THE GREAT BUSH FIRES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1057, 21 February 1911, Page 4

THE GREAT BUSH FIRES.

SCENES IN TJii; KINO COUNTRY. tßx Tclcsraph.-lipoclnl CorreiDonJcnt.l Aucklnnd, February 20. The Kins; Country nijirtisenlative of the "Herald" r\a\m llifit ileum Hiioko Mill prevails, flltlinuiili It I* not i]uil» as bail us «as the c.'imi rouw iliiys previously. A «etl!er named N. Ni-llrcii, of rimierangi, slated that, the I'omernngl district was blnek, nlioul WW ucrei of urns* had lieep burned, mid a eli-aii Mv/ep had been inndc. Ho and his iielijhbourn H.uwl Bros.) lost 101) .sheep in u fire liis-l Sunday. The hre wus fanned by the wind which sprang "P in the night, and the limned travelled rapidly. Tho settlers had trying and anxious times. The great fear at present'is that tho wind will life again, in which case serious damage may occur, especially to the settlors in the now districts, whose homes are built in tho midst of bush clearings. There are still no indications of rain, and considerable inconvenience is, being experienced owing to the shortage of water all over the district, ■ As a result of the drought fires have been prevalent in the Matahura and Te Hcd districts. t A large flax swamp at Matahura, belonging to Mr. Caleb Hill, has been • destroyed, damage to the extent of several hundred pounds having been done. At Te Hoe the bushmen succeeded in getting the fires under control, but not before an amount of valuable timber and a portion of the tramway had been destroyed. A very severe fire has been raging at Ongaroto, five miles from Atiamiiri. The flax swamps of the Taupo Totara Timber Company. Ltd.. were well alight on Saturday and Sunday, and the flax was burning fiercely. The country is particularly dry in the:-? parts, and the fire spreads very rapidly." Latest reports state that one of the houses owned by Messrs. Lvnn, Poppelwell and Co. was destroyed, and the mill and machinery and ,other buildings in danger. A gang of men were on the' spot fighting the fire. The Atiarnuri district is shrouded in dense smoke. .