The Fire Fiend.

Kawhia Settler and Raglan Advertiser, Volume IV, Issue 353, 13 March 1908, Page 2

The Fire Fiend.

DESTRUCTION IN THE KAWHIA DISTRICT. COMMIBBIONEB OF CRpWN LANDS

Mr J. Mackenzie, Commissioner of Crown Lands, has just returned to Auckland after spending 10 days in tba fire-swept districts of tha Kawbia and Raglan counties. Speaking to a Star representative Mr Mackenzie said an enormous space of the Kawhia County bad been swept by the fire, and be computes the area as being not less than 40,000 acres. The districts which have suffered most have been Te Rau-a-mna, and tbe Oparau valley ; in the latter case tbe valley bad been practically burnt out. Nevertheless, despite al! tbe terrible privations, and the heart breaking losses, Mr Mackenzie found the settlers in great heart. While so many thousand acres have been swept it does not mean that tbe whole area will need to be re sown with grass. Where the hardship comes in exists in the fact that many of tbe settlers must now sacrifice their stock ou a falling market, and when they ace ready to re-stook again, six months hence, they wilt pr ibably have to buy in a rising market. Likewise those in the dairying bu=i nes have suffered severely. Many of them are in a bad wiy- Those small dairy farmers whose returns varbd from £1 per week upwards, now hue their incomes cut off. Their distress .is more acute because they were largely depending on tue present summer sea son’s returns co tide them over the next winter.

Many cases of individn-1 sufforiug and loss were met with. TheM,lntosh family, which had a narrow escape with their lives at the time of the Kia Ora wreck, and lost all their furniture and belongings at the time, have since settled at Oparau. Between them bus band and wife were milking 80 cows, and building up a home. The fire devasted their farm, and burned tbe house, furniture, sbeds, and seven of the cattle, leaving tbe pair stranded. Mr Mackenzie was very much impressed with the splendid courage of the settlers, who, with remarkable optimism, are already looking ahead, and making a fresh scarf, This excellent spirit was particularly noticeable in the Oparau and Kinohaku districts. Tbe damage to green bush and milling timber has been considerable. The fire belt, Mr M'Kenzie added, was largely west of the railway, between Ta Awamutu and Te Kuiti, and onward to the Mokau.