“FLYNN OF THE INLAND”

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 92, 21 April 1938, Page 8

“FLYNN OF THE INLAND”

AUSTRALIAN MISSIONARY WORK IN THE EMPTY SPACES. "The Australian missionary who has won the picturesque title of "Flynn of the Inland,” from the book of that name by lan L. Idriess, is visiting Wanganui to-day during a tour of the Dominion. He is the Rev. John Flynn, 0.8. E., superintendent of the Australian Inland Mission, the growth of which has been almost entirely due to his activity and energy in establishing contact between the scattered settlers of Central Australia. The story of the Australian Inland Mission abundantly illustrates the parable of the mustard seed. Back in 1839, Mrs. Smith, of Dunesk, daughter of Baron Erskine, "bought property in South ..ustralia which she gave to the Free Church of Scotland to aid p iccr work.” A beginning was made at Beltana, some 300 miles north of Adelaide, but it was not until 1912 that the task of ministering to the spiritual needs of the settlers of the vast territory known as the Inland was commenced. The Australian Inland Mission was bern in 1912. A young, man named John Flynn, who had been working for the Smith of Dunesk Mission, was commissioned by the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia to visit the Northern Territory and report. Twelve months later his report inspired the church to undertake the work and the mustard seed began to grow.

Survey and Exploration. The early years of the mission were devoted to exploration and survey. Mounted on a camel and leading such spares as were necessary, the pioneer travelled inland. The tracks that linked the townships were broken into stages according to the location of the waterholes. Camel, horses, rude sulkies and buggies were the principal methods of conveyance and journeys were always long and often risky. The exploring missionary heard tales of tragedy and of heroism, and felt to the depth of his being the perils and risks these people were taking. John Flynn dreamed of a chain of cottage hospitals roughly 300 miles apart, and no fewer than a dozen of these hospitals, usually staffed with a matron and an assistant, are already in operation. In the fullness of time came the ambulance, the aeroplane, and the flying doctor. But the problem was to find the means of sending messages from the homes to the head station, where the aeroplane and the doctor were. Telewere out of the question. Dreams and thinking and more dreams and experimenting, and one day the pedal transmitter became a reality. With one of these the veriest tyro can transmit his call to the "mother station.” Through them it is possible for home to call up home and enjoy a wireless telephone conversation over a range of from 150 to 600 miles. The distances remain. Australia is 2000 miles across. Cloncurry, where there is a "mother station” far inland from Townsville in the north, is a clear 1000 miles away from Port Headland, a west coast town roughly halfway between Darwin and Perth. Yet Cloncurry can talk to Port Headland. The vast inland Is no longer lonely.

Growth of Service. At the termination of the annual meeting of the Wanganui Ambulance Association, held last evening, Mr. C. S. Falkener, secretary of the com* mandery of the St. John Ambulance Association in New Zealand, gave a brief address on the growth of the service and its ideals. Mr. Falkener stated that the association was first established in Wanganui in 1898, and two years later, in 1900, the first ambulance in the Dominion was established here. This was a horse-drawn affair. Wanganui became a sub-centre in 1904, and a nursing division was formed here in 1912. It became a centre in 1926. During last year the [ambulance brigades, in the Dominion I rendered first aid in 29,691 cases. At the conclusion of the address a vote oi thanks was accorded the sneaker by Ivrr G. G. McDonald.