THE GREAT BUSH FIRES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 247, 24 February 1911, Page 2

THE GREAT BUSH FIRES

SCENES IX THE KING COUNTRY. Auckland, February 21. The King Country representative of the Herald states that dense smoke still prevails, although it is not quite so bad as was the case some days previously. A settler named X. Neilsen, of Pomerangi, stated that the Pomcrangi district was black, and a clean sweep had been made. He and his neighbors (Lund Bros.) lost 100 sheep in the fire last Sunday. The five was fanned by the wind which sprang up in the night, and the flames travelled rapidly. The settlers had trying and anxious times. The great fear at present is that the wind will rise again, in which case serious damage may occur, especially to the settlers in the new districts, whose homes are built in the 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 Hoe districts. A large (lax swamp at Matahura, belonging to Mr. Caleb Hill, has been destroyed, damage to the exi tent of several hundred pounds having j been done. At Te Hoe the bushmeu sucI ceeiled in getting the fires under control, but not before an amount of valuable I timber and a portion of the tramway had been destroyed. A very severe (ire has been raging at Ongaroto, five miles from Atimuri. The (lax 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 these parts, and the fire spreads very rapidly. Latest • reports state that one of the houses owned by Messrs Lynn, Poppchvell and Co. was destroyed, and the mill and machinery and other buildings were in danger. A gang of men were on the spot fighting the lire. The Atimuri district is shrouded in dense smoke.