MAROONED

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 12, 16 January 1933, Page 5

MAROONED

'A LONE PEOSPECTOE

IN CENTRAL AUSTRALIA

(From "The Post's" Representative.), ; SYDNEY, sth January. Only those who have a knowledge of . the dreaded Central Australia can realise the awful plight of the veteran prospector, Patrick Whelan, who was . marooned in a salt lake bed, 200 miles . out in the Victoria Desert, when disaster befell the aeroplane used in a mystery ; gold quest. It is believed that the ' party, of which Whelan was a member, set out in search of the famous Lassetter reef, which has already cost several lives, and has still to be located. The machine was brought down on.the ■ lake, and when an attempt was made to leave this inhospitable site the ■ machine overturned and was seriously damaged. Temporary repairs were made by the pilot, Harry Baker, but it was found that the aeroplane would not rise with its full load of three men. ■ Consequently one had to be left behind. This decision meant that Whelan had . to stay in one of the most forbidding spots in the world. The heat is terrific, and it was reported on Monday that the temperature near the lake was 114 in the shade, while the night was bitterly cold. There is no water r available, and "Whelan has been kept • alive by water and food dropped from ; aeroplanes that have passed over the spot each day. The pilots have re- • ported that the old prospector, is in a very weak condition, and fears for his /rescue alive are held out. It would take three weeks or more for a land party to reach him, and it is clear therefore that the rescue must be accomplished by air. How this will be undertaken has puzzled the brains of , some of the best pilots for more than a week, for a safe landing on the lake bed,.with its heavy sand, is almost out 'of the question. Harry Baker, however, has undertaken to make the attempt, and Australia awaits with interest the result of this hazardous adventure. ■ The blacks that Toam. the Great Vie- ; toria Desert are notoriously treaeher- '; ous, and although Whelan is well armed he has had much to fear in this direc- . tion. Already he is a sufferer from : spear wounds received in an earlier1 t encounter,with bla,eks. However, his v deadliest menace will be the heat, and pilots in the relief aeroplanes that have ~ passed over the lake say that when t. they descended from the cool heights the breath of the lake was like the blast from, a furnace. It -would be unwise for Whelan to shift the site of his camp, where he has the shelter of at least one tree, and it is essential, if his life is to be preserved, that he , should maintain connection with, the aeroplanes ,that have gone to the local- ; ity. In response to an urgent call from Western Australia the Boyal Australian 'Air Force sent two machines to participate in the rescue work, and as 'this will involve the Government in an expense of at least £1000 in fuel alone, the question of taking steps to prevent the so-called reckless flights into the desert country is now under consideration. Costs were not counted when the Department sent two Wapiti aeroplanes, but official action 'is likely to be taken to tighten up the civil flying regulations to prevent a repetition of desert flights without adequate preparation, equipment, ahd-ground organisation. The authorities have misgivings that now people have a general idea of the locality of Lassetter's reef further rasky flights will be attempted into the . arid desert hills. It.is probable, there- . fore, that early this year the Federal . Cabinet will fee asked to approve of „ new regulations requiring civil' air \ companies, which undertake flights: over . uninhabited country, where tnere are no prepared landing grounds, to lodge a deposit of £1000 to safeguard the public against the "cost of rescue work, . should such be necessary. A security . of that nature was secured from Mrs. -, Mojlisoa before she flew over the ■ Sahara. The Air Force itself never undertakes such flights unless two ; machines are flying in company and are specially equipped with " para- ; chutes, emergency rations, ammunition. ~ and wireless. "" *