AIR MAIL ARRIVES

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 179, 27 April 1931, Page 9

AIR MAIL ARRIVES

Kingsford Smith’s Flight SUCCESSFUL RETURN Warm Welcome at Darwin SIGNIFICANT OCCASION By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright (Rec. April 26, 5.5 p.m.) Sydney, April 26. Air-Commodore Kingsford Smith in the Southern Cross flew to Koepang an(l returned successfully with the Australian air mail from the stranded Imperial Airways plane, City of Cairo. He left Australia on Friday morning and returned on Saturday afternoon. A message from Darwin on Friday stated that the Southern Cross left at £.20 in the morning for Koepang. A large crowd saw Smith take oft easily, rising after a run half-way across the small aerodrome. He was last seen tver Point Charles. A message from Koepang that day stated that the airman had arrived to pick up the City of Cairo’s mails, and yesterday Amalgamated -Wireless reteivet. a radio that Smith had left Koepang Cor Darwin at 7.30 a.m. with one pilot, one of the crew of the crashed City of Cairo, as passengers. The Southern Cross arrived at Darwin at 2.45 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, “Smithy” lauding perfectly. He was Warmly welcomed. The mails were transferred ceremoniously to the Post Office, from which they will be loaded into a Quantas plane. The large crowd regarded the arrival of the first English air mail on Anzac Day as specially significant. The mail consisted of 19 bags of ordinary matter and one bag of freight. Kingsford Smith said that postal red tape at Koepang, where telegraphic traffic outside the usual hours is impossible without authority from Sourabaya, caused delay. MAIL AND FREIGHT Second. Machine Leaves BAD WEATHER AT START (Rec. April 26, 5.5 p.m.) London, April 25. The aeroplane City of Coventry took off into half a gale and blinding rain with the second Australian air mail, consisting of only 5000 letters; also freight consisting of a parcel of tools for making gramophone records and a consignment of condensed milk. RETURN SERVICE Air Cargo Leaves Sydney (Rec. April 26, 5.5 p.m.) Sydney, April 26. The Southern Sun, which is inaugurating the London-bound air mail, left Sydney this morning with 21,793 letters and packages from Australian States, also 347 letters from New Zealand. , . Additional mail matter will be collected at Brisbane, where the aeroplane arrived after lunch. A Quantas machine will carry the mails to Darwin.