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HINKLER AT CANBERRA.
A GREAT WELCOME.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
FLIGHT.
EXPOUNDED BY MR. BRUCE,
the cheque presented.
M-ltOM Oi;ii Hl'IXIAI. Ill':i'llI-:.SIiN'JATIY£. J
CANBERRA, Wednenday. — Hmklcr
inainliiiucA bin leputalion for punctuality
b.v arriving at 'Canberra this, afteritopu
slia.vn at 2 o'elnck. lie received an- en-
tbiisiiistiv wekoini: from a crowd of 5000
peo|ilc. "The review ground at the rear
of the punt office was crowded— hundred.,
of visitors came I'roin Quonnbcyau and tho
surrounding districts.
'thousands of . eyes (searched the sky for
Die little lilane, and a few minutes before
the. hour there was a buzz from tlio crowd.
T11 Die distance could lie seen three tiny
objects .and ', as tliey drew nearer the
crowd broke into exeitcd shouts. Two
were' the escorting planes — in the centre
wiis IJinkler's 'famous bus. At 2 o'clock
'Hiiikler was flying over the ground, and
hhudreds" . of motor horns and liooters
wero givmg linn 11 noisy welcome.
falowiv.. he . circled mound the landing
arena, .-.dropping lower and lower, until
at. bibo the 'machine touched the ground,
its .'the : plane taxied toward the rotunda,
.111, which, the Enmu Al mister. Mrs. Hmklcr
anil the. . 0il1c1.1l party were waiting, the
crowd'. broke- into a roar oi welcome.
Many. jumped the icncos and laced across
.tile enclosure, but the police were well
pinpiu-ed. As t lie plane came to a stand--
Hlill . six cars with police surrounded it,
and ..beiorc the spectators could reach the
spot, . botli-. plane and aviator were com
pletely-guarded. J wo files ot returned
soldiers protected part 'of the route and
lacilitatcd-Hiiiklei- s progress.
As IIiuklcr.;rvus escorted to the rotunda,
the crowd;, pressed around lum, continu
ing the demonstration.' - The aviator
smiled, and ,-w lived his hand cheerily. At
the, top ot the steps of the rotunda h,
was greeted by lus mother: "Did yo
hayc a, good- trip. Bert?" she asked.
' Yes, .11111111, ; thanks, her son replied;
Then lie turned to the I'l-nne AJuusIm,
Mi . : .Bluc-c - shook lum warmly b% thB
hand, ,ind: said lie was pleased indeed IB
welcome him, to Canberra. J-Iinkler 1%-
plied, simply, "Thank vou. Mr. Bene#.
llie airmail was inti-oduced to Airs Br'nat-
and- to jnembers of the Cabinet aud that
wives.
"'Lct.-us scc-yoii, Bert, old boy." roared
a voice, and the crowd took up the crv.
Ifiukler "Stepped to tlio front of the ro-
tundainiiillvie'w ol Die mass ol. people
''I- :i"'n l-b ' 1,1 neknowledgment:
ot ,tlie ,rcooptiou. Then lie wont to the
m!ii,i. fi'i . 'otuudit and repeated the
fieho CC0 <illceic(l finn to the
Air. Bruce anuoimc-ed tli.-it the official
liniicn 1L TT l i'M loII" at Parlianiept
House. Hinkler went by ear to the Hotel
hii"l)uHy. VCl1 hi' Mrs> lliuklci' a,ld
Prime Minister's Speech.
Jjiglit diizzbng rain now begau to fall
.me steadilj; increased. The sky was dull
and overcast. But this did not prevent
anothci laigc thiong ot spectators from
Pa filament House steps lo
Witness,; the pitasentalion of the cheque
Linbeira letuuiLcl soldie.s and Duntioon'
:?a?lsd0,,lned " ffiwwl ot honor, and 011
both .sides of- the roadway was a line o£
<ais Hluklci s amval was the occasion
for, another scene of enthusiasm, and when
lie took his place upon the dias alonidr
the I rune Afmistei ihcie was leuewcd
ehcoiiiiig. -
,, All. Bruce said:— '
-" «>» already, received
,"'1 MW, 111 Australia, but to-'dav
o u. 1 1 a \e a na 1 e d " i t 1 1 e capital city of vom-
;tbr'p1, m' anu1,,CIe t,lc PsriiameiTt of
the Lomiiioiiwealth extends to vou a wel-
coine on behalf or Die whole of the people
7 w alli1 -T and as- ciiDmsiastie.
