SMITH AT SYDNEY

Grey River Argus, 23 October 1930, Page 5

SMITH AT SYDNEY

GREAT CROWD Give Wonderful Welcome I I (Aus. A.; N.Z. Caule Assn.) i (Rectf vod October 22 at 7.55 p.m.) SYDNEY, October 22. >' Wing-Commander Kingsford Smith in the “Southern Cross Junior,” landIcd at Ala-scot Aerodrome at 2.55 1 o’clock this afternoon., five minutes q ahead of his schedule, a fact upoff - which proudly appreciative comment •'was made later by welcoming speak-, 1 The day was overcast, with a light i north-easterly breeze; and a great , crowd assembled at the aerodrome; 2- the roads leading theieto being thronged with motor cars. Nearly a ‘ score* of aeroplanes of all sizes went ' out to meet the 1 homing of the South--3 cm Cross, and at about 2.45 all came, ' into '.-vighlt, with Smith loading, a little • below the others. As the air fleet crossed Sydney : Harbour and city,, all eyes were turu}cd aloft, while ships’ sirens gave ‘Australia’s hero a hearse voiced wclcome. At. Mascot the scene grew ex- . citing a ( s the flock of bird-men, ar- 1 rived and circled over head, until Smi,ih should land. This he did with his accustomed ease and precision at 2.55. Then pandemonium broke loose [ I for a time,, while Smith, after the briefest greetings to Ivs family and close friends .was hurried from his plane into a wai ting* motor the [ same as was used for Amy Johnson, ■ and wa-s driven round the landing , field so that the deliriously happy 1 spcctato|r.s might see and admire their wonder man, and ,-hout thousands of i greetings to .him, then, all smiles, but obviously very tired, Sm/ih reached the dia-s, where- there waited Parlia- , nientary and other notables to extend an official welcome and congratulations jon Hie completion of his world con-querin.-g flight. Aiderman Alexander. Mayor f l’ 1 Mirtcot. said he had been privileged on a fowlicr occasion jo we-lconu; Smith ■ and the crew of the Southern Cross' from ttieir Pacific flight. That year, he had presented the flyers with sn illuminated addresp, but on thi s occasion the Council was changing the form, of the presentation and had decided Unit their gift should be a iii'iniatiirc boomerang, made of polished Mood, and i-ccribe-l, as it was cb.niacteristic of Smith, the greatest, airman in the world, that, no matter 110\. long be flew or how high he flew-, h? alw-.’.vs came bark home like. a. boomerang. “The job I have done,” said Smith, in his reply to the cordial speeches of welcome', “has hardly warranted the .tremendous fuss yeti are making on my behalf. Nevertheless. I am deeply grateful and appreciative After Jill, I I Ii!a«l been o'er the eoun.-C' before, and should have known something about it, but I must acknowledge that 1 have had ti’.m advantage, of Clmrlic Ulin’s organising ability, ' which iias been a great factor in the 1 success of these long-d;'stancei flights. I ask you not. to forget the fine achievement of Hill, who crashed at. the front door of Australia, and yet had taken his defeat- in the very best sporting spirit.” Smith added: “The nice things that everybody is saying, about we | should make a. favourable ‘impression lon niy sweetheart, Mho "ill i' >di>lwhat a fine fellow I am! ” He hops I they would keep On saying them within her hearing. Lieut, t'lm, ill the coiirse ol In- , little speech, described Smith “.Number One Pilot among the worlds | aviators. ’ ’ I Not the least remarkable feature I of Kingsford Smith’s express flight is the fact that lie brought from England . . a series of pictures of the RlOi , wreck at Allonne. which are reproduced in tonight’s edition of the , i“iSydney Morning Herald.” These tell the- grim story at a glance. Thei'g : are also, groups and clove ups of J notable personages, 'and also a pie- . ; tm-e of the -8101 crew photographed , bust before staring from Cardington. RlOl Monument I (Aus & N.Z. Cable Assn.) t ' PARIS. October 21. Allone Council lias offered ' tlio British Government the ground on ' which R. 101 crashed for the erection . j of a monument to the victims. I MRS. MILLER’S PROGRESS. I NEW YORK, October 21. y ’ Mrs Miller left Winslow (Arizona) |at 1.27 p.m. to-day, and arrived at Albuquerque at 3.3 S p.m. I I MRS. MILLER’S TIME. i NEW YORK, October 21. 1 I A message from Albuquerque states I 'that Mrs Miller’s elapsed time from; i Los Angeles to there is six hours thirty minutes, I I ' 1 MRS. BRUCE RESCUED. LONDON. October 19- I . i The Hon. Mrs Victor Bruce, the | ' famous woman motorist, who wen> missing in the course of her flight to Japan, has been safely rescued and | . has reached Jask, at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Details of her ex- . periences while living with wild Baluchi , I I tribesmen in the desert have now ■ reached England. ' Mrs Victor Bruce made good pro- • gress until after leaving Bushire, when : she encountered a violent sandstorm, i She attempted to land on what seemed ’ to be hard sand, but the aeroplane sank , 1 into itj and overturned. Baluchi tribesmen appeared on I ‘ scene, and seemed to be hostile, but | ’ she made fiiends with them, by in- ’ teresting them in an alarm clock, and 1 by dancing and singing to them. After i some nights in the desert, living on 1 water and dates given by the tribes- | mon, she persuaded the chief to send a j message to Jask, 40 miles distant, and i

i three Englishmen came to her assistance. They mended the machine, and I Mrs Bruce flew into .Task with one of • them, Mr Wilson, an engineer of Tmi perial Airways;