AIR MAILS OVER TASMAN

Southland Times, Issue 24116, 3 May 1940, Page 4

AIR MAILS OVER TASMAN

DATE OF DEPARTURE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE DISCUSSION The air mail service from Invercargill and Dunedin through Auckland to Sydney was the subject of discussion at a meeting of the Council of the Invercargill Chamber of Commerce yesterday. The secretary, Mr A. L. Adamson,said that letters posted in Invercargill on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays caught the northern air mail service, but letters posted on Mondays arrived in Auckland too late to connect with the trans-Tasman flying-boat which leaves on Tuesdays in the service which was inaugurated this week. He considered that the possibility of securing a later departure of the flyingboat from Auckland so that Invercargill and Dunedin letters posted on Mondays would connect with the service should be investigated. The Chief Postmaster, Mr H. Miller, said that the problem was complicated by the censorship. Mails were censored in Dunedin before being sent on io Auckland. Even if the trans-Tasman flying-boat left Auckland on Wednesdays, however, letters would still have to be posted in Invercargill before the week-end as time was required for censoring. Further, the departure of the flyingboat from Auckland on Wednesdays might mean that the connection with overseas services at Sydney would not be made. He had not been able to obtain full information on this point. He assumed that this was the reason why Tuesday had been selected as the date of departure. It was decided to inquire through Mr Miller whether this was the case, and, if the departure on Tuesdays from Auckland was not timed to connect with outgoing mails from Sydney, whether it could be moved to a day later in the week.