The Daily Alaska empire., 1938-05-03
FIRST AIR M ALL DRAWS THR0NCS TO PAA AIRPORT
Sound of Cameras Nearly Drowns Voices of Of-
 hcial Speakers
400 POUNDS OF MAIL
 TAKEN FIRST FLIGHT
Epochal Flight Said to Mark Beginning of Alaska
 wide Air Service

A few minutes before one o'clock this afternoon the twin engines of Pacific Alaska Airways Lockheed Electra roared to life, drowning the music of the Juneau High School band and the whir and click of cam eras-then lifted the big plane out over the crown of Mendenhall Glac- fer with 400 pounds of the first Uni ted States airmail to go from Jun eau to Fairbanks.
 Aboard the plane piloted by s. E. Robins and Walt Hall, were the seven following passengers: Charles w. Carter, President of the Juneau Chamber of Commerce; John E. Lamiell, Director of International Postal Service Robert Sheldon, Postmaster at Fairbanks; and Fred Milligan, Airport Manager for PAA at Fairbanks, all participants in the program, and MT. and Mrs Sand regin and Ed Anderson, for Nome
 The history making flight was preceded by an elaborately prepared program, sponsored by the Juneau Chamber of Commerce, during which prominent officials taking part in the ceremonies, exchanged greetings and spoke over a nation wide radio hook-up.
 Sunny Skies
 Sunny skies brought out an esti- mated crowd of TOO persons to wit ness the program. The school band was out in uniform. and camera en- thusiasts at times almost quieted the voices of speakers with whirring movie cameras and snapping still cameras.
 Two comedy Juneau girls, Mary Jean McNaughton and Katherine Torkelsen, carried symbolic ribbons to midway point between two poles marked Interior Alaska" and Southeastern Alaska"
 Postmaster of Fairbanks Robert Sheldon, in tying the knot in the ribbons with Postmaster of Juneau, Albert Vile, struck the keynote of the occasion when he said, Ten years ago, this flight of mail from Fairbanks to Juneau over the tort uous trails of yesteryear, was but dream Today it is a realization"
 Importance Stressed
 In speaking for Gov John w. Troy, confined at home with cold, his Secretary, Harry G. Watson, stressed the importance of today's occasion.
 ''The establishment of airmail over Alaska has been one of the most fav- ored objectives of the present Ad- ministration, Watson said" Today opens what is the most important step in the hoped-for final achieve ment of scheduled air service for Alaska
 South Service
 "In the plan which we hope to consummate, our next step is air. mail from JGfcau to Ketchikan to Seattle. Realization of this import ant airmail route is realization of the worst of the battle, for with airmail, we then get scheduled ser vice"
 John Lamiell, Director of the In- ternational Postal Service, brought greetings from Postmaster Gener- al James A. Farley and Harllee Branch, and praised the pioneering efforts of Pacific Alaska Airways, who are contractors for the new mail run.
 Without the pioneering of PAA, which must have been disheartening great number of times, it would have been impossible for this pro- ject to reach a realization" Lamiell said.
 And not only does the swifter mode of communication unite AL askans more closely" Lamiell said, Such a service as this tends to strengthen as well, the Llaison exist ing bewteen the Territory and Washington. D. C."
 Pouch Recetued
 Collector of Customs J. J. Con- nors, then received the ornate leath- CT pouch filled with gold-sealed let ters of greeting in exchange being sent from Juneau officials to Fair banks officials and return Sealing it, Connors handed the pouch to Acting Operations Manager S. E.
 Continued on Page Two)