BUSH AND GRASS FIRES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 54, 22 February 1908, Page 2

BUSH AND GRASS FIRES.

PKACTJ v. AL A,\Sl s lA\ (JO. I.'OVEI{NMLN'i'& ACTION. l'er Press Association. Auckland, Last Night. In referring to the bush and oilier fires in liis speech, at the social given to .Ur. La wry, M.l\, ai Nc .vmai'Kct tonight, tlic Prime -Minister said that tlie Cioverniiient proposed 10 give some prac: fical assistance to tlic settlers who had suffered losses through these (ires. He was coiiimuiiicaling with his colleagues, mid be hoped (bat by tomorrow .he I would lie able to indicate the lull direction Unit the (loverninent proposed 10 go ill Hie way of nfl'ordiiig relief to a deserving body of people, who worked early and late in carrying on their ini- ! porlaut part of the work of the connI try.

FAIi.YI lOliS' I'NIO.N WIiLCOMK 1,0 VEKXMKNT ASSISTANCK.

Auekl.md. Last Nifjlii. Tin' loss occasioned In liiu liusli liivs in the Auckland province was rcf.-nvi! I to lit :i meeting of tlio executive of tin- I Farmers' tnion to-day. j|r. Duxliil.l. of Xgarunwahia, moved that the. executive extends iis lour-fell. -vni]iatiiv to all Vlll- settlers, especially those j,,' til,; Kinolnkit district (Kiiwhia). who have SuH'ered liy the recent dcv.isiatini; iiiv. and wiii'inly approves of the Premier's expre-sed intention of renderim.' sissi-il-ancc. Mr. Jeuitt seconded the' motion. Mr. Flanagan, of i)rury. said it was significant Mint now the'farmers from euli to end of tin' country were suH'cring loss, there was no talk amongst the town unions and societies of sharing with the farmers. The. agitators who talked so loudly in time of prosperity were silent now. The motion was carlied.

IN OAM'AKl 7 DISTRICT. (laiimrn. LiM N"i...|il. Owing to the dryness of the pastures and stubbles in the district, a considerable number of lircs have been slalt"d, in most eases presumably by Hie .-.parks, from railway engines. DAMAGE IN COUOMANDKL DISTRICT. Auckland, Last Night. In Hie Coromaudel district, the hush (ires have been raging for several weeks. Messrs. Slirimplun Bros, have had all their feed destroyed, as well as 20 head of cattle. Mr. John Lynch is reported to have lost most of his best grass. On Wednesday night a heavy easterly wind drove the lire through 'the Pakoitrauku block, and it was only owing ti| tin- assistance of a number' of frienibl that the flumes were prevented from destroying the residence of Mr. Garland. In the vicinity of Waingaro a lot of damage has been done by the fires destroying the farmers' grass. The flames ■swept through the standing bush, and but for the assistance of neighbors Mr. Hewitt would have lost his homestead. .Mr. John Allen had over 1000 acres of grass burned. It is feared that manv of the settlers will b 0 compelled to part with the whole of their stock for want of feed. IN SOUTHLAND. Invercargilh Last Night. On several occasions lately heavy smoke clouds have been observed in the country districts. Smoke has all come from the North-west, indicating large fires in that direction.

IX TAWKI DISTRICT. Our Tariki correspondent writes:— We are .having our share of smoko and five. Considerable damage was suffered by many settlers in this district ou the night of the 18th inst., when the lerrililc S.W. gale spread the (ires in all directions. On the Tariki road Messrs Kaigwell's and Swanson's homesteads were in great danger. Water being so scarce makes tile task of lighting the (lames doubly hard, and stopping biiili lives is an occupation that beats any-* thing I know of for arousing the desire to be in three or four places at the same lime. On the Survey road the settlers had a very bad night. Mr. James' farm was swept, the building being saved with diiliculty. ..Air. 15. Laurence suffered considerable damage, the (ire getting into his beautiful shelter bush, and also destroying a line plantation. The manager and stall' are keeping careful watch on the cheese factory which lias so far escaped any serious danger from the (ire, though with high winds and the continuous drought everyone is in more or less danger of being burnt out, and will be, until rain comes. In the meanwhile we are battling on as best we can with sore eyes and not feeling too light about the heart, especially when we happen to think what the milk cheques will be next month, and what the price of cocksfoot is now. As the new-chum remarked: "Hush farming is not all that it i s cracked up to be in the Old Country. " IN W'AKEA DISTRICT.

Writes our Warca correspondent:— On Tuesday morning a strong southerly wind started and set the tires going again. The'lire started in Messrs. Dueker Bros.' section, and came down through -Mr. Corkill's section, missing the mills, and then On to the school surrounding it, but not burning it down, although, the fire was right close to the building. It then crossed the Newall road and attacked Mr. H. Corbett's section, burning their whare ami all the grass and everything else coming in its way. From there it shot across to Mr. G. Jones' section, taking everything belore it, and then through Mr. K. Lovell's. This place suffered very severely, Mr. Lovell having only a few acres of grass left. A clearing, burnt a week or two ago, had been sown down in grass. This the fire swept away. Fires raged on both sides of the road. \'obody could proceed up the road to »We assistance. ° The fire (hen went''through Mr E Sylward's, and next shot across the river into Mr. Hcmy's, ou thc Plmillo road. This house was in great danger From this point the fire went through' Messrs. I-. Binnic's and J. Lawn's the former having the roughest time of it, the lire came in a line with his house cowshed, factory, and other buildings ami a sultry time was experienced nil through the night lighting the Haines which were eventually extinguished without doing any damage, except burning a little grass and logs. The wind then eased a little, and the fires did not spread very much, until about noon on Wednesday when the wind rose u«um and the fires again started, travelling towards Mr. Gill's property. There is no information at the time of writing regarding its progress. " A lire also broke out ou Mr. G. ,f u

lish s on tin" W.uva road oji Iticsiliiy evening, travelling at a groat rate through the clearing, and into .Mr. I'. iubms burning all his grass, which ic had reckoned the best feed he had had up to then. Another fi ro started iu Mrs Murphy's, and came through Mr i. Julian's (scnior.'s) and cleared everything before it. Another lire will about . clear his section of grass and lo«s. | Ihere have been no nouses burned, but I

some on the P„„ih„ road have had a hot time. At ih, „...-„. - „. . .

