AUSTRALIAN BACKBLOCKS

Evening Star, Issue 19617, 25 July 1927, Page 5

AUSTRALIAN BACKBLOCKS

PRACTICAL HELP TO SETTLERS MEDICAL AID BY. AEROPLANE Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. SYDNEY. July 23. , An advanced and romantic system of <nving medical aid in the isolated intorior ot Australia will be put into operation shortly. As the result of co-operation between tho British Medical Association and ibe Australian authorities six doctors receiving salaries of from £BOO to £I,OOO each, with six aeroplanes, will wait at their stations for telegraph or wireless calls for aid. Mission stations and eleven hospitals in the intcrio- will thus.bo linked up. The doctors will make no charge, and the aeroplanes will be free of charge when used as ambulances. The loneliest stockman can now call a doctor, who will arrive within a few hours. Tho service is especially designee! to deal with maternity cases in isolated parts.

AIR SERVICES IN THE COMMONWEALTH GREAT FUTURE PREDICTED “Jf aircraft wore animate bodies all the world’s aircraft would, by a natural process of selection, migrate to the country most suitec. to their environment, and they would go to Australia, for that country is eminently suited for flying. Fog is practically unknown and the chat ,to is meal.” This state ment was made by Flight-lieutenant J. Rennisou hell, oi the Australian Air Force, lecturing recently in London at the Institution of Aeronautical Engineers. .

Aviation, he said, is firmly established in Australia, and is opening up tho country, speeding up communication, and providing employment tor labor and capital. He also regarded it as probable that this modem means 01 transport would increase out of all proportion to that of ground communication; this because, with so small and scattered a population, the public purse could no construct all the roads and railways needed. Added to this there was the disadvantage of tho different gauges of railway., in the different States. ' EXPEL IMKNTAL STATION. Tho usefulness of air communication could, said tho lecturer, be realised by a glanco at tho map, tho most striking advantage being in Queensland, where three main lines went inland from the coast, but were not connected across country. To go from Charleville to Cloncurry meant going to the coast to Brisbane, up to Townsville, and then inland again. Lieutenant Bell explained the working of tho experimental establishment which was opened at Sydney in 1924. This works for both civil and military purposes, and it is expected that a laboratory will bo provided for the testing oi designs and ideas. The Department of Civil Aviatidh nay well claim to be tho most economical in the world. The controller has a staff of about four officers and some clerks with a few ground engineers, and this staff is responsible for tho supervision and administration of tho civil activities of the entire Com nonweaith. Chains of landing grounds have been laid out between alt the capital cities, along the coast, and through to Port Darwin in the north. There arc many interior lines in addition to those regularly used by the mail companies. i|ost of these belong to the Commonwealth, and are maintained with the conventional ground markings and with petrol and oil facilities. Altogether there are eleven pn-; vate aerodromes and 131 maintained by the Government NON-SUBSIDISED OPERATIONS. There are three subsidised air routes operating over distances of 1,442 miles from Perth to Derby, 825 miles from Charleville to Camooweal, and the Adelaide-Cottamunda service with two branches totalling 1,000 miles. Every sort of freight is carried, from live chickens and motor spare parts to valuable consignments «*f pearls. The letters. which numbered 577 in tho first month in 1921, have now increased to 20,000 monthly. So well appreciated is tho passenger service that scats have generally to be booked ahead. On the Charlevillc-Camooweal route tho punctuality is such that residents on the line of flight set their clocks by tho mail airplanes. The _ total length of these services is 3 ; 2G7 miles, and tho normal weekly mileage down is 7,378 miles.

in noir-subsidised air mail operations there are numerous firms and individuals engaged- in aviation in different forms. Several firms in Victoria own and fly aircraft for civil work, taxi work, and photography, and other firms -are engaged in service contracts lor repair and overhaul of equipment. At the end’of last year there were sixtysix private aircraft registered, of which about twenty belonged to the marl companies, and there were 133 ground engineers’ licenses in force. Throe services which are likely soon to come into operation, said Lieutenant Bell, in conclusion, are: Melbourne to Tasmania, 250 miles; Perth to Adelaide, 1,470 miles; and Cloncurry to Normanton, 225 miles. A company for the Tasmania dying boat service has already been formed. The Normanton route will servo a large cuttle area Hitherto only one ship a month has called there, and Normanton will thus be brought three weeks nearer Brisbane.