..> . tliose which you have, received iu your
tiiuiiipliant Progress tlnbugh vour own
mother Stale of Queensland and Australia's
motlier. State of New South Wales Tl,..
lecepfious you have received wherever
qu have been have shown vou how
joui uiaivellous achievement has
stuie.a the in lagiiuition of your fellow
coiiiitrynien and the pride and affection
;with which they regaivl you. , (Cheers. 1'
Aotw itiistaiuliug Die enthusiasm winch
..voiii, Ihght -has evoked not only in Aii"-
tnaliu hut thioiigliout the civilised world-
I doubt w lielbci the gicitness (f x 0111
: accqm Jijishuicn t has even vet been iiillv-
, realised.; In, a tmy nuieliinc Willi an engine
hoise .,)iow er and a petrol eapa-
.cit ol not more than 25 gallons, vou set
out tn .-cover n distance of over 10,000 miles
.across., an, .uncharted'. area of sea awl laud
w here .a teiiipoilniy failure of your machine
01. a moment's -lapse ot hmiinii nerve or
tuuin could jonly end in disaster ami
almost certain death; Day hv day for over
a toi-tmght j-oii faced this si rain, and hv
au almost unparalleled eombinntion or
coinage, skill. and. deterinuiation you c-on-
.qucied. \ou were alone, unaided 11ml un-
-.supiiortoil., (Cheers.) Y011 were vouil own
pilot, your, ow.11 mec-hanic and vour own
tiangalei., AYhilc.-wc gloi-v 111 vour achieve
ment wlnlp we taken justifiable pride in
Die fact, , that the machine 111 vlm-h von
accomplished. it was entirely of British 1011-
stiiietion,. the .met - that appeals to our
.national.. sentiment; is that it was lelt lo
in -.-Aubifolian to , perioral this oiidiii nig
I eat .a ud to gnTc again lo the British Em
pire tlial .iii'edominant place in the pos
session ol. the.. gicut qualifies ot initiative
courage; and endurance. You. have added
.-to- tho lustie oi our-iiu-e. vou have con-
ti ibnted gieally to, the science of aviation
hut, nl>o\e all, you- have- strengthened niir
LuLh 111 the Intui e by your nniazmg den ton
sil a turn. that, one of Australian birth pos
, Besses -all those qualities that make for
.t-lio tficMness ol a nation. .1 o vou. sir. we
.extend oml congratulations, hut we would
also add our appreciation ol the courage
and fortitude shown by rour wife ami
your niothor during .the anxious period of
..vour flight, and our congratulations lo
them -iiiion having yon restored satelv to
fhein. \Vo also desire to. congratulate voii
upon the signal honor which the King has
been .pleased to eonfe.ruipon vou. (Cheers. 1
Til-, l-lio past the Anl Force Cross has been
conferred upon men for deeds ol great dur
ing, but I am echoing the sentiments 01
the whole oi your lellnw comitrvnieu when
I assure you ol the deep feeling which
exists that never was it conferred upon a:
morn., worthy, recipient. It is now mv
privilege on behalf of- the Parliament ami
people ot- Australia to hand von this
chorine lor £2000 as some smnll recognition
of the gitoat deed which vou have porj
formed, anil the nevor-to-lie.-forgolten' ser
vice I, luit vou have rendered 1o Au-ira-
Iiii. ' (Prolonged cheering.)
Hinkler Replies.
In a clear voire lliuklci- replied:- -
'Air. Bruce, -Ladies and Gent lemon.— I
11111 sine you will understand how 1 teel
here to-day. I thank you from tho bottom
of. my heart 101- your enthusiastic welcome,
and lor (he kind expressions 1. have lieaid
here to-day. You may think I am be
coming hardened to tins sort of thing
hy now-.- I am trying lo keep cool 011 the
outside, but believe 1110 there is u devil
of 11 lot going on inside. (Laughter.)
