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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (April 28, 1918)
2 C THE OMAHA SUNDAY BEE: APRIL 28, 1918. NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON A IR-MAIL SERVICE $OON ' -Postoffice Department Laying Plan for Three-Hour Mail - Service Between Gotham and National Capitol ; To .Compete With Telegraph ';'" .Companies., ' Blackstone Garage No. 2 Is Opened to the Public How the Postoffice department hat brought about the ma terialization of plant for the initial inter-city mail tervice by airplane it graphically detcribed by Cattner Browder, aero nautic expert in Motor Life for April. "In a very thort time an active airplane mail route will be in operation between New York and Washington. WAR HEADS STEP IN. Y" . ' ... . 7T the plane wt:i De on lor a resi 11 ym Cortlandt park, or Mineola on Long Island, or Governor's Island, one of which pointi will probably be selected to house these twentieth century Mer cury. Use of Motor Trucks. ' "Motor trucks will be used to carry the mails from the postoffice at both ends,--of the route to the waiting planes. Details of deliveries have not been made known, but it is probable 4hat the regular mail service will be used, giving the air letters precedence in the same way special delivery let ters are now handled. This will result in a three-hour mail service between New York and Washington, compar ing with what is virtually a 24-hour schedule bv railway mail, and will even compete with present telegraph facilities. When it has been demon strated that letters and documents can be sent to New York from Wssh ington, or vice versa, in less than half a day, there will be fewer telephone calls, telegrams and trips, which will relieve overtaxed railway and wire fa cilities., The airline distance between Washington and New York is a little over 200 miles. The actual flying time will be two hours or less, depending 'upon the type of machine used. A stop will be made in Philadelphia, where a landing field and hangars will be located at League Island. Some machines running "express" may simply drop off mail at Philadelphia and continue to their destination with out stopping. A daily schedule, except on Sundavs. will be maintained re- 1'gardlcss of weather conditions. There I y f .U!. . L - A is Tin reason wny 11113 cannui ue uonc. The hours of. departure .and arrival will be announced later, and effort is going to be made to adhere to these hours with military precision. Cost of Postage. "Air-letter postage will cost 27 cents, and as it is expected that the service will be quicker than night let ters or day letters by telegraph, this is not excessive. Each machine is ex pected to carry 300 pounds of mail, It was the War department which furnished the winning bid and took over the order for planes, mechanics and pilots to carry out the plan. When tha route was projected the Postoffice department asked for private bids, calling for five airplanes delivered not later than April 25. Three bids were submitted, but none assured delivery in less than 63 days from acceptance. As this was unsatisfactory to the au thorities, the War department stepped In soon after the bids were opened on February 25, backing up the plan with Its great resources in material and per sonnel. Due to the co-operation of government departments, the new mail service was scheduled to begin operation by April 15 with eight high powered army machines, six in serv ice and two in reserve. However, dif ficulty was experienced in securing landing places in New York and Phil adelphia, ao the inauguration of the service will probably be delayed until May 15. "The army will carry on the work for a year with its own pilots and mechanics, at the end of which time it will be turned over to the Postoffice 'department - "The" government is now busy ar ranging all the details of this experi ment, if it may be so called." Landing fields are being selected, machines prepared and specially equipped for this service, and pilots are being de tailed to the air mail. Soon the first snaif-plane, with pilot and mail clerk aboard, will arise from Potomac park in Washington, carrying its 300 pounds of first-class, airplane mail. It will quickly disappear in the north, and within two hours will be hovering over the uptown postoffice in 4ew York City. When it (rets on the right spot the mail clerk will press a button or pull a control wire, and the mail bags will drop down into a net spread in the hollow square around which the postoffice is built. While porters and mail clerks are dragging the bags in and assorting letters for delivery, m y .v- !