ENTHUSIASM AT TRENT HAM

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 15 September 1928, Page 10

ENTHUSIASM AT TRENT HAM

■ s Doubtless more people would have gone to Trentham to-day had the Southern Cross been coming, but as it was .there were some 3000 pcople.oii various parts, of tie course. The greatest pains '" had been taken by the authorities to pre- " vent any rushing of the 'planes, or any .Crowding of the ground, with possibly disastrous consequences. At every \ gate, door, • and possible place of en--1 trance, were stationed officials, whose "■ zeal, while somewhat discouraging to ,',tho personal esteem of some of the -..'more important visitors, was certainly ""effective. All round the fences where :-'' /people could have been expected to . '".climb over, were stationed men in uni- • form, with the result that with the cx'"ception of the principal iigures in the .■welcome,- nobo'ly was on the ground at '. . Traffic on the roads was heavy for .:■"* while, .and. there -were .some hold-•i';-ups in. the Taita Gorge, where the ; v roads are;■'somewhat impeded by imple.Tments and loose- spoil in places, but the -..traffic was,fortunately, in the- circum- • '"•'stances* .nothing like that of a race day, 'and tliero Was -amplo parking room for cars,. whjeh made tho trip. Tho were.,not very greatly patronis- •« :ci. Most of the. crowd congregated on •-the public stand, tho .stewards' stand ■ ■''being' reserved for the-"principal actors in tho welcome, but quite a large num.- .. bcr of spectators lined the rails at the .'edge of the course. ■ Hazy, lazily drifting clouds under tho -light northerly began to thicken up -:,•■ by 10.45 a.m., and a steady rain set -■in which drove the eager crowds off the -- courso to the, shelter of tho stands. As • soon as the news that the aviators had Started was made known, people were on the quivive, although everybody ■ realised that it would be over half ■an • hour before they could arrive. It was ..vat 10.50 a.m. that the sharp eyes of --some small boys at the rail picked out v three dim shapes.in the hazy distance, high up, apparently over the Silverstream bridge. The indistinct dots, flying in a triangle formation, grew with amazing rapidity, and soon the drone -of tho engines could be heard. Ap- -'. proaehing on, the western side of the course, the •three (planes circled the . .grandstand and course completely once, the. direction of the wind being given ../by a smudge lighted for the purpose in the centre of the landing ground, .and then, banking slightly, dropped .their noses for the landing, following /each other.at short intervals. Captain JPindlay. and Mr. Litchficld were first down, finishing between the jumps and the rail, fronting the' stand, necessitating a taxi-trip to the position allotted „to the , .'planes, an ,the. far .side of the '■"course.'' Nexf'fdllbwed Captain' Buckley and Mr. M' Williams, making a rather better landing, and Kingsford Smith and Lieutenant Him followed with a perfect landing, dropping confidently, and pulling up well ■within the limits of the space available. It was only 10.56 a.m. when the three landings had been successfully made. • jt all looked ridiculously easy, the "smooth, curving flight down from the low clouds being apparently