Your enthusiasm aud kindness have made
me feel too full for words— don t take
that literally. (Laiightcr.j T am glutl mv
Iitllo Ihght hns been able (o make vou
realise what can be douo with these Utile
machines. Sonic- of you don t take much
uoliee of . aviation until some affair like
my little flight shows you thu wonderful
advantages of it. I hop.c you will realise
what this science menus to the future of
our country, .and what a novel form of
transport it affords. 1 hone yon will all
realiso how it can be developed iu times
uf peace so that you will not have to push
your young blood into the air uupicpared
if sterner times over come. L am happy
to he at lust in Canberra. When I was
in London that line old capital 01' the
old world, the 'Australian High t'omniii-
siouor gave . 1110 a letter to. carry to Die
Prime Alinisler'-in this iiue young capital
in the new world, and I now have much
pleasure in handing il. In Mr. Bruce.

Again I tlwnk yon all from tho very bot
tom of my heart." (Loud cheering.)
At the cnll of the Prime Minister three
cjiocri were given for Ilinklcr.
His Bus as Good as New.
In an interview later llinklcv said he
hnd had u glorious trip from Sydney to
Canberra, lie had no definite plans yet
regarding his future. All the arrange
ments regarding his arrival in Melbourne
were in the hands of the Melbourne com
mittee. The committee was arranging
everything, and ho was entirely in its
hands. He had not seen Canberra before
— indeed lie had not ilown in this part
of the world before at all. The visibility
was so good in Australia that ho could see
Canberra when he was 40 miles away.
The capital looked very nice Irom the air.
It was laid out splendidly, and from what
lie hud seen of it he thought it ideal.
ltcfcrring to his machine .llinkler said
it was still almost as good ns new. A
motor ear that had truvcllcd the same dis
tance would by this time lmve been put
on the scrap heap, but his plunc was good
for plenty of flying yet. He did not pro
pose to put it into a garage while he was
at Canberra— he would probably leave it
on the review ground under a tarpaulin
cover.
Later in the afternoon llinkler and his
mother and party visited Government
House. . The Governor-General warmly
congrnlulatod him upon liis flight, mul
talked with him regarding various aspects
of the trip and aviation generally.
Letter from London for Mr. Bruce
The following is a copy of the letter,
dated London, 1st, February, which
Dinkier handed to the Prime Minister
from the Australian High ' Commissioner
in London: —
"My Dear Prime Minister,—! am hand
ing this letter to Mr. Bert llinkler, Hu
airman, in the confident hope that lie will
he able to curry it by aeroplane from this
country, and thus again demonstrate the
intrepidity of British airmen and the
accessibility of Australia by air. Mr.
ilinklcr carries with Jiiin my best wishes
for tlie successful accomplishment of the
great feat which he lias undertaken."
Hinkler handed another letter to tho
Prime Minister Urom' the mayor of Bun-
ilaberg.

The Spirit that Made Great Men,
At 5 p.m. llinkler was given a rousing
reception by the Federal Capital Teiritovy
branch of tio Returned Soldiers' League
in the. Capitol Theatre.
Tlie Prime Minister said that no con
gratulations Hinkler had received were
more genuine or more earnest than those
he received from the, returned soldiers.
The casual courage which sent Hinkler
up in the air ill 1914 off tho coast of Hug-
land to fight off an invading Zeppelin
with a rifle was the spirit that made great
men.
Hinkler, who received another ovation
on rising to respond, said lie had not the
slightest idea when he set' out from Eng-
land that there was going to bo such a
"disturbance" when .ho reached Australia.
(Laughter.) In the flying world there
was a wonderful fellowship of the nil
that surmounted all barriers of language.
The same fellowship was represented op
tlie ground by what ho found among tlie
diggers. (Applause.)
Mrs. llinkler was presented with a hand
some bouquet of flowers, and Hinkler
with two enlarged framed photographs of
Federal Parliament House, taken on tlie
occasion of the official opening by the
Duke of York.
Tlie Government's Banquet.

$