Relief of Archbold Party

Pilot Koch’s Hazardous Flight Into Central N. Guinea

TO bring relief to the Archbold scien tific expedition, which was cut off in the interior of New Guinea, with a diminishing food supply and the petrol for the wireless transmitter exhausted when its Amphibian was wrecked at Pt.

Moresby, a Guinea Airways ’plan© made a 900-mile non-stop round flight in eight hours, and dropped food and gasoline by parachute.

The flight is regarded as one of the most successful in New Guinea aviation history, and great credit is due to the pilot, Mr. A. Koch. The country traversed contained mountains 8,000 to 14,000 feet high, where weather changes are frequent, and flying conditions can become very difficult and often impossible.

The advance field party of the American Museum of Natural History expedition was camped on the Blucher mountains, near the headwaters of the Strickland River, a tributary of the Fly. A ’plane was the only means of getting to them in reasonable time, as the expedition would have been in a rather bad way without immediate supplies.

Mr. Russell Rogers, the Archbold ex pedition’s pilot, flew across in a small ’plane from Pt. Moresby to Lae, to act as guide for Mr. Koch. Fitted with extra tankage to give a range of 1,000 miles, Guinea Airways’ tri-motor Ford left Lae on July 19 for Mount Hagen landing ground.

Carried Rice And Petrol

Carrying 1,500 lbs. of rice and a quan tity of petrol, the ’plane took off, and headed for Mount Blucher, in Central New Guinea.

A specially-prepared bed of kunai grass had been made, five feet deep, to receive the supplies when they were dropped from the air; but bad weather prevented them from being dropped where it was intended. Instead, they were dropped about two miles from the party’s camp, some from a height of 100 ft., some from 500 ft.

When the land party salvaged the gaso line, the transmitter was soon put into working order. Advice was sent that all the supplies dropped had been found.

Further supplies have been taken up the Fly River by the launch Maira, which left Port Moresby on July 14.

Party To Return To U.S.A.

It has been decided to abandon the scientific expedition for the present, and on their return from the interior the party will depart for America. The leader of the party (Dr. Richard Archbold) has in timated that he and companions will go back again to Papua next year, with a twin-enginbd Sikorsky flying boat.

Madame R. Guegan, of Noumea, arrived in Sydney from New Caledonia by the Laperouse on July 28, en route to France for a holiday. She was accompanied by her two children, Suzanne and Francois, Pastor H. L. Tolhurst, superintendent of S.D.A. mission work in Tonga, arrived in Sydney by the Marama on July 28 to attend an Adventist conference in Vic toria. He was accompanied by his wife and their five children. Mr. Tolhurst, whose headquarters are nine miles from Nukualofa, first went to the Friendly Islands as a missionary in 1915.