CORRESPONDENCE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 125, 30 June 1870, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE.

FIRES. (To the Editor of the Tuapeka Times.) Sir, — -I have read in a late issue of your paper an account of a fire, which burned some stacks, the property of Mr. A. Campbell, and the jury's finding in the matter. Since, I have been considering th<s matter in my own mind, an idea has forcibly struck me, which, if correct, may account for the frequent fires which have so mysteriously happened. It is a well-known fact, and the insurance companies' reports endorse the same, that since the use of vesta matches, a greater number of fires have occurred than previously, and they explain the matter thus : Families who use them (and now-a-days all do so) frequently allow children to play with them, and they get scattered over the floor- These are taken by rats and mice to their abodes, where, as a matter of course, they nibble away until they arrive at the phosphorescent end, when their teeth coming against it, occasions an ignition, and the surroundings being in a dry state, a fire is the result. Now, it is possible that the party who built the stack, or the party who thatched it, might have had matches in his pocket, out of which a few might fall (I know how careless matches are kept by many), and a mouse or rat tunnelling its way through through the stack, might fall on this agreeable change of food, and occasion the fire which has done so much damage. It would be an easy matter for farmers to insist that, whilst harvesting, their men should not be allowed to carry any fireworks about them. If they really cannot do without a draw from the favourite pipe, then let them go a distance from the place of danger. It strikes me that if this course were generally insisted on, we should hear of fewer fires. — I am, «fee, Lawrence, 28th July, 1870. D.