HUGHES’S ADVENTURE

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10283, 19 May 1919, Page 4

HUGHES’S ADVENTURE

ARRIVAL IH LOHDOH

Tin; NAURU £Q\tleme:ct,

By Telegraph—Press AEs^elation—Copyrlgln Australian and Is.Z. Cable Association.

(Received May IS, 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, May IG,

Hr Hughes, Commonwealth Premier, has arrived, in London. He crossed the Channel in a steamer, none the worse

for yesterday’s exciting incidents in an aeroplane. Mr Hughes told a reporter that a thick fog developed when the aeroplane reached the coast, necessitating the pilot, Lieutenant Briggs, a South Australian, making a descent to hnd landmarks. The log was so dense that he almost collided with a clump of trees. The pilot skilfully cleared the trees, and decided that the conditions were too treacherous to permit a safe landing. He headed for Amiens, where he found the aerodrome had been shifted, and proceeded to Abbeville, descending on a field close to the- Australian general hospital, where he was entertained.

A second attempt was made to reach the coast, and again the pilot refused to risk crossing the Channel. The aeroplane was successfully landed at Maisoncelles. Still determined to fly the Channel, the pilot motored to a neighbouring aerodrome in the morning, but there learned that the flight was impossible. Mr Hughes remains in London until Wednesday, unless urgently called to Paris in connection with the Reparation Commission. Meanwhile no further Australian representations will he made at the Peace Conference. It is understood that an exact settlement regarding the Nauru Islands has not yet been arranged.