BUSH AND GRASS FIRES.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9034, 22 January 1908, Page 5

BUSH AND GRASS FIRES.

THE COUNTRY liN FLAMES. A TIME OF TRIBULATION. ENORMOUS DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY. Reports from the Mount Bruce dis trict show