-,. :J o- r - - v. - - "HiTT ii - : " ' !S-X v.- J .-m f . ? I y. www S :. ; t 1 ys.;, ? I 11 11 , ! Saturday marked the opening of Blackstone garage No. 2, located at 1918Farnam street. This is one of the most modern, garage buildings in Omaha and will be operated by the . Yl t t . 1 . present owner 01 DiacKstone garage No. 1, located near Thirty-eighth and 1 UIUI BWlCiS. Several accessory lines will be featured by this company. and it is anticipated that with full loads the service will show a safe profit from the start. The postal rev enue from each trip will be almost $1,000, which will not only pay for gasoline, oil, pilots, mechanics, clerks and other help, but within a short time for the machines themselves. "A feature of the enterprise i that, for the first time in the history of the world, a specially designed govern ment 'air stamp" will be issued. The ourchase of a' stamp will be the only Lvay to see what it looks like, for the federal law does not permit lac-simue reproduction. Its denomination will be 24 cents and it will be used in the same way as the special delivery stamp- Af fixed to a letter, in addition to the reg ular 3-cent stamp, it will cause the letter to be. sent by air mail. "The inauguration of this service is not only a high tribute to the degree of preparedness attained by the avia tion section of our army, but is also evidence of the wisdom and acumen which are being displayed in the train mg of our military aviators. Our. old and trusty friend, 'the dawn of a new era," will soon be working overtime in the offices of edi torial writers and other wise observ ers pf the times. Once this air mail service. has been established and its advantages demonstrated, it will soon convert the doubters to the practica bility of the airplane for all kinds ot transportation. The one feature which alone will cause the airplane to sur pass all other forms of transit will be speed. The world has always sought for soeed and in a pinch will sacrifice comfort, convenience and even safety itself for speed. But such sacrifices will not be necessary in the case of the airplane. Comfort it already has. Convenience is not an important fac tor in a journey of a few hours, but even that will come.a Safety, within reason, is already attained. "The 'new-fangled' air mail soon to bridge the short but immensely impor tant bridge between New York and Washington foreshadows the time when not only mail, but passengers and freight will nit overnight at light ning speed." Jones-Hansen-Cadillac Co. Holds Salesmen's Meeting At a meeting of the Jones-Hansen- Cadillac organization held Thursday, a general sentiment of satisfaction with the present Cadillac models was voiced and each of the organization agreed that with the present models they should be able to make an excel lent sales showing. In appreciation of the splendid work of the sales force Mr. Hansen has promised a cash prize, which will be awarded the early part of May, to the salesman with the most . con sistent record. ? JU. A. R. STONE. , H;S. .WHITEHALL Co. Blackstone Garage Supreme for Service to Automobile Users ' : : ; ;. , ; . 7 . . - '.; -: .. . ,i . . . ." BladtstoneGarageNo, 1. BlackstoneGarageNo.2 3814-16 Farnam Street OMAHA Phone Harney 800 1914-16-18 Douglas Street OMAHA ' Phone Tyler 910 Striving Always tovrencler to the automobile-using public the maxi mum in SERVICE, we desire to invite everyone to, take advan tage of the splendid facilities we are now able to offer. Blackstone Garage No. 1 Thirty-eighth and Farnam Streets In point of equipment is unexcelled for the rendering of service to . the Electric Car Users. In the heart of the residential district of Omaha, is easy of access night or day. ABSOLUTELY F I R E- proof. s o ' ,;:.:. ;-v ! ' ; - . , Blackstone Garage No. 2 FineteentK- and Douglas Streets-Is Omaha's best garage, is located in the downtown district, has just v been completed and occupied and has every modern equipment that money -could provide for the public's convenience. ABSO LUTELY FIREPROOF. We render service of every kind, night or day, to our patrons at a re asonable cost. Authorized Service Stations FOR DODGE BROS. CO. MOTOR CARS. PHILADELPHIA STORAGE BATTERY CO. WIRE WHEEL CORPORATION OF AMERICA. We Direct Special Attention "service