AIR RELIABILITY TRIAL POSTPONED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26639, 9 December 1947, Page 4

AIR RELIABILITY TRIAL POSTPONED

P.A. CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 8. Because of the infantile paralysis epidemic, the South Island Air Contest Committee decided this evening to postpone the 1000-mile reliability trial which was to have been held on February 21 and 22. The chairman, Mr H. D. Christie, announced after the meeting of the committee that the question of congregation of crowds at Harewood and other centres in the South Island had concerned the committee to such a degree that it had decided to postpone the contest after the question had been discussed in committee.

Mr Christie gave a report of discussions he had had with the Minister of Finance, Mr Nash, and the Minister of Defence, Mr Jones. He said that Mr Nash had stated that he saw no reason why the contest should not be held, but referred the question to Mr Jones. Because of the dollar situation, Mr Jones said he was not prepared to give the contest his blessing. Mr Christie added that the question of dollar expenditure had been discussed previously by the committee, which considered that the amount involved was so small that it could not possibly affect the dollar position. A resolution moved by Mr T. H. Langford and seconded by Mr D. W. Westenra, that the contest should oe postponed and the position be reviewed at the end of January, was adopted by the committee.