World War I-dated ALS signed “Peary,” one page, 8.5 x 11, National Aerial Cost Patrol Commission, U.S. Coast Survey Building letterhead, September 6, 1916. Addressed from South Harpswell, Maine, a handwritten letter to Mr. Cole, in part: “I have your note forwarded from Washington & greatly appreciate your interest. We are trying to get the Coast Patrol Bill through Congress this Session. I will write the Academy of Political Science asking them to send you 100 copies of ‘Command of the Air.’ I have asked ‘Leslies’ to send you 50 copies of their issue of July 6th, containing my brief outline of an Aero Coast Defense System.” In fine condition, with three file holes to the right edge.
In early 1916, Peary became chairman of the National Aerial Coast Patrol Commission, a private organization created by the Aero Club of America. It advocated the use of aircraft to detect warships and submarines off the U.S. coast. Peary used his celebrity to promote the use of military and naval aviation, which led directly to the formation of United States Navy Reserve aerial coastal patrol units during World War I. After the war, Peary proposed a system of eight airmail routes, which became the genesis of the U.S. Postal Service's airmail system.
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