Over 23,000 letters left Shanghat the China National Aviation 'Corporation's Sikorsky amphibian: early fon April 27, when another chapter In the history' of the world's air mall services "opened. These letters represent Shanghai "all the way to San Francisco by air, for they will be trans shipped to the Hongkong Clipper to-@ay and to the. China Clipper at Manila for the trans-Pacle Journey.
While part of the mall probably represents letters sent to the United States by genuine users of the new service, a very large part of it consists of "First Flight™ covers which are especially prized by stamp col-Jeetors and will return to their ownes at a later date The total weight for yesterday's consignment of mall about 200 kilogrammes, and it consists roughly of about 19,000 agistored letters and a further 10,000 of the ordinary mail matter type.
'This mail for the United" States will meet a similar consignment for 'Shanghai and the Far East coming. by the China "Clipper from the 'United States, where again philatelists "are helping to swell the mall bags" with" their' commemorative "First Flight" covers, 'The value of the mall' sent to Hongkong on Apr. 27 was probably the highest: in the history of the ait mails in China, "Atypical "First Flight" cover costs $145 to mail, with an addition a 25 cents for Fegistration. With 13,000 registered and 10,000 ordinary' letters, this works out at $36,000 as the minimum value' of the mails despatched.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.