NEW TELEPHONE LINK

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22390, 9 April 1936, Page 15

NEW TELEPHONE LINK

TASMANIA TO AUSTRALIA OPENING BY PRIME MINISTER [from our own correspondent] MELBOURNE, March 31 Tasmania, which has long considered itself the Cinderella of the States because of separation from the mainland of Australia, is rejoicing in the establishment of a telephone service which brings it into direct touch, not only with the rest of the Commonwealth, but also with the rest of the world. In New Zealand, where communication methods have generally been developed much more rapidly than in Australia, it may seem strange that Tasmania should so long have been telephonically isolated* Indeed, the project has been mooted almost ever since the achievement of Federation 36 years ago. A compensating feature will be that, although the cost of the telephone cable and its equipment was £200,000, ordinary charges will operate for trunk calls. For instance, a call of three minutes from Melbourne to Hobart between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. will cost 4s 6d, the standard rate based on the radial distance, and the cost between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m. will be 2s 3d. The service was opened by the Prime Minister, Mr. Lyons, who happened to be at Albury, on the border of Victoria and New South Wales, on his way to Canberra. "Living on an island has its advantages, but it also has very real drawbacks," he said. " One of the greatest of these in the past has been a feeling of isolation, and 1 know that that feeling has been very strongly experienced in my own inland State of Tasmania. Therefore, as a Tasmanian, 1 am proud to open officially this telephone service. It is the last link required to achieve that ideal of a nation-wide service for which successive Federal Governments have striven." It has been said that the two greatest events in Tasmanian history since Federation have been the opening of this telephone service and the inauguration of regular air services between Tasmania and the mainland. Simultaneously with the coming of the telephone plans have been announced for speeding up the air services. A huge Douglas air liner will arrive from the United States by steamer on April 10. It is almost identical with the aeroplane flown by the Dutchmen, Parmentier and Moll, in the Centenary air race. It will have accommodation for 14 passengers, two pilots and an air hostess. It has a maximum speed of 210 miles an hour, and it is expected to make„ the journey from Melbourne to Tasmania in 90 minutes.