THE WAIMATE BUSH FIRE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XIII, Issue 273, 25 November 1878, Page 4

THE WAIMATE BUSH FIRE.

From lh« Waitao^i Tribune of Saturday, 16 h inst., we take the following particulars of the disastrous fire which br» ke out in the bush at Waimate on t*»e pr«-viou« day : — A'» ut t*D o' l»k yesterday momin? th>- (i c inyr of the fireball called the a»t- «iion of the inhabitants of this town to^r rde (he bush, when it was visible fiat the hieh wind that ragpd at the time had blown up the smouldering a9hes ef the fire which caused such Jrouhif on Saturday last, and bad also Carried a fire that had been creeping down ihe side of the hill for some days into the bush above Theobald's. The fire b?ignde were soon on the move, the main body attacking the nearest conflagration, and several of the party and a number of the residents in the town pushing on to the upper bush, where, from the dense volume of Btnoke darkening the fcky, it could be eeen a fierce fire wnß ra^in?. It soon became apparent to those engaged on the part near Bnjce's (hat unless strenuous , efforts were rrmde a house belonging to a mao Denied Wbefe and several others would be destroyed, snd a party of th « brigade, assisted by oibers, at once went to the rescue, and after a hour's hot work managed to save them. The I touse occupied by Mr Theobald and ftunily and several others iv its neighborhood were burnt down, such being ; the force of the wiud and boat thut no : efforts of the excited people could Bave them. Early in the afternoon fears : were entertained that the fire would soon extend to Mr Haye's mill, and about half-past 3 o'clock the work of dismantling the establishment was comtnence^. Mr Fothergill, about the same time, got his house cleared of his furuiiure and other valuables, and, ? together with his wife and family, they '. were brought to town In trapß. 'Ihe scene was a moat exciting one about this time. Waggons and traps were dashing about, and furniture was being; frantically piled on to them in a most* heterogeneous manner. People were seen making their way to the .town on foot loaded with small articles. Shortly afterwardß the wind which fcad been blowing from the west,' «hifted round to a more southerly point, which had the effect of taking the fire *— that had run along among the scrub 1 and Bturaps to the southward of Mr Hayes mill—over into the dense part of the bußh. To make matters worse, it blew stronger, and the fire fiew along with amazing rapidity. So fiercely did it haru that the dismantling party had ooly time to save one or two of the artiolea of machinery at ihe mill. In retaoving Mr Rickman's family in a bugjry, the horse bolted, and the conveyance ran against a stump, the consequence that the driver's leg was broken, but the children esoaped unhurt* Mr Potts, manager for Mr Studholme, had : to ride through flatnea and was very; much scorched about his face and bands. 1 Towards the close of the afternoon much uneasiness was felt in consequence of it being reported that fully i< i riy men — including Messrs Sinclair, W. M'Donald, Hunter, and other trades-; men of this town, who had gone to the assistance of ihe bushmeD— were then in the bush; but we are happy to state 1 that they all made their appearance shortly after. Towards dusk thertf wos not a house left standing, wo ihink, ; at the edge of the bu9h, and numercu? stumps were on fire at the back of the town. The poor creatures brought to 1 town were first refused admittance into 1 the immigration barracks, but Mr John! Manchester, with praiseworthy deteH micstion, ordered the building to be thrown open to the homeless ones. He theu, in conjunction with his reapocted partner, Mr Gruldaraiib, sent down a good supply of provisions of tli kinds; so ihut tha wants of the needy ones— no les*. than twenty families— were well cared for, and when we visiied the barracks la°t night the 6cene was a touching one — some poor women were bemoaning their loss, and even one or two of the men seemed half demented.