WOMEN PAVE THE WAY FOR CHRISTMAS "AIR POST."

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 300, 20 December 1938, Page 15

WOMEN PAVE THE WAY FOR CHRISTMAS "AIR POST."

The Pioneers Can Never Die. (By KAY CARSON)-,; . 2To matter what Christmas- signifies for you personally 5t lias this fert" for the 000,000,000 people living in 40 different territories in the Empire a. special: significance. . This Christmas of 193S is: the first m the history, of the Empire when all first-class mail between Empire countries will automatically travel by air. It is to all an- "Air-mail Christmas." It is estimated that 200 tons fo firstclass mail—roughly 11;000;000 letterswill be carried out of Southampton alone ,by Imperial Airways air-liners, in the few weeks prior to Christinas Dav Every available aircraft in the companv will be utilised to deal with such ..unprecedented mail loads, and in addition a Jleet of aircraft will be chartered from other companies both at Home audition" tlie routes. °. It seems difficult to believe that it is scarcely 20 that 'a-two-seater" biplane left JHonnslow aerodrome for Paris carrying the. first regular- laid of airmail in British history.. Each letter in those days cost half a crown. To-day letters winging their way through the skies to India, Africa, the Far East and Australia cost for each-half ounce What a sweeping tale of progress •these figures reveal. . There are women who come into the picture of the pioneering of' air-mails women who have helped to pave the' I way for the completion" of this colossal "air-post," by standing by their men,' who necessarily \had—in-pioneering , days of flying—to live at lonely outposts, along Eni])irc routes. '. V" ; Through' making homes where no homes had. been, before, these women made it possible for the men who Hew the mails, - and . the men who were -' in charge of- the ground arrangements, to live happily, to be - contented, and to carry on, a job of work 'which, over a period of 20 years; Imperial Airways lias build up" into the biggest airmal scheme in the world. , a In the;;: Foreground. Many countries' play their part in being able to cite women who come into the foreground of this picture. In Africa there is Mrs. Ronald Smith, to whom tribute must be paid for the erection of a small ,and comfortable hotel at M'pika, a lonely outpost in Northern . Rhodesia. That was in 1932. Only 14 white people lived at M'pika at this time, and of that tiny colony two only were women. The nearest town' was 300 miles away. The "Crested Crane," as Mrs. Smith called this hotel, was built in the days when Imperial' Airwaysi air liners'followed tlie old land route, which, connected Cairo with Capetown. Flying often over wild find rugged country, landing stops for' passengers

presented few; of the comforts which are routes nf° n + *I'° luxurio ' us ' :: flying-boat ■ °" day ' This • hotel was a eliJhf £" g - So,u " ce o£ surprise and li+ii • • to . l alr .l ,assc "gers, who expected little in the way of comfort in those early dajs of long-distance Jlyiii". -J* ? s: j9 he regretted that her "venture Mas a. failure, however, as jU'pika-was never scheduled as a night-stop aW Imperial Airways old land route, and the bulk of guests was dependent, therefore, upon .travellers along . the Road, which connects Cairo with Capetown,- and who were too few to make the liotel pay. Station . superintendents' wives come well to.the top of the list of these pioneering women. There is one, Mrs Lionel Webb, who lived with her husband for some considerable time on the outskirts of the aerodrome at Bagdad. Ihe only building for her home was the company's mess, used bv engineers > and pilots; the only view, vast "acres of sandv wastes. The whole cried out for a woman's touch. .. That also was in 1032. llrs. Webb wasted 110 time about supplying this touch. She had not been there a week before a subtle change"was noticed. Walls were whitewashed, furniture enamelled; she purchased material foi- bedspreads and curtains, stained floors and laid down attractive rugs. She has the distinction of being'the only woman to have ever lived at this particular aerodrome, as shortly afterwards, with the introduction of Empire flyingboats; the company's base'moved to Lake Habbaniych. Oasis in a Desert. There is another aerodrome which to-day still hears the mark of 'Mrs. Webb's ingenuity. It is the airport of Karachi, situated 22 milts in the desert. Here 011 the borders of arid sandy wastes she planted and established trim lawns and flower-decked gardens, evidence of which is reflected in the garden which flourishes to-day like ail oasis . in; a sun-scorched desert. jThcse women, and many more whom space does not permit a mention, must feel justifiably proud of the part which they played in establishing the airways of the Empire, which to-day reveal such remarkable progress in achievements arid comforts. Instead of single bags of mail flying to Paris in biplanes. Imperial Airways carry hundreds of' tons, which they distribute over 30,000 miles of air routes. Instead of small and uncomfortable aircraft, arc large and, luxurious. flyingboats'. and land 'planes, with full restaurant service, smoking saloons and promenade decks. " • There is provision for sleeping accommodation. against the- time when night•jflying comes into force, as it most; •assuredly must. V . v Lonely outposts are rare, and pioneer wo.men. of the airways rarer, as routes become more established. But airways must expand, The girdle is slowly being thrown around the globe. As new countries are linked, so do we get new outposts. The pioneer women of the airways can never die.