SEARCH FOR "SMITHY"

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 15, 18 January 1936, Page 25

SEARCH FOR "SMITHY"

A PRINTING PROBLEM

LEAFLETS OVER JUNGLE

To assist in the search for Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Mr. J. T. Pethybridge leaflets offering a monetary reward for helpful information were showered in thousands over the area where it was believed the two airmen- were lost. Mr. Beau Shiel, who accompanied the late Sir Charles Kingsford Smith to America and England in connection with the ill-fated flight to Australia and who is at present visiting the Dominion, showed a "Post" reporter a copy of these leaflets.

' The leaflets, which were distributed by Qantas and Royal Air Force machines, were printed in five languages—English, Burmese, Siamese, Malay, and Chinese, and the printing of them presented a considerable problem to the R.A.F., as they could not be handset or linotyped in Siamese, Malay, or Burmese. The letters could be handset in Chinese, but the lowest number of characters a Chinese compositor requires is 2000. On a highclass Chinese paper the compositor has to know about 10,000. What was done was this: Chinese characters were obtained from the "Sin Chew Jit Poh," a Singapore Chinese newspaper; a Burmese temple priest wrote the Burmese'translation; a Siamese dancing

girl translated into Siamese, and a Rajah's son wrote the Malay message. The Siamese, Burmese, and Malay had to be photographed to print the messages on the R.A.F. press.

After the messages were dropped the jungle-dwellers made^an intensive search, which, unhappily, failed to throw any light on the disappearance of the airmen.

The text of the message, which appeared over the name of Sydney Smith, Air Officer Commanding the Royal Air Force, Far East, was as follows:— "An aeroplane with Air-Commodore Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Cap-; tain Pethybridge has been lost in this district for the past seven days. If you can give any information to the police or other authority which will help to find them, you will receive a large reward of money." The message was dated, Singapore. November 15.