O Dangers-H-Bombs And Women

[?] Flurries in [?] Pacific

IS for South Pacific Air Lines operate a flying-boat service m Honolulu to Papeete have ntly gone back into the melt »t since Britain decided to 3-bombs in the vicinity of nas Island. rding to an executive of the Company, which has the ling interest in SPAL, the ipany had expended $lOO,OOO istmas as a staging base be ley had orders to get out.

Dollar spokesman said that ould claim compensation not >r this expenditure but also i cost of three flying-boats ng at Oaklands, California.

Honolulu report said that the las Island base was to have AL about £200,000 when corn does not sound as though now expects to get the ser ing at all, although in July, i Bryan Monkton, who had nost of the promotion of was making inquiries about a as an alternative to las. lyn is in the Northern Cooks, used as a US landplane base the war and the lagoon has led by flying-boats. An RAF anded there last year when making a survey for an H dropping base —and subse- Christmas Is. was chosen, of the base facilities now The lagoon has never been Penrhyn is about 400 miles f Christmas Is.

I Of The Christmas

H-Bomb

merican source reports that will spend about £190,000,000 Christmas Island base to it for the nuclear weapon the “American source” got brmation is not stated. It a tremendous amount of it should be possible to i island the size of Christmas ratch for that sum.

I Honolulu-Papeete

Cruises—Men Only

)WING on a successful air se to French Oceania by a y of Honolulu business men . five more flights have been d by the US civil aero authorities. ,rst of these is scheduled for 26, with the others follow intervals of about a week, bartered DC4’s, DC6’s, or ations, depending on the ering.

The flights are organised by Richard K. Kimball, head of a com pany registered in Honolulu as Hawaii-Tahiti Air Cruises.

Mr. Kimball is also head of Palmyra Development Co., which financed the June flight, said to be successful. On that occasion the American plane flew to Bora Bora and connected with the local French Catalina for the last stage to Papeete.

Mr. Kimball is emphatic that, on these trips, as in the initial flight, no women will be carried to Tahiti —they are only a source of trouble, he says. In addition, all the women necessary are in Papeete. (Everyone knows this, but it seems to be put ting it very bluntly).

The 42 men travelling on the June flight, mostly married men, were, however, tended by one stewardess in flight. They seemed to suffer no ill-effects.

Mr. Kimball said that flights can not continue immediately: they await the arrival at Tahiti of a Catalina aircraft belonging to Transports Aerie n s Intercon tinentaux the airline operating from Paris to Noumea, and a regional service between Noumea and New Hebrides.

This seems to suggest that TAX may be about to take over the local Transports Aeriens Interinsulaire service and perhaps base another Catalina at Papeete to aid the pre sent single Catalina.

Passengers coming south by one Kimball fight will remain a week,

then pick up the next flight back: to Honolulu.

It will be interesting to see whether these schemes prosper, as almost every Honolulu-based scheme * or air services in the South Pacific m post-war years has “flopped,” for one reason or another, (Over>

Years ago similar charter-flii were planned, but only one i; made. Then came South Pacific Lines, with still no flights s several years of preparations.

Samoan Airlines was anoc dream that faded out. Trapas.

Noumea, operated for a while —ta hurricane delivered the cout grace to their unsuitable aira Only New Zealand has manage operate efficient services thrr Polynesia to date.

Papeete Airfield Neari

Mr. Walter J. Grand, presidei the French Oceania Assent Territorial, en route to France,: in Honolulu recently that he w seek “about one-third” of the million Pacific francs necessan build the long-planned Papeete ternational airport.

Mr. Grand considered t; prospects of receiving this am from the French metropolitan ernment for an immediate Stan the airport were good.