EMPIRE AIR MAIL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 15 August 1938, Page 5

EMPIRE AIR MAIL

FIRST ENGLISH DISPATCH AT AUCKLAND LETTERS FROM THE KING & MINISTERS. MEASURES TO EXPEDITE DELIVERY. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) . AUCKLAND, Aug. 14. The first Empire air mail to be sent from England to New Zealand under the “all-up” scheme reached Auckland in the cargo steamer Kairanga, which berthed shortly after 8 o’clock on Saturday night. Weighing 10891 b, the consignment, which was dispatched from Southampton by an Empire flying-boat on July 28, was estimated to comprise more than 54,000 letters,. about onethird of which was for Auckland delivery. Included in the consignment was a specially-stamped and inscribed silk bag containing letters from the King, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr Neville Chamberlain, and Lord Stanley, Dominions Secretary, to the Governor-General, Lord Galway, and to the 'Prime Minister, Mr Savage. Similar letters were sent to the Gov-ernor-General of Australia, Lord Gowrie, and to the Prime Minister, Mr J. A. Lyons. ■ In accordance with the present plan to distribute mail by train or steamer from the point of arrival unless the charge for inland air dispatch is paid in the country of origin, dispatches for the south were placed on the Limited express which left Auckland tonight. Special arrangements were made by the Auckland postal authorities to sort the Wellington portion of the mail so that it would be ready for instant delivery when the train arrives there tomorrow.