FILMED AIR MAILS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 199, 17 May 1919, Page 7

FILMED AIR MAILS

A METHOD OF GREATLY REDUCING ■ WEIGHT. Major-General . Sir Percy Girouard, managing director of Sir \V. G. Arm-; strong, iVhitworth, and Co., Limited, has conceived a device by which letters can he reduced for the purpose of transit to one-fiftieth of their present weight, waking an airship mail between Britain and ttio United States a practical pro: position. In other words, it may be possible in the near future for business letters' from Britain to bo delivered in the United States in four or live days at H cost of .not more tbau double current rates. The system has been submitted to the British. Postmaster-General, and as Sir Percy Girouard is on a business trip to the United States he may place thu proposals before tho American Government.. The method is very simple. Each let ter on standard notepaper, of, say, ten by eight inches, would be photographed and filmed in a space one inch by threequarter of an inch, 'Tito films would he carried by airship across' the Atlantic in three day's at most, and then reproduced on the same size of notepaper, placed in envelopes, and addressed, sorted, and delivered. Inland postal service, could be accelerated by aeroplanes carrying films from centre to centre and reproduced for local distribution.

Estimating the present average business mail from Britain to America at MO to 800 tons, tho ' reduction in .weight to one-fiftieth would make the weight of film five or six tons. Tho process has been thoroughly tested with existing apparatus to Sir I'ercv Girounrd's complete satisfaction. Filming and reproduction are matters of minutes rather than hours, and photographs, illustrations, and drawings, apart from letters, are stated to be. reproduced clearly iu every detail. Business men might raise objection to letter* being open to scrutiny. The answer to that is that there would be littlo ■ time or desire to do this on the part of the operators of the machines, nnd any possible scrutiny would be confined to the limits existing in the ease ot cablegrams.'. As ah alternative letters could lie coded. Big houses with extensive correspondence between iho two countries could have their own filming and reproducing apparatus, Iho estimated cost of a machino being .Cfifl, and they might arrange to J'onvard their own letters direct to the airship.