CARGOES IN THE AIR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20235, 20 April 1929, Page 2 (Supplement)

CARGOES IN THE AIR.

SEA-HORSES FOR THE ZOO.

MILK FROM THE CLOUDS

BULLION NEARLY EVERY DAY

Every week at least fifty tons of goods are being carried by aeroplane between London and tlio Continent." Recently a consignment of sea-horses for the Zoo arrived by aeroplane at Croydon. Great care was lavished on these fantastic creatures, half horse, and' half dragon, which were caught in tho 13ay of Biscay, and throughout tho flight air was pumped into their tanks at tcn-minuto intervals, Delicate goldfish are often transported in this manner, but tho most valuable fish cargo by air was a number of very raro, rainbow-hued specimens from the East Indies, some of which were valued at £36 per inch. A barred cage was recently built inside tho fuselage of an aeroplane which left Crowdon for Le Bourget, where it picked up a fully-grown lion, complete with trainer, and brought them back at over 100 miles an hour. Another special compartment was fitted in an aeroplane to accomodate a performing circus horse from Paris to London; while an air-freighter arrived recently from Amsterdam with a bear, a monkey, and a consignment of parrots. Twenty years ago it would havo been impossible to build a road to the site of

the new observatory on Mount Blanc. The aeroplane has made it possible to convey the stones and materials to a height of over 13,000fi. on the mountain side; but when the road is completed it wilt be one of the most expensive in the world. It seems strange that milk, easily obtainable in all great cities, should be carried by air, ■but mysterious nine-lined boxes were once regularly earned from Croydon to Paris, and these contained two gallons of milk in glass bottles, packed in ice. The American visitors to whom tlio boxes were addressed had been so impressed with the purity of English milk that they cheerfully paid 2s 10£ d a pint to have it delivered to them in Paris! Even Jaw-breakers are finding the aeroplane useful. An amazing case of gambling machines for use at Deauville, being smuggled by aeroplane into France recently came to light. ,1 ho machines were made in England, and it is alleged that they were taken to Franco bv an English "airman, who smuggled them through the Customs at he Bourget and sent them to Deauville by*motor-cars.

Perhaps the most striking of all tributes (o llie business value and dependability of tlio aeroplane is lo tio found in tho fact that great banking firms now send cargoes of bullion by air almost every day. The " bullion aeroplane," with its precious cargo in charge of an armed guard, is an established feature of air traflic.

A man has been sent as cargo in a goods aeroplane. Missing tho last passenger machine, he noticed a cargo 'plane ready for flight. The goods were labelled with tho name of the town to which he wished to go, so he had himself packed up and labelled and put in with tho rest of the cargo. The aeroplane reached its destination, and the man, having paid the freight charges on himself, was duly delivered.