AUSTRALIA’S ANXIETY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20690, 12 April 1929, Page 9

AUSTRALIA’S ANXIETY.

AVIATORS MISLED. A FAKED MESSAGE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 4. It seems clear, according to statements mane by Mr Kingsford Smith, sen., that if his sou had not been wilfully misled as to the weather conditions in North Australia before the Southern Cross set cut on its flight to Wyndham, Australian people would have been spared the great anxiety for the safety of the aviators new being so generally felt. At the time of writing this anxiety is growing hourly, and news froih the searching planes being awaited with profound interest. Those who are familiar with the country upon which it is thought the machine made a forced landing have the gravest i fears. There are few more isolated pans of the world. This isolation is best suggested by the fact' that the in hubitante of the Drysdale River Mission die not know that the Great War han ended until two years after peace had been signed. Shortly before the Southern Cross set out on its flight last Saturday a message was received by Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith that the landing ground at Wyndham was drying rapidly, and that there was good weather all along the route. No record of this message, it is alleged, can be found. Hardly had the machine started than another telegram was received from Captain Chateau representative of the Atlantic Oil Company at Wyndham, expressing amazement that the plane had left without his definite “ 0.K.,” and stating that, as fhe conditions were unfavourable, thl- - Cross should be recalled. The warning could not be transmitted, becausi the trailer aerial of the Southern Cross was unfortunately lost after the machine took the air. The later message, accord ing to members of the Kingsford Smith family, confirmed a wire received earlier iu tbe week announcing that rain had fallen at Wyndham on Tuesday night, and that the landing and approaches to the aerodrome were unsuitable. “ I read portion of the message that was received at Richmond on Sahurdaj morning,” said Mr L. Kingsford Smith, *' hut I did not see the signature. Mj brother put the telegram in his pocket, and he started off thinking that th* weather was good.” The authorities seem to be unable to explain the inconsistency of the messages, and Mr Kiugsford Smith, son., is considerably dis tressed that his son should have been misled by false information. It is not the only deception that has been revealed. Yesterday morning Mr and Mrs Smith received a message, alleged to be from the Post Office, to the effect tha» their son and his companions were safe and well, and that the Southern Cross was undamaged. On inquiring later as to the authenticity of the information they were told that the Post Office authorities knew nothing of the message, and could not say how it originated. “ Our hopes,” said Mrs Smith, “ were cruelly dashed to the ground. The whole thing is a mystery to us.” The mystery of the messages k> deepened by a statement made by Mr J. E. Grey, general manager of the Atlantic Oil Company, who was apparently «m----aware of the contents of the second message that was handed to KingsfordSmith before the flight commenced. He said that his impression was that the aviators started out knowing that the conditions were unsuitable. “It seems to be a case of sheer hard luck,” he said. “ Kingsford-Smith knew from the message he received from Captain Chateau that the conditions around Wyndham were unsuitable either for flying or landing, but he evidently decided to take a chance. It seems to me that the only question is. Did the party make a safe landing? If they did—and after the landing at Suva I would say that they could land anywhere—they have food for several days. They would probably meet with natives in the locality, and would receive assistance from that quarter. Naturally I am worried at the turn of events, but I feel that it is only a question of time before they are discovered.” Nobody knows exactly where the plane landed, for the earlier reports' that it had come down close to the Drysdale mission station have not been confirmed. The irony of wireless was emphasised when messages were sent out to the Southern' Cross every half-hour, and there was no response—nothing to indicate that the messages were being received. They should have been received, for the Southern Cross carried equipment to enable that to be done even if the motor was disabled. It had no sending apparatus, and elaborate instructions were sent to Mr M’Williams instructing him how to transmit messages by making vital alterations. Little credence was placed on a report that messages from the Southern Cross were picked up in New Zealand asking station 2BL to transmit on a wave length of 30.2 metres. Of course, it would be possible for a low-power message to miss Australia and be picked up in New Zealand, but all the low-wave stations were listening in for the Southern Cross and it was not regarded as likely that the message would be missed by all of them. It is thought, too, that the Southern Cross would have stated its position before making any request. From his experience as former Administrator of the Northern Territory, Dr J. 11. Gilruth, formerly of New Zealand, said that there would be little chance of a safe landing for the Southern Cross on any part of the Australian coast and its 200 miles of hinterland except near a.township. The tropical weather was an important factor in the success or failure of a North Australian flight, but there were others no less important. The northern coast, and for an average of 200 miles inland, presented no natural landing place for an aeroplane. Everywhere the land was thickly strewn with bush and ant hills, the latter rising to over 20 feet. Here and there were plains, treeless, and, to the average-eye, devoid of irregularities. On these plains, from June to October, if the aborigines had burned off the long, dead grass, the hard, dry surface might be used as a landing place, but at this -time of the year they were simply fathomless bogs. Dr Gilruth added that the main hope was that the Aviation Department might be able to scour the whole of the triangle bounded on the north-west by the coast line, and on the south-west by a line drawn between Derby and Wyndham, but it should be done with all speed. While an aboriginal could exist there, a European, without the help of the blacks, would staiwe. Therefore, if still alive, the plight of the aviators was precarious. Wing-commander Wackett, who was ordered by the Defeuce Department to assist in the search in his Widgeon, not long ago flew abound Australia, and he was of the opinion that the Southern Cross had landed somewhere near the Prince Regent River between Drysdale and Derby, which lie described as the worst district in all Australia. There was Dot a road in the locality, and barely a track of any sort. It might he weeks before anything was heard of the aviators, even if they were alive. Commander Wackctt offered his services as soon as it was reported that the Southern Grosa was missing, hut he had to wait two days before he received official permission to set out for the west. It will probably take him at least five days to reach the district where he will commence the search.

Mr C. Price Conigrave, the explorer, who knows the district well, stated: “There is only a comparatively small area of country in the immediate neighbourhood of the mission station where, even with a sporting chance, KingsfordSniith could have landed at all without dire results to the machine and the