ST. ANDREW'S MEN

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 141, 2 July 1937, Page 6

ST. ANDREW'S MEN

Club Meeting Again Well Attended DR BATHGATE'S ADDRESS The fortnightly meeting of St. Andrew's Men's Club, held last evening in St. Andrew's Hall, was well attended, and an excellent programme was carried through. The president, Mr. A. F. Redgrave, in referring to the late Mr. Cecil Duff, the founder of the club, said that by "his death they had lost a counseller and friend. His great desire to help everyone with whom he came in contact had made him loved by all, and he had left a great exampje for them to follow. Those present stood in silence, and it was resolved that a letter of sympathy should be sent to Mr. Duff's relatives. Community einging led by Mr. H. J, Gvieve, with Mr. W. Lord at the piano, was heartily joined in ny all present; Mr. V. Mummery rendered violin solos in a finiehed style; Mr. Douglas Agnew sang several solos which were well received (Mr. T. Vaughan accompanying). and Mr. Andrew Robertson gave two humorous items in his inimitable stylei A iive-minutes talk on the freeaing industry, with particular reference to Tomoana, given by Mr. D. J. McKay proved very interesting. When the pioneers of the freezins industry

started in New Zealand, forty to fifty yeafs ago, he said they had an uphill light to get it established, yet now it waa oue of the Dominion's largest staple industries. As showing what tlie industry meant to Hastings, he referred to the Tomoana works, which represented a capital outlay of a quarter of a million pounds and paid annually about £70,000 in wages to the 500 employees, although work was meantime only scasonal. Mr. McKay gave many interesting particulare of the magnit'ude and vardety of the lines handied by the Tomoana works which sufprised the listeners, and he said that, with contemplated improvements and dcvelopments, employment wo-uld probably be more continuous and less seasonal. The'^highly-organised system obtained in carrying on the industry t'o ensure efficiency and prevent loss was also described in an interesting manner by the speaker. The main feature of the programme was an address by Dr. Bathgate upon experiences in flying, dcaling with an aerial trip in a Monospar twin-engine monoplame from Hastings to Hokitika and back. With a perfect model of a Moth machine mounted before them, Dr. Bathgate familiarised his hearers with the working partg of the Moth, which, he said, had proved a perfect biplane for individual flying. The Monospar in which he made the journey over the Alps was a fiye-seater nionoplane which was used in aerial ^urvey work in Hawke's Bay. This seven-cylinder twin-engined radial-type plane developed 90 h.p. and used only 10 gallons of petrol an hour flying at 115 miles an hour. They were only nine hours flying time, in going, from Hastings to Hokitika, and covered in one hour thirty-five minutes part of the trip which had taken pioneers on lool aix months to accomplish. A thrilling description of the trip over a wilderness of mountains, flying above thp clouds at 8000 feet in brilliant sunshine and diving to.400 feet ihrough a "hole" to get beneath tKe clouds, were given by Dr. ' Batbgate, who had the close attention of his listeners as ho graphically doscribed the country over which he had travelled. lle had been greatly impressed, he fiaid, with the' ability of the pilot in navigating under difficult couditions and with the efficiency, comfort and safety of the nionoplane. In conclusion he expressecl the opinion that in years to come flying would be tho recoguised means of travel; and, although aircraft Were being used as armaments, ho held that its usefulness would outweigh the destructive purposes for which it was used. A hearty vote of thanks was accorded to the speaker.