Local And General

Chronicle (Levin), 31 October 1949, Page 4

Local And General

A Nesting Kiwi. The rare discovery of a nesting kiwi was ma'de by a Ratapiko farmer, Mr. F. H. Wickham, on his property last week. The bird was sitting on a nest about 18 inches in diameter made of leaves and other vegetation. It was left un.disturbed. Hare Breaks Propeller. Fignteen inches of the propeller tip of an Auckland Aero Club Tiger Moth, piloted by Mr. L. Buckley, was broken off when it Soruck a hare in an unusual taxiing accident at the Opotiki aerodrome. The hare jumped several feet into the air as the aircraft I approached and it was hit by the propeller. When Topsy Takes A Breath. Topsy, a circus elephant, was plod'ding her lumbering way along a Marlborough highway in' search of a bathing hole when she was overtaken by a ' petrol wagon. Unable to pass, its driver was forced to pull up alongside. Instantly a questing truhk was thrust through the open window of the cab and, as the luckless occupant dived for safety through ihe other door, Topsy took a deep and anticipatory breath. Amid a noise suggestive of an outsize in vacuum * cleaners a collecdon of competition . tickets, tucked for safekeeping along the top of the windowscreen, vanished for ever. Abandoned Car. The Masterton police are puzzled about the fate of the occupants of a car which crashed through a fence on the Rimutaka hill on Thursday night into a gully 120 feet below. A passing motorist saw the iights of the car in , the valley about 11 o'clock on Thursday evening. The police. i found no sign of the occupants or of anyone having been injured. The doors were closed and the vehicle not greatly damaged. It had apparently been travelling north from Wellington and had crashed through the wire fence on the highway near the break-wind j on the Wellington side of the summit. Fublic Trust Business. xxie ..a,i'ge volume of business which is entrusted to the Public Trustee as executor, trustee an'd attorney is shown by the new business for the half-year ended September 30, the new estates accepted for administration exceeding £4,000,000 in value. During the same period more than 4000 new wills appointing the Public Trustee executor were prepared and were lodged in safe custody, and a further 3700 wills already held were revised to provide for changes desired by testators. Activity in mortgage investments was also well maintained and new advances amounting to £620,000 were made during the half-year on the security of farms, business premises and dwellings. Air Race To N.Z. > Aircraft in the 1953 England to Christchurch international air race wiil fly across the world to 't'he fmishing line in opposite directions. The race is planned to coincide with the Christchurch International Exhibition, which- will open on October 3, 1953. Longrange aircraft will fly via the United States and the Pacific, Smaller aircraft will fly to New Zealand via Ihe Middle East, and cross- the Tasman Sea from Australia. This has been disclosed by the chairman of the Canterhury International Race Council, Mr. H. D. Christie, who is now in London. He said that both routes were about the same length — 13,130 miles. Interviewed in Melbourne, Mr. Christie said that the organizers were considering having an open high-speed section, a transport section open to operating air lines, and possibly a. service section, drawing entries from various national air forces. A light plane section was doubtfui.