SOUTHERN CROSS ENQUIRY.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19622, 18 May 1929, Page 17

SOUTHERN CROSS ENQUIRY.

KINGSFORD SMITH'S EVIDENCE. RUMOURS HOTLY DENIED. landing attributed to WEATHER. (CXITBD I'Hlaa ASSOCIA.TIOK—BY E'.£CT2IO iBLEG»4I'H—COPrniOHT.) SYDNEY, May 17. The air enquiry was continued. Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith, further examined by Mr Hammond, sraid that after the forced landing they heard Morse broadcast directions how to change the receiving set to a transmitting set. Mr Hammond: Yet you made no effort to make that change. Kingsford Smith: No, for a very good reason. It would have thrown our receiving wet out of action. We expected someone to radio the latitude ami longitude of Port George. Mr Hammond: They didn't know where yotl were, and you didn't tell them. Smith: That is so. McWilhams knew quite well how to change the set. Mr Hammond : Didn't you consider the advisability of using oil or petrol for the fires votu made. Kingsford Smith; Yes, but it would not have made the white smoke which we wanted. Mr Hammond: Did you obtain permission to make this flight? Kingsford Smith: No. Permission was not necessary. Mr Hammond: I understand you were flying blind for ten hours before the forced landing? ' Kingsford Smith: Yes. Mr 'Hammond: Then, even if you :had maps showing the. mission stations they would have been useless. Kingsford Smith : There were breaks in the weather when better visibility would enable the crew to see such places. Questioned about firearms, Kingsford Smith said that the crew carried two small Colt revolvers, and two hundred rounds of ammunition for use in the event of attacks by hostile tribes-

men in foreign countries. The crew intended, if necessary, to die fighting. Mr Hammond: You made no attempt whatever to reach Port George Mission after landing? Kingsford Smith: We didn't know in which direction it was. Kingsford Smith denied that any message was radioed by McWilliams about the men eating wild fowl. He described as "an absolute, deliberate, and malicious lie" the published statements and imputations that the forced landing of the Southern Cross at Glenelg river was premeditated and arranged by the flyers for publicity purposes. Continuing, Kingsford Smith characterised the published statement that the arrangement was that the flyers should lose themselves and that Keith Anderson should find them, as a malicious lie affecting the dead man's reputation, for which witness could only feel disgust. These emphatic answers were given to Sir Hammond. Quoting, From statements m a newspaper, Kingsford Smith declared that no arrangements had* been entered into with Anderson, or anyone else; He denied that the u Sun" ahd the "I»aily Telegraph Pictorial" were parties to any alleged plot. The only arrangements with those newspapers was a contract for ft story wh'icn nad already been prodneed. The witness attributed the forced landing ta the weather causing them to lose direct-ion.—Australian Press Association.

UNFORESEEN EVENTS. LESSONS OF EXPERIENCE. (Received May 17th, 7.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, March 17. Mr Hammond: _ Then the happenings were not only unpremeditated, but unexpected f Kingsford Smith: Entirely so. Tell us about the rations you had when you were lost.—We found what "we thought were snails, but have since learned they were a species of crawling shellfish. We also found a plentiful supply of swamp beans. Mr Casaidy, counsel for the airmen, questioned : Kingsford Smi;h about the country at Glenelg River. Smith said it was very rugged about Port George Mission Station, which was in a dip between the hills, and difficult to see even if one walked within half a mile of it.

Mr Myers (who is appearing for Mrs Anderson): There is a suggestion that you endorsed a promissory note for £3OO on Anderson's 'plane, and that this was part of the arrangement that Anderson should find yon after yon were lost. Is that sot Kingsford Smith: That is a deliberate lie. Captain Hughes: Is it true that after you landed, either through inadequacy of equipment or bad luck, you found it impossible to communicate with the outside world f Kingsford Smith: I do not admit that the strength of our improvised apparatus was inadequate to maintain signals for a long enough period to allow listeners-in to tune their dials to our particular wave-length. Our experience has taught us that provision should be made for transmitting from the ground. Captain Hughes: What was your reason for going direct to Wyndhamf Kingsford Smith: We always maintained that the Southern Cross could go anywhere. We are in the position of pioneers, and pioneers always take risks. . Captain Hughes: Would you have been physically lit to walk to Port George Mission after you had been three days on the mnd flat! . Kingsford Smith: Certainly not. The party decided several times that it would be unwise to walk to the Mission Station. Captain Hughes: So if you received a message telling you where the Mission was, it would have been no nsef Kingsford Smith: It would have been of very great use. We would have tried to get there. He added that the smoke columns from their fires rose 200 to 300 feet on quiet days. Captain Leslie Holden was then called, and described his search in the airliner Canberra for the lost aviators, as jjlready published- He added that the place where the Southern Cross landed was not such a spot as he would have selected for a landing. The crew of the marooned 'plane seemed slow in their movements, although there was nothing unusual in th# gait of two of ihs ■«&. - They piokedap p*re«to

food and made signß that they could receive radio messages from Sydney but not from the Canberra, which was unable to land, but returned next day with more food, mails, and messages. Captain Holdeu said it was absolutely necessary to have an efficient emergency wireless set for a flight to NorthWestern Australia. Experiments in transmission from the ground which his operator tried gave poor results. Mr Hammond: Is there anything you can suggest which the crew of the Southern Cross could have done besides landing?

Captain Holden: No; they were lost. It was also a gamble whether they could land safely. I am sure in the circumstances that they did the right thing. Captain Holden produced a series of photographs of the Southern Cross on the mud flat, and then gave evidence about the search for and the discovery of the Kookaburra. The enquiry was adjourned till Monday.