AERONAUTICS: French Week

France established three important air routes last week. A passenger line was started between London and Cannes, pearl of the French Riviera. Another was begun between Southampton and Cherbourg, where the English Channel is generally rough. But most important of all, France began air mail service to South America.

More than 7,000 miles lie between Paris and Buenos Aires, a rail and boat journey of three weeks, but letters will soon pass from one to the other in ten days. Planes will carry mail from Paris to Toulouse, to Alicante, Tangier, Casablanca, and Dakar on Cape Verde off the coast of Africa. A special boat will carry the mail to the most northeasterly point of Brazil. And there planes will again take up the burden, resuming service to the Argentine, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay. Charge for one letter: circa 30¢.

Plans for this oceanic route were completed last December when the Chamber of Deputies granted a 60,000,000-franc subsidy. These plans were hurried into operation last week because the Germans were hurrying forward with competition.