car for trouble ; drivers furnished by the - HOUR v WASHING AND POLISHING CARS ' , ;V DAY OR NIGHT Month or Day Patronage Solicited Our Appreciation Will Be Expressed by Superior Service Bkckstone Garage Co. UTILITY OF AUTO - NOW RECOGNIZED "Franklin's", Distributor Cites Instances ( Where Auto In stallation K - Greater ' Efficiency. ' There U acarcely a business firm in the country that has not felt the effect of greatly overburdened transporta tion facilities that have existeed ever since the United States entered the war. Delays in freight have given the motor truck industry a great impetus, and now with the sharp revision of passenger schedules, the difficulty for territorial salesmen to get from place to place and to meet the trade, is a matter of serious consequence and and one which places a new meaning upon passenger automobile use.. H. Pelton, local Franklin dealer, has recently heard from the factory how the situation has been responsible for a greatly increased interest in the Franklin for utility purposes. One of the mosf recent installations of this nature was made by a large New England cigar concern, through which their .salesmen are now entirely in dependent of railroads and are able to increase the number of daily calls on customers greatly. When the cost per call is taken into consideration, automobile travel has another advan tage in comparison with railroads. While these utility installations are gaining in popularity, some interest ing "data on motoring costs will un doubtedly be tabulated by some. con cern, as the cars will be judged for their fcerformance only. "From the. data that the factory has available," says Mr. reiton, mere is a very evi dent turn toward cars of the Better U lis t" of some 6,000 users of the Auto- grade incorporating light weiuht con struction, because of economy in gas oline and tires. The Franklin car has also come in for attention because of the year-'round reliability of its air cooling system.-1 believe that this present year will show some wonder ful development in automobile use of a commercial character." Everybody reads Bee Want Ads. AUTOCAR TRUCK - :. TROVES POPULAR; HAS 6,000 USERS The extent to which business houses in every part of the country have standardized on motor truck deliver; for both long and short hauls, it one of the great phenomena attending the present congested freight situa tion. Making the start througti neces sity, thousands of firms have found motor equipment so much more de pendable and economical than any other form that they are rapidly ex tending it. A recent, examination of car Motor truck showed that 415 different an? distinct lines of business are represented. i- An example of this delivery de velopment is illustrated by nc ex" perience of A. Silz, Inc., of New YrWv and Pittsburgh, dealers in fancy poul try and 'frame. This firm keeps 21 mot&r dc ;very trucks constantly on the move in the New York territory; alone. x The Qole ro-ElGHT The Roadster supreme tke Cole Aero-Eight in two-passenger design. Nowkere is the Aerotype body shown to tetter advantage. Nowhere is the splendid mechanism afforded a Better opportunity to demonstrate its inherent capacity, utility, economy. Four year of exclusive application to one chassis have Been responsible for this marked "advance in engineering. Ten years x devoted to the production of cars of uahty. are the sound foundation behind the ole Aero -.tight. The car that was the outstanding feature of 'the shows last January, the Aero -Eight has been the choice of the dis criminating ever since. 8 De Brown Auto Sales Co." WhoIeMl Distributor lor lows and Norther Nobratlu. , Soma Good Ttrrltory Opoa for Liv Dollar. 2210 Farnam St, Omaha, Nab. 1414 Locust St, Da Moinaa, la. Traynor Automobile Co. Retail Distributor 2210 Farnam St. Phona Doug. 5268 COLE MOTOR CAR COMPANY, INDIANAPOLIS. U. S. A.' ill BETHIEHGM MOTORMTRUCKS Bethlehem Motor Trucks DEPENDABLE DELIVERY ' . Confidence Convenience Economy arc three things vou buy with every Bethlehem Truck Bethlehem stands for dependable delivery in every form of hauling in . t t j , ti - l. l. J l : . L : , All wcadJers and at all distances." h is the dominant motor truck h a motor truck age Examine a Bethlehem I $1295 UTon P. Q H ALLENTOWN, PA. $1915 ChaMlt Chajate BETHLEHEM DUMP TRUCKS Writ for Catalogue BETHLEHEM TFVACTOKS J. T. STEWART MOTOR CO. ' 2048 Farnam St, Omaha, Nob. Distributor Nebraska, Western Iowa, South Dakota. aM MMMM ""M,