Helicopters —
p. 81 · Read in the full issue
A Pitcairn Is. First
IS a direct result of Mrs. Jessie Clark, of Pitcairn Is., having an internal haemorrhage in July (FIM, August, p. 24), the island was visited by HMS Warrior , which carries two helicopters.
The people knew of Warrior’s visit three days before —and that the helicopters would land on the island if possible.
Before dawn, on July 31, the entire fit and able population of Pitcairn gathered on the hill above Oleander, where the men cleared a place 40 yards square for the aircraft to land.
Then, circling over the bay and round Ship Landing Point, high above it, the helicopters came to rest for a while near the awed population. And then six of the leading men of Pitcairn, having been invited on board ship for breakfast, took their seats inside the aircraft.
The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Parkin Christian, and the schoolteacher, Mr.
Wotherspoon, and the missionary.
Pastor Hawkes, went with Commo dore Hicks. The Government Secre tary, Andrew Young, and the two Assessors, Vernon Young and Ivan Christian, embarked in the second helicopter.
Barely had they risen from the ground when the pilot dived straight down to the ship! Andrew described his feelings in a letter: “To tell you the truth, I nearly cried for fear. Looking through the door down to the Landing, I said, ‘We’ll surely be dashed to pieces down there!’ Then all at once we start to heel over. I cried, ‘Oh dear, we’ll turn over!’ If I hadn’t been strapped in I would have jumped out into the sea. I was afraid—but it was really exciting! It was an experi ence long to be remembered on Pit cairn Island.”
One of the bravest of seamen, Andrew knows no fear in the roughest and most dangerous waters, but this adventure was something altogether new and different. t Tom Tonga, a 22-years-old Tongan attending a four-year animal husbandry course at Gatton College, Queensland, won first prize in the beef cattle section of the Brisbane Royal National Show young judges’ competition. There were 34 com petitors in the class. Tom, who is in his final year, said that he would probably take up a Government position when he returned to Tonga next year. t Mr. W. Francis, New South Wales manager of Nestle’s Food Special ities (Aust.) Ltd., is on a fortnight’s business trip in Fiji, where he will visit Suva, Lautoka and Nadi.