The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1918. THE WAIMARINO BUSH FIRES.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 March 1918, Page 4

The Daily News. FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 1918. THE WAIMARINO BUSH FIRES.

Tin; terrible visitation which hag devastated a large portion of the Waimarino district will evoke the most profound feelings • sympathy with the unfortunate victims who have suffered such great losses—many having lost all their possessions. Those who are acquainted with this comparatively newly settled country can best realise the extent of the terrible conflagration, which was carried ty the gale over an enormous are*. Urc'er normal circumstances a bush fire is an awe-inspiring spectacle fraught with much danger, but with a cyclonic gale raging such as that which accompai.fed the Waimarino disaster, the extent of the devastation and loss is bound to he very great. Raetihi, the oldest of the towns in the fire afflicted district, appears to have suffered the most, the heat being so intense that hundreds of men, women and children stood ; all night waist deep in water and in drains, being rendered nearly blind from smoke and dust. The township of Horopita has been completely wiped out, while several mills have been destroyed ana hundreds of men have been thrown out of work. Other towns, including (jjhakune, have suffered more or less, but tl\e settlers all over the stricken area have lost heavily, thousands of sheep and cattle have been killed, homesteads, wool sheds and other buih ,: ngs destroyed, and it is possible that some lives may have been lost. Although the sawmills have largely denuded the district of standing t'wber there was left a considerable quantity of logs and dead wood that fed the flames and carried them onwards over an ever-increasing area. It was an awful calamity and the sufferers are greatly to be pitied—and helped. The action of the railway authorities at Oliakune in sending relief trains to Raetihi was a most praiseworthy action, as was the prompt despatch to the scene of the officers of the Lands Department to give ad:' and assistance to the sottiers. Relief funds have been opened in the leading towns, including New Plymouth, and though the Government will, as the 'Premier promptly stated, do the right thing it is certain that private aid will be needed. It is one of those terrible visitations which call for immediate help to the sufferers, especially as in these I—ih districts many of the settlers are working lmrd to convert the bush land into productive farms by their unremitting labor. There are also the hundreds of mill workers who ;«'(■ not only thrown out of employment, but have lost 5111 they possess and these men and their families will for the moment be dependent on outside help. The people of the Dominion are always ready and willing to do justice in such an

emergency, for a d Mister <>i lliis -proportion opens tlio hearts »s well ;is the pm*ets of all members of -the community.' Yi'e deplore the catastrophe and tin? si'iTerin;;' and loss in its train. Tir onyhout. the Dominion the sympathy of the people will lie extended to nil who have suffered by the destructive lin-s. There is some consolation in the fsef tluit a sweeping lire of this nature tlran up logs, etc., that would cumber I!k> ground for U'ars, so tlnit when the ho neteads ai'i' rebuilt tile settlors will ii'Ave better prospects in (lie immediate frture than would otherwise have been the oase.

A TEST I-'OR THE ITABBOR.

tile, lale gale—its force and destructiveness merits_ its inclusion in the eategorv of cyclones —was a severe test for the harbor at Moturoa. It came in the one direction most feared, right into the mouth of. the harbor, yet not only were the three vessels moored to the wharf quite safe, but the Karawa, tossed about outside bj the mountainous seas, was able to come alongside and moor safely. True, the harbormaster signalled against coming in under aucl} awful weather conditions, hut the fact remains that in the worst gale ever experienced in the history of Taranaki, and from the worst possible quarter, the harbor proved a safe haven for shipping. Not only that, but the breakwater was not affected in the slightest degree by the severe buffetting it received. The harbor has come successfully through tlie severest test t.o which it could be subjected, and has more than juatified the plans of the 'engineers and vindicated the faith of townsmen and tlie of the district, to whose enterprise and vision N the harbor construction is due. Gales of a violent nature we have had from other directions, and they have never shaken the breakwater or affected the working of t'ue wharf, Jbut until the breakwater is extended and an eastern wall built, it whs felt that the port would not afford the fullest protection for ocean liners in case of the springing up of hurricane from the north-cast, though safe enough for coastal shipping. With ships nothing can be taken for granted. There must always be a safe margin. The element of risk should he absolutely eliminated, and though, the community is to Ije congratulated upon the successful way in which the port came through its recent trying ordeal, it is phtent that tlie Harbor Board is well advised in its action in preparing plans for further improvements that will vender the harbor still more safe and still more useful. The extension of the l>reak\ iter and provision for an eastern wall will probably form a prominent part of the new scheme, the details of which will he awaited with interest by the people of Tar.inaki, who now realise more than tliev have ever done 'before that they possess an absolutely safe port and one which must play an increasingly important part in the development 0 f the j province.