carried out .' with the ease with which the average motorist takes the curve in to-the road•ide pump for more petrol. HANDSHAKES AND CONGRATU- ■•:■■>- liATIONS. : After- the. expedience at Christchurch, 'where the crowd took charge of things „,. »»nd rushed the landing field, the rules ...as to who should be allowed to the centre of the course and who were not were rigidly enforced, not more than thirty or forty all told, and consequent- ■ iy the,first welcome was quiet enough. Kingsford Smith and Ulm landed well back, and so rapidly slowed down their ' machine that it was well away from, the official party when it came to a stop. •v^fChey taxied slowly ahead again, swing- . ing round slightly, stayed a while—and smiled —while the camera men had their ': t ;:way, then climbed down, and, with ' Messrs.: M' Williams and Litchfield, ■;--were presented to the Prime Minister Ji; and Mrs. Coates, the Mayor and Mrs. :/£r°up, Ministers of the Crown, mem,■..;'JJers of Parliament, and councillors. It - was a quite informal meeting, with -handshakes and congratulations from .■■>■• everyone. On the .way to the stewards' -stand they were greeted again by Mr. "P. B. Climie, of Christchurch, who had ■ taken so active a part'in the arrangements for1 their landing at Soekburn. The meeting was not expected by tho airmen, and they were full of smiles. ' All walked across to' the stewards' Btand, on. planks laid over the sodden turf, amidst continuous cheerinj, which ■ reached its height as they lined up in ■ the front, of the stewards' stand, having been the subject of attention by an army of'photographers and the Govern"ment cinema man en route. THE SPEECHES. As the; Prime Minister took his place, ready to, address the crowd, he was met ■ with cordial shouts of "Smack it lip, . Gordon," "Make a job of it," and other advice from the crowd, which was in a high good humour at the arrival and successful landing. "I have'beeu asked to speak for the inicrophoue-only," said Mr. Coates, "but on the other hand. I have been aeked to make the public of Wellington hear what I have to say, and I would also like everyone of you here to hear me. On behalf of every citizen of New Zealand I desire 'to extend a vi.ry hearty welcome to Squadron-Lead- .' ; er Kingsford Smith, Might-Lieut. Ulm, ";Mr. Litchfield, and last, but not least, as we think in Wellington, Mr. M'WilJiams. I desire to-day to pay a tribute to these great men who have flown all the way from' the United States of. America, across the Pacific,_ to New Zealand, and who have been' the first to cross the Tasman. With all of us liore I am sure there is a thought that ; goes back some seven or eight months ago, and brings a tinge of sadness, yet, oh the other hand, as we offer this welcome with all our hearts, we still think of those two great bravo hearts who tried to be' the pioneers of the Tasman." Their success, said M". Coates, was, he. believed, due to forethought, ■•. hard work, concentration, and co-opera-tion. If New Zealand could not be the first to travel across the Tasman by air,.'they were delighted to know that the commander of the Southern Cross, trie right-hand man of tho Australian flyers, had .. been able to do ' so. Australians and New ZealandeM had ■ always pulled together,

