SOUTHERN CROSS

Hokitika Guardian, 15 May 1929, Page 2

SOUTHERN CROSS

SCOPE OF INQUIRY. SYDNEY, May 2. /With the announcement of tlu> personnel of the board that is to inquire into the venture of the Southern Cross and the subsequent loss oi the Kookaburra, one of the machines that engaged in the search, public interest in the whole sorry business has been revived, and the need of an inquiry, doubted at first, now seems t<. be generally admitted. Especially b this so by the many supporters of tin crew of the Southern Cross, who arc disgusted with what they term the “cruel slanders” that have been cir culated. ,

When the Southern Cross arrived back in Sydney last Saturday there was no tumultuous welcome, such as greeted tile plane when it landed from its Pacific, and New Zealand flights. Jn fact, it has not been difficult lo discern a little frigidity in the public mine! generally. The sad loss of Anderson arid Hitchcock seems to have been overwhelming. Of c wrsc. the circumstances of the landing of tlm Southern Cross were different- on this occasion to what they were at tlm end of Ue memorable flights already mentioned. Then, again, tnoie wnexcitement when it was announced that the Southern Cross had been found, and it was unreasonable to suppose that that measure of exeitment would be maintained until the plane arrived hack in Sydney almost a fortnight later. No member of the crew of the Southern Cross would say anything for publication on arrival in Sydney. TTlm said that the papers seemed to misinterpret everything they said, so they had decided to be silent in future. However, he was not altogether silent when approached by representatives of papers that were more or less finanically interested in the flight oi the Southern Cross.

The reception given to Pilot Holden. who discovered the Southern Cross, on his return to Sydney, was more enthusiastic than that accorded to the Southern Cross. Holden attributes his success to the fac-t that he flew comparatively low when bp was.engaged in the search, whereas all the other niacinn"s flew at a great height, helieviiig ’that tlieiV vision would bo increased bv so doing. They flow so high, said Captain Holden, that they could not see an object on the ground.

In view of the stories that have been freely circulated, Holden’s story of the finding of the Southern Oinss seems to be of vital interest, as lie will probably be one of the chief witnesses at the inquiry. Captain Hoi-*-en said: “We first saw the Southern Cross when wc were three miles away. Kingsford-Smith undoubtedly achieved a wonderful feat in landing) there with his machine undamaged. It is my opinion that KingsfordSmith purposely flew up the river in search of a suitable landing place. Only a skilled pilot could have managed it, as the ground was very wet and boggy. From the- wheel maiks deep in tlie mud we could S|, e how the Southern Crow landed, finishing up only three feet from the swamp. “The first sign,” lie continued. “ V(J saw of any of the stranded crow was two men on the top of the hill apparently lighting a fire, which, however, was not very prominent, for wc could not pick it out. The others were not visible at tbo moment. When they sighted us the two men on the hill commenced running down to the mud flat, stumbling a* they ran. They told us afterwards that they did not realise until then that they could run. IvingsfordSmitii fell over two or three times. We dropped them six packages of food, some of'.which burst upon bitting ilie groundf but they did not scorn to mind that. They .iust tore into it, disappearing from view under the wing of the monoplane. Wo flew around the Southern Cross for nearly two hours, close-ending to ISOQ feet. The heat was terrific. The crew of the Canberra, om- plane, were soaked with perspiration. Down below on the mud flat it must have been dreadful. Afterwards we ascended to 6000 feet and pin-pointed the position. The country around the Southern Cross was very rough, but tlieve was water everywhere. . . . flic country is ruTdled with water "cles and deep ravines. There is no doubt that blacks saw them, but tliey were too shy to approach. We frequently flow over fires which had obviously been lit by blacks, but we never saw anv sign of them.” Captain Holden was asked what he would have done if he had found himself in the same predicament as the crew of the Southern Cross, and he replied: “If I had not known exactly where the Port George Mission Station was. and had known that all Australia was organising a search for me, as Kingsford-Smith knew, J would have (stopped where T was. I would certainly have walked if I had known definitely where the mission was. That would l>c the obvious tiling to do. But the Admiralty chart does not show the station, and I suppose that the Southern Cross had only the Admiralty chart. If the Southern Cross had only 10 gallons of petrol left—and there would he no certain means of knowing wliothore there were 10, five or three gallons in the 1000 gallon tank—it would have been too great a risk to try and take off. T would not have taken it. Further tkm Hi->t. there would have been u chance oi smash-

ing the machine in taking off. From the marks it made on the landing the Southern Cross very nearly went on its nose. She would only have had to touch the tips of the pro] oilers on the ground, and she would never have got out. As to their chance of getting out oil a raft—it would have taken them a week, if they bad got out at all. Personally. I am fairly certain that they would never have made it. They might have been able to run down a certain distance, but the tides would have driven them back again. They are terrific up there.”

Referring to Anderson’s ill-fated venture. Captain Holden said: “It anpenrs to me that Anderson was hopelessly lost, We flew over the Kookaburra on our return. It is out in the middle of nowhere. There V nothing around there but spiniiex low scrub and red sand. . • • niilcand miles of burning, red sand. In fact, it looked to me as though half Australia is red sand. 1 cs, it wn c Anderson who was lying under tlm wing. He was wearing shorts. It was ghastly]. ... 1 don’t think TTlffb-oclc is ■ anywhere near the Kookaburra. Wo saw no sign of a grave. Tbo mound mrn.r the pl-nc was obviouslv the result of their attempt to di-v for water. If Anderson bad flown cither east or west for an hour he would have conic to water at Lake Wood. Uie overflow- from Newcastle Waters. The Kookaburra ouiir down only about 75 miles away. Vi.lcrsoiwould have had only one • banco of getting his machine clem again. If lie had tried and failed to take of! he would have crashed into the bush. I think they had cleared a runaway Vfore'’ attempting to iix the engine. ] don’t think they had tried to take off. We searched for Hitchcock, but there is very little chance of finding him, from the air. Six mac-bines looked in vain for the Southern Cross, one of the biggest monoplanes in Australia. So what chance was there of seeing a man in the desert from an aeroplane ?” The most amazing tiling about the inquire- that has been decided upon ir that tbo chairman of the board Brig-adier-General Ilson, was practical!) unknown to Australia up to the time bis appointment was announced. Them people commenced to ask who ho was. and what he knew about aviation. He saw- service in the South' African War, and in 191-1 he left •.Australia in command of tbo I*ifth 'Australian f'gbt Horse, By 1017 bo bad risen to the coiuinaucl of tbo ■ Third 1 .Light Horse Brigade 1 , and be returned to Australia with several decora lions, lie is a member of a firm of solicitors, and since the war bo has not been before the public in miy way. Tbo Prime Minister said that as far as he knew Brigadier AYilson had no expert knowledge of (lying