On the first of May last all war restrictions were removed, and flying, which had hitherto been kept under strict military supervision and control, became legal for the purposes of business and pleasure throughout Great Britain and the British Empire, subject to the regulations issued by the Air Force Department. All flying on the Continent was forbidden pending the signing of peace. The incentive to civil flying consequent upon the removal of the war restriction received increased impetus from the offer by an enterprising newspaper in London of a prize of £10,000 to the first airmen who should fly across the Atlantic. None of the competitors in the original contest for this prize achieved their task successfully, and there was some cause for apprehension lest the event had produced a tragedy, when victory was apparently within sight for two British competitors — Mr Harry Hawker and Commander Mackenzie-Grieve — who used a single-engine Sopwith machine, for they were believed to have perished at sea. Fortunately the missing intrepid airmen were picked up in mid-Atlantic and on their landing in England they received an ovation of a bewildering character. In June an American airship, NC. 4, in charge of Lieutenant-commander Read, crossed the Atlantic from St. John’s, Newfoundland, to Plymouth, and during the same month Captain Alcock and Lieutenant Brown, in a Vickers-Vimy machine, flew from St. John’s to Clifden in Ireland. In July a great British airship, R 34, crossed the Atlantic, covering 3130 sea miles in 108 hours and accomplishing the return journey from England and back again in three days, three hours, and three minutes actual flying time. In August the first London to Paris civilian air service was inaugurated. Later in the year a prize offered by the Australian Government stimulated airmen to attempt a long-distance flight — from England to Australia — and Captain Ross-Smith, in a Vickers-Vimy, achieved the distinction of a successful flight, reaching Darwin in Australia on the 28th day after his departure from England.
Small birds a major problem
From remarks made at a meeting of the Teviot Fruitgrowers’ Association at Roxburgh last Monday evening it is evident (our correspondent writes) that the small bird is still the bugbear of the fruitgrower and farmer. One grower, who is also a farmer, related how though his orchard was practically untouched, his barley crop had suffered severely owing to the ravages of the birds. Other growers in the same locality complained of great damage to their fruit crops, and the consensus was that drastic steps should be taken to keep the pest under control.
— ODT, 31.12.1919.
