MAIL BY CARGO BOAT

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 131, 19 June 1937, Page 5

MAIL BY CARGO BOAT

—Press Association.)

• ■ * — Uncertainty of the Tasman Services

(By Telegraph

AUCKLAHD, Last Night. Few instances of the uncOrtainty of the trans-Jasman shipping services have been as pointed as the circum. stances whieh forced -the Auckland postal authorities to close the air inails for London to-day at a few hours itotice and hastily to despatch correspondence for the Sydney-Singapore-England route to-night to eatch the cargo steamer leaving Dunedin at two o ;clock to.morrow" afternoon. The repeated casej of inconvenienee to trade and persons tbrough irregular sailings for Australia, were epitomised in the difficulty confrohting the post office staff. Mnil notices sinee Tuc-"' ly have advised that mails for AnstraUan Etaf.cs, Norfolk Xsland, China, Japan. Straits Eettlemcnis and Eputh Afriea, and the air mai! due at Loddon on July 7, would close to-morrow at ten o'clock and sail by the Kairanga. Thursday's heavy rain, however, hampered the loading operations of the Kairanga at Auckland and the XJnion Company advised to-day that the steamer would not sail until Monday. In an endeavour to eonneet with the aeroplaue leaving Sydney>for Londpn on Friday, the post ollice autliorUieH decided to close the air mail at Auckland at five o'clock tliis afternoOn and to cateh the Uni^H Ojinpany's earge steamer Kaikorai ui Dunedin. Bunk and commercial houses wero advjsed of the advanee iu the elosing time, but it is probable that a consider. able amonijt of mail whieh would otherwive have posted to-morrow morring, has been left. In view of the fact that fhere will not be sufi'icient time nt Dunetlin to sort additional lettei , it was impossible to allow late fce postage On the first stage of tlie journey. whieh showed remarkable initiative bv tho post office staff. The Kairanga 's air mail left Auckland this evening by the Limited cxpress for Palmerston North, where it wijl be transhipped into the regular Griion Airways' aeroplaue for Dunedin, The mach'me wijl arriye at Dunedin at 1.39 o'elock to-morrow jiftcruoon, half an hour before the departure for Sydney of the Kaikorai. Iu spite of the effprt of the j>ost office, there still remains doubt as to whetlier the Kiikorai will arrive at Sydn.ey in ,:me to connect with the aeroplane leaving gt 7,25 o'elock on Friday night. In that case the mails will remain at Sydney until the follpwing Tuosday and will

travel with the air mals carried by the Wanganella, which will leave Auckland on Thursday. The Wanganella 's mails are due at London on July 11, fpur days later than those leaving Sydney on Tuesday. The Kairanga will alce mail for the Australia n States on Monday, but mail for other parts of the world vill uow not be despatclied until Thursday.