AVIATION.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 August 1919, Page 1

AVIATION.

At Wellington on Saturday, Sir Joseph Ward had something to say on aviation, a subject in which he has always shown a keen interest. “ Necessarily,” he said, “ the whole question as a matter of policy will have to he considered by the Government. The report of Colonel Bettingtou, who came out specially to investigate aviation for New Zea-

land, I have not seen so far, but I am looking forward with very much interest to reading it and seeing the ! details of the proposals made. In

my opinion, no country that wants to keep abreast of the times can afford to stand out of aviation for long. The developments have been

'-A»m;u.ma l j ir uu.u l an; tlie last year of the war, and since then, that what was at one time rightly regarded as a somewhat dangerous service has progressed to an extent that is making it almost as safe as motoring or transit for human beings by sea, and it is now only a question of money as to its adoption for mail services to places in this country that are remote from daily or even bi-weekly comnmnica- !

tion. In England, for instance, it I is an every.-day occurrence for newspapers, both morning and evening,

published in London, to be canned by aeroplanes, specially adopted for the service, to different parts of the United Kingdom. I was assured, upon competent authority, that the force of wind does not stop them from going in any weather ; so far

as that is concerned, it is fog and heavy thick rain that arc the principal deterrents. There are daily services from England to Paris and Cologne, and to other important

centres of tlie Continent, that a.e carried out with great regularity, except under the conditions that i have referred to. The heads of great business establishments in London can cross for the purpose of spending a clay or so and returning the same way. A short while beiore I left London, Mr Selfridge, head of the great firm of Selfridges in London, proceeded to Dublin, where there is a branch of his business, spent a day there, and returned tiie next morning. The head | ol Harrods, Ltd , proceeded 1o Paris | and Belgium, spent, a day there, and j returned next day. These are only 1 isolated instances of the uses to ■ which aeroplanes arc being put, and j it seems to me that in this country,

though necessarily on a smaller scale compared with anything that has been attempted and carried out in England, the conditions are such that we cannot afford to lag behind.

“There is a regular passenger service carried on daily in .England, Scotland' and Ireland. On' the steamer crossing the Atlantic before the one we came by there were seven different people who employed aeroplanes to enable them to join the steamer, the train connexion for which they bad missed. Their luggage was carried as well. They did not all travel by the same aeroplane, but I understand there were five machines altogether. I had the opportunity after I left England ol seeing the British dirigible make its start on the .return journey across the Atlantic. It appeared over Broadway, New York, while Lady Ward and I were returning from the Australasian Club, which has been established there for Australians and New Zealanders. This huge machine, in appearance like a silver fish, appeared over our heads. The army authorities turned on a number of searchlights, and ihe heavens were lit up. The dirigible passed over two of the tallest buildings in New York filly feet clear of them. At a particular point it turned seawards, and then put on full speed and disappeared com plelely from view in less than ten minutes. The fact that this dirigible has made the journey safely both , ways is a pretty clear indication of what can be done in the air. It is, of course, costly work. Voyages of this kind are costly, and it will be a ; considerable time before a regular ; Atlantic air service for the convey- j ance of passengers is carried out. j But that it is coming is as sure as j that we are alive. So far as New Zealand is concerned the whole ; matter is one for consideration by the Government as a whole.”