carrying 148 $50 pounds
| of mail over this route, which includes
the treacherous crossing of the Allie
ghenies, perhaps the worst flying country
encountered by any of the contractors.
N. A. T. received 1922, ,404, or less than
80 cents per pound.
Yet, while NJ A. T. was receiving only
, 80 cents a pound for flying over the 736
miles of the New York Chicago route.
with it's many miles of dangerous fog
and cloud-shrouded mountains, another
contractor was flying mail over the 222-
mile route between Albuquerque, N.
Mex, and Ell Paso, Tex, for Sl5.6l per
pound. For flying total of 663 pounds
F., of mail in December this contractor re-
ceived $1O,356.42.
Largest paid OF all contractors during
the month was Boeing, which received
$282 ,9938l for flying the mail over the
2,027-mile stretch between Chicago and
San Francisco. On this route Boeing
carried a total of 1886 pounds of
mall its pay being at the rate of more
than $1.73 per pound.
Transcontinental Pay Is High.
Over the New York-Los Angeles
transcontinental line, a distance of g.
339 miles, longest of all single contract
runs, total of 1881 pounds of mail
| was flown. For this service the con-
tractor received from the United States
Government total of s182, ,92626. His
pay was at the rate of nearly S2.25 per
pound.
The Chicago-Memphis mail run net
ted the contractor $24655 for flying
$500 pounds of mail over a route 523
miles in length, his rate of paw being
approximately $4.2S per pound.
Eastern Air Transport, moving the
mails through the National CAPITAL on
the 2,254-mile route from New York to
Miami, carried 83,49 pounds of mail,
for which it was paid by the Post Once
Department at the rate of approximate
ly $l.80 per pound.
AHoliicI Hieu pOunQage rate was paid
by the Post Office Department for
transportation of the mails from Kan
sas City to Denver. Over this route,
544 miles in length, the contractors
planes carried 1910 pounds of mail, for
which he was paid $11 ,25l 20, at the
rate Of nearly $40 per pound.
The Great Falls-Salt Lake City line,
distance Of 500 miles, brought the
contractor total Of $32, ,463 for carry
ing 5,044 pounds of mail, the rate per
pound being in excess of $6 643.
These eight examples. picked from
the list of 81 domestic airmail
contracts, show the widest sort of dis
parity in rates paid, figured on the
pOnndage basis Why 1t should cost the
Government in excess Of $5 per pound
to have mail flown on several of its
contract airmail lines while it costs less
than 83 cents to have mail carried ON
one Of the main routes is one Of the
mysteries of the application Of the
Watres bill which appears difficult for
the layman to understand.
During the course of a recent 12-
hour training flight the U. s. s. Los