The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1939-07-13

While congress was engaged in a
momentous struggle to enact bills in
volving such vital matters as neutrality,
monetary policies, relief, and so forth,
four of its members participated in
another event, the trascendant signifi-
canoe of which was not accorded the
amount of public attention which, in
my judgment, it merits.
I refer to the transatlantic airplane
trip to Europe participated in by Sen
ators Ernest Lundeen of Minnesota,
Farmer-Laborite, and Dennis Chavez
of New Mexico, Democrat, and Repre-
sentative Clarence Cannon of Missouri,
Democrat, and Carl E. Mapes of Michi-
gan, Republican. These congressman
had been specially invited on this trip
and went practically as semi-official
observers for congress on this almost
experimenting occasion of the per-
manent launching of clipper passenger
air service across the north Atlantic
between the United States and contin-
entail Europe.
AS could be expected, these air
minded solons got great deal of we'll
deserved publicity in the great metro
politan press. Here is sample I am
quoting from the interview with Sen
ator Lundeen and Representative Can
non which appeared in the Washing
ton Post on their return to Washington.
1t affords such vivid word picture of
q nl ryny
aviation in this country, that 1 feel
sure most of my readers will be as
thrilled reading it as I was when
read it:
These planes will take the cream of
the trade, said Cannon, who, it must
be remembered, is from Missouri Why,
once you've made that flight over the
ocean, you'd never think of going any
other way unless, of course, you just like
the ocean,
Think of it, said Lundeen Pretty
soon Americans who can afford it will
be week-ending in England They can
leave Thursday evening, spend pleas
ant, restful night over the water and
arrive in Southampton Friday morning.
They can have Friday, Saturday and
Sunday in the British Isles and leave
Sunday night, returning home Monday
Actual flying time for the round
trip from continent to continent, said
Cannon was 80 hours and IA minutes
-13 hours over and 16 hours back.
That, he pointed out, is less than the
time it took another flyer, Col Charles
A. Lindbergh, to go one way from New
York to Paris.
"And speaking of figures, said Can
non, the Yankee Clipper, weighing 421a
tons, and carrying total of 80 passen-
gers and crew, is actually larger than
Christopher Columbus ship, the Pinta,
of 40 tons with crew of Is.
''The fortieth birthday of Juan
Trippe, president of Pan American Air
ways, was celebrated as the plane was
crossing the Atlantic on its eastward
journey.
Eve had nine-course dinner" said
Senator Lundeen, "and everybody made
speeches and presented Mr.. Trippe with
humorous gifts we bought in Newfound-
land" And then close harmony was
INDUCED in, climaXed by what might
have been the theme song of the voy-
age: my Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean"
There wasn't much use looking out
of the window" said Senator Lundeen,
although we did see one iceberg that
was almost a record feet
high and 1000 feet long, according to
the crew."
Between the Red River oxcart and
these luxurious air liners less than a
century of time interviewed Still it
a measure of transporta-
ton progress that is hardly less COM
prehensible than the astronomical
figures involved in current govern
mental undertakings. The thing that
puzzles me more than anything else
just now is why, in the face of all
these marvellous improvements in ma
terial matters, we have made such in
finitesimal progress in human re-
lations.
1t would seem that the ingenuity
which has succeeded to almost. an
initiate both time and space, should
also be capable of solving the problems