"ot time. All the womenfolk left their ion..* 0,1 Tuesday night and tame down to the township for shelter It the fires get into Messrs. Kumball's. Alexander's, Ijlley's, Bnd Sniitll > 3 )aw ,: iere ,vill be some houses destroyed „» the, tijuLcr is very heavy and is right close to the building*, and as water is a timg of the past in all of this part 1 ' e , nc •;, ti,ere wiu bo «»<*«* on he hies The smoke is thicker than it has been for a great number of year.

On Wednesday morning ou i v oi the supplier* from tin- Pnniho r„"d StL t Cl ' e,l "-' ei ' y t0 deli ™>- their milk the fire raging both sides of t'no Pnniho mi it Wits i m p oggiMo I J° r anyone to get up or down to "he heli, or to „ !B wliat damage was i, oim ,/ ~„„,; but after a while the wind dropped .„„ he lire, Readied a little for arl'hour or r«; t, j , n bol '.' ,mol '' however, the wind lose again with great force, driving the lire everywhere. The fire swept Mr. A nf^H ni ? tffn ' n ' < " ,cllcs ' oM »'»- ? g a, ng «i« trout of the section and the other through tile middle of it. The tire that came through the front jusf K« l 6 J ,OUSe ' an<i by fi ghting the lames the hous e was saved. The tw* bodies 0 f fi,. G went on thejr . o taking all the grass with then, into Messrs. Bell Bros.' sections and through them into the Maori bush. By this tune it was getting late in the evening, and the wmd died down, once more stopping the f or< . e of tho flameg _ On Wednesday Mr. R. Henry had to be brought out of the bnsli down to the township for fresh air, as he had been fighting the flames all Tiiesday~mght away from the house, and was picked up afterwards laying face downwards i on the ground, blinded and stupefied by the .smoke and heat. |

There arc no reports of any loss of entile. At. midnight on Thursday the Newall road fires were steadying 'down,

but were .smouldering both sides of the' luiul between lUiMijiill's ami the mill. A tree or two had fallen across the road. At this time the smoke was worse than the lire, it being impossible to see a chain ahead. On ill 1 ' main road the fcottiei'S are not getting any lire but any amount of smoke,

IN DURHAM ROAD DISTRICT. Mr ,100 Simpson, Durham road, writes: i ' —Dame Rumor having had il that 1 had been completely burned out during th'.' iii'e raging on Tuesday last, 1 should be glad of the opportunity to allay the anxietv of friends in all purls of th p di.-trie'l in letting them know that I (hough we got treated bad enough ill all eoiiHieihe, il did not reach the worst. .Members of my family, assisted by -Mrs. Saltier and Mr. ]■'. Corm'y during tile day, and by .Messrs. 'J'. Salisbury and Mr. A. Shricbcr al night, had all their work cut out working in thick, pungent smoke, in keeping the llaiues from getting a hold inside'the lame) hedges suvrounding the house, mid also pre venting llie lire from eating up two stacks ot

ii-iv, etc. Only a visit to the spot can give an idea of the battle we had, the effect of the heat, etc., being shown on the shrubs within a few feel of the residence, Hnd there is not the slightest itmbi Unit the iaurel hedge was of great help in checking the lire. We all suffered severely from smoke Uimhics-; and 1 myself had to seek medical relief next

day. The volume of smoke from green •scrub, etc., coining in a direct line from .Mr. J. Grant's section, added considerably to the trouble, and with the gale blowing ui the time it is only those who have I ought lire with a limited amount of water that can have any conception of the struggle we had. At the time of writing (Thursday), there is a dead

calm, with smoke lying very thick, and everything most uncomfortable and threatening. Still, we hope all danger is over. Mr. Grant's house, cowshed, trapshed, etc-, have simply disappeared, and a new bridge, just completed at a cost of about -tall, was also completely destroyed. The tenant-, Mr. Alt'. Richards, 'has lost everything. -Mr. Joe. Mischewski's cowshed was with considerable difficulty kept standing, and had it got alight properly nothing could have saved the. residence and other buildings

on the property. Botli Mischewski's and my own place wore in a direct line witli the main volume pouring out of Grant's, on which place there was a considerable quantity of dead timber, and it seems a miracle that our buildings are left. The grass is thickly covered with ashes, and rain is urgently needed to freshen the grass, else a serious loss of stock must ensue. Mr. C. Schri'eber's section, which adjoins mine on the top side, is still carrying a large body of fire, and trees can be heard crashing down in all directions, so with a westerly wind springing up there is, possibly trouble still in store. On Lower Durham road the Settlers have had an anxious time, many having had to watch the whole of some nights and prevent, the fires that were burning in the bush from attacking the build- [ ings. No serious damage has been reported.