FAST TRIP FROM BLEIfHEIM Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith, Fliglit-Lieiiti mant C. T. P. Ulm, Mr. A. H. Litchfield, and Mr. T. H. M'Williai us, the men who brought the Southern Cross across the Tasmi in, arrived at Trentham this morning, ancl were given a great welii ome, not that the crowd was so large, for Saturday morning is not the best tune in the week for people to get away out of town, 3 but that the reception was tremendously hearty. From about 9 o clock there was a steady stream of cars out from town anil others went out by train, and the stream continued until well past time-table time, bufas the flyers were a little late in arriving, most were there in time.

and he hoped alwayn ? would, and the flight was a happy instance of combined effort." • Prolonged cheering, ceased only when Squadron-Leader Sm'j h moved forward to speak. . WELCOME APBBECIATED. Captain Kingsford Smith, still smiling—apparently it is' a chronic smile which is a very good complaint—stood before the microphone- to reply, but said nothing for a few minutes; what was tho use while the ii leering was so hearty? Some "cooeei " and everyone laughed and clapped ai'ti cheered again. "Ladies and gentlemen ," began Kingsford Smith, and then jpulled up, "i'ellow Australasians," he said, and thcro was more clapping an 4 cheering. It was not possible, lie s£ vid, for thorn to say how much they, apjj ifeciated tho extraordinary weleomo tfliat had been given them by tho peoj >le of New. Zealand. They had been t>okl what to expect in New Zealand .by Mr. M' Wiliams,' but all the sarnie'such enthusiasm had' not: been cx\t cctcd. Ho was sorry that the landing j could not be made in- Wellington, bl it tho Southern Cross needed a big groi md, and it was available only in Chrial ichureh. It was a great pleasure to ma it Mr. Coates, "one of Nature's gentlemen," "and ho did not disapprove* of a Sunday landing."- (More lauj jhter and applause.) Captain Smith paid a'jltvibute to Lieutenant Moncrioff and Oj .ptain Hood as very gallant New Zcala iid gentlemen, who had been real pioj? ccrs and who by their sacrifice had b> olped to show the way to successful teffort. "Tho fact that they lost their, lives does not detract in any way from the great attempt they made." Speaking of the team w. ork Which had brought the Southern Ci?>ss across the Tasman, Captain Smith hi id high praise for .the New Zealand rariio man, Mr. M'Williams',,and for "Old, Litch." Certainly the Southern CrossV lhad been out of touch with land for so) lie time, but that was.no fault of Miv M'Williams, "lie could not control tl le lightning, you know." "Old Litch"' had mado a wonderful job of his nay igating, and had brought them to witlf in a mile of the .point aimed, at,, a gii >.at performance. "The flight was < successful," he concluded, "because tihere was a combination of the work a f four men, all specialists in their own particular line." . . . CUTTING DOWN DIS TANCE. The Mayor (Mr.' G. A.I Troup) extended the heartiest of wi alebmes as from the people of Wellii^ gton. Captain Kingsford Smith and'- those with him had come a long waj ? and in a strange way, reducing, as \ t were, the distance from Australia to N/sw Zealand to one-sixth of what' it formerly was. On' Monday he woul d have another opportunity of welccil ning them, and he would lot, himself 'jj jo; in the meantime all he had to say. was "Welcome, bravo, and well done? " ! Plight-Lieutenant Ulm sai Id that as his leader had been in such i good form, nothing was left for him 6 o say, but he joined him in the warni est thanks for their welcome. He woi ild like to correct the Prime. Minister* when he referred to their selecting al New Zealander for their wireless opeij ator. The fact was they had found thia best man they could get, and he happir.ued to be a New Zealander. He reiWjod to the credit belonging to the firf-i attempt to cross the Tasman, and madlo; a strong point of the fact that the mistakes which ''Had caused their failure had been extremely valuable to ttuemselves in showing them the way, and. what to avoid. Mr. Litchfield also thanked i he crowd for its wonderful welcome. . The welcome when they arrived first in New Zealand was so warm that ha had got lost. (Laughter.) Flight-Li euteuant | Ulm said that he was half a 1 Jew Zealander. That was true, as he h ad spent some very happy ypars in this country in the course of his work vj ith the Union Steam Ship Company. PROUD AND HAPPY. . Mr. M' Williams was also gjj iven a great'reception by the crowd. •' It was j just about two months ago, j'he said, I that he had left New Zealam d to go over to Australia, and was *a proud and-happy man to stand at Trentham to-day; as ho did with the otli ers who had brought the Southern Cci jss over the Tasman. ; "We would have liked .very •■ much to have brought the machine heoe," ho said, " but, unfortunately, Sufficient landing ground was not availat >.le. But 'Smithy' did a very gracious :thing in consenting to fly over Wellhii^ton on the way to Christchurch. Aa to our flight, you know more about it now than we do ourselves. Those of j ?x>u who know the Tasman know that it can be treacherous and more often ti lan not the weather is:rough, so that 11 lie flight proves what can bo done by an' efficient machine and efficient pilots. '\ Smithy' is a wizard at-the controls, ancl he has a great second in Ulm. At timei > things looked black, and at other times looked

vivid with lightning, and when we had one frightful drop of at least 300 feet —well, I am not going to say how I felt about things." ■ • Moro cheers were called for and again heartily given. "Smithy" smiled —so did everyone. ; The president of tho Wellington Racing Club, who entertained the aviators after the official welcome, offered them his congratulations, and thanked them for having honoured' the club by using its grounds. Squadron-Leader Smith, replying to the toast-of "The Aviators," said that there were three words, used in I he Australian Press, with which he was endeavouring to familiarise Uimself, so far without' success, for future use. They were "hitherto aeronautically ununspaimed." "They, were words he admired, as words, but. ho did not think he would ever be'able to use them.