POISON FUMES.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4630, 26 November 1923, Page 4

POISON FUMES.

VEGETATION IN DANGER. ALARM IN HOBART. At the first signs of harm to their beautiful vegetation, of which they arc justly proud, the people of Hobarc and the surrounding districts have taken the greatest alarm- concerning the possible effects of the fumes from the electrolytic works at Risdpn. Two years ago those who had observed ths devastating effects of similar fumes elsewhere gave yvarning, and urged that assurances should be required from the company. The Government, however, was reassured after an investigation by the Health authorities. But the magnificent trees and shrubs in the vicinity are now exhibiting alarming symptoms, and the advice which has been sought has not allayed public anxiety. The experiences of Queenstown, Linda, and other places on the western side of Tasmania have been quoted as an incentive to immediate action to protect the vegetation around Hobart. Mr Lawson, warden of the Queenstown municipality and a member of the Tasmanian Legislative Council, in recounting the abnormal tragedy suffered by his district, says: "When I first went to Queenstown 26 years age alt you could see was a little train of smoke amongst most beautiful forests. But that little train of smoke—the fumes from the Lyell smelters — in the course'; of itime destroyed all the vegetation for miles around and turned a beautiful spot into a desert. Get on the top of any one of the hills in the district to-day, and as far as the eye can reach you will see the effects of the fumes. Practically all th» trees and other forms of vegetation were destroyed, and however much a man might want to grow vegetables he could not do so. Things are beginning to grow again now, but that is only because there is only one smelter going as against six or seven formerly. Hobart is faced with a similar fate unless action is taken in the matter. ’From what I am told, and also from what I can see for myself the fumes from the zinc works are having a very detrimental effect on the vegetation on both sides of the river. I have seen some of the trees in the neighbourhood of Risdon, and they are dying off in precisely the same way as they did on the West Coast—first the leaves, .then the limbs, and finally the trunk. If this is allowed to go on, in time you will ha.ve no vegetation at all. In my opinion the' Electrolytic Zinc Company should be forced to treat thel" fumes. There is a means by which they can do so, and steps should be taken to see that they do it as quickly ns possible. The longer this is delayed the greater the damage that will be done. When the company starts the making of superphosphates the position will be still worse. They ought to have everything in going order by then tp prevent the sulphur fumes escaping; otherwise it is goingto be a deadly business. Prompt action is therefore all the more imperative.

Describing the strange effects of th£ fumes at Linda a writer recently said : "The idea of an. oasis in a desert with its vision of an island of vegetation in a sea of .sand is familiar all the world over. But Tasmania shows the paradox of an island, of desert ringed by dense forests, almost tropical in their luxuriance. Though it lies in the West Coast region, wlpre the rainfall is measured by feet' or yards, not by Inches, the heart of this desert- is as bare of vegetation and as destitute of wild animal life as any part of the ‘dead heart of Australia.’ A blood-red stream flows through a valley, appalling in its titter nakedness and barrenness. There grows not a* tree, not a bus a, not a blade of grass ; the only living things 'are a few humble lichens and one patch of green, where aquatic plants grow in a swampy patch. Twisted aind worn into strange shape,s the rocks thrust up .through the naked soil. With its crude colours, black and red and yellow, and its desolation, the valley resembles more than anything else in the world those awful nitrate deserts of Northern Chile, where rain never falls. The mountains that hem it in are as bare as any living thing, as those desert ranges on the western side of the Red Sea.”