The Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1929. WILL RECORDS BE BROKEN?

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18798, 29 June 1929, Page 4

The Star. SATURDAY, JUNE 29, 1929. WILL RECORDS BE BROKEN?

THERE is no knowing what amazing times may yet be put up in the flight from Australia to England. The Southern Cross, in one hop, has landed at Singapore. In anothei* hop of somewhat the same duration, if that were feasible, it would not be far from Karachi, and Karachi has been put on the map recently as the terminus of the first two days’ non-stop flight from Britain. It is not to be supposed that flesh and blood could stand successive flights of this duration, but the facts bring a realisation of the possibility of relays in linking England and Australia by air mail within a week. The London to India flight, which was completed on April 26, broke three records. It was the first non-stop flight to India, the first England-to-India flight in two days, and Uie British non-stop long distance record—4l3o miles in 50-J hours’ flying time. Leaving Cranwell Aerodrome at 10.45 British summertime on Wednesday morning, the monoplane landed at Karachi at 1.15 p.m. on the Friday. If any one cares to take a pair of compasses and step out the distances on the map, starting with London-Karachi and finishing with Singapore-Derby, he will begin to take an increasing interest in Kingsford-Smith’s latest flight. The Southern Cross’s schedule originally called for a thirteen days’ journey, but this made full allowance for adequate rest and time for refuelling and inspecting fixe machine. With favourable conditions thi’oughout the journey, it is quite possible that England may be reached even in ten days, which would be an amazing feat when we consider how Ross-Smith’s twenty-eight days were hailed as a revolutionary performance. Kingsford-Smith’s next hop will be a short one to Rangoon, but his subsequent ports of call have not been cabled to New Zealand. We only know that the last stages will be Bagdad to Rome and Rome to England, but it is possible that he will attempt longer flights, and in that case it can well be imagined what a sensation his arrival in England would occasion in its bearing on inter-Imperial mail possibilities. THE WHIRLIGIG OF TIME. THE STORY is going the rounds that when Mr Gordon Coates was in Murchison he tried to get a job in the cook-house or kitchen and was promptly ejected. It was a nice gesture, the sort of thing Mr Coates would do, and do gracefully, and one may cheerfully give him credit for his kindly thought and his desire to lend a hand. The will to turn the incident to political account, however, is simply irresistible. How, for instance, can one help l-eflecting that the Murchison cook knew what he was about, and, knowing that Mr Coates had spoilt much legislative broth, and many a political pie, declined to run risks with real food? But there is also another aspect. It may be that Mr Coates’s geslurc was, after all, his ultimate confession of faith, that he recognised, after all, the supreme wrongness of the verdict of 1925, which put him at the head of a great party, and the emphatic rightness of the verdict of 1928, which put him in a minority; and that, after long night vigils and many, many' long cominunings with himself he arrived at a certain conclusion regarding his proper sphere of work, and offered himself for a humble job in the cook-house. Alas! What should have been a great moment in his life, perhaps the greatest moment of all, was utterly and completely' spoilt by' an unimaginative cook. He was turned down. WILL THE KAISER RETURN? TURBULENT SCENES arc reported from the Reichstag following on the rejection of a Bill for the protection of the Republic. The explanation given for this remarkable incident is that the Economic Parly', resenting the Government’s action in another direction, voted against the Government measure which would have continued the law forbidding the ex-Kaiser’s return to Germany. This law w'ould have expired next month in the ordinary course. The explanation given in the cable message is not quite the whole truth. Behind the manoeuvre of the Economic Party there is undoubtedly a very strong monarchic sentiment. It must be so. Prussia cannot possibly forget in a decade the traditions of centuries, and it will take it a generation at least to w'ork free of the dead hands of Bismarck and Moltke. This generation, at any rate, took in blood and iron with its mother’s milk, and though it may be feeling sori-y for itself, its thoughts inevitably turn Kaiserwards. No one anticipates a coup d’etat, but although the Germans are a highly disciplined race it does not folloy that revolution is out of the question. The democracy is safe so long as the people remain in control, but it would be absurd to imagine that the ambitious spirits of the Hohenzollerixs and their friends have been for ever scotched. DISCOVERING TENNIS CHAMPIONS. THE THOUGHTS of New Zealand tennis play'ers must turn enviously to Wimbledon during the English midsummer because that great sporting centre can be described in a very' real sense as the most remarkable international arena of the world. It is gratifying to see that so far English players have been keeping their end up, for there is abroad in England a spirit of greater determination to do well in big athletic contests. Convincing evidence in this direction w'as afforded recently by the success of British representatives on the cricket field, in the Ryder Cup match, and at fixe Olympic Games. A novel step has been taken to effect an improvement in lawn tennis by' the organising of an interclub mixed doubles competition, the main object being to raise the standard of play' in England by finding players who are worthy of professional coaching. It was arranged by a leading London newspaper that a coach fully qualified in every respect should attend to give a month’s free coaching to the members of the winning club, two W'eeks’ coaching to the members of the runnei’s-up club, and a week’s free coaching to the other two semi-finalists. Success w'as confidently' expected from this competition, because of previous striking examples. A few years ago, G. P. Hughes, then an unknown player, won a newspaper competition. In May last he was chosen as a singles playe.r for Great Britain in the Davis Cup tie against Poland at Warsaw. No better method of finding potential champions could be imagined. For years England has not had even a semi-finalist in the Men’s Singles Championship at Wimbledon, but, with a continuance of the present intensive sy'stem of coaching, that reproach may well be removed before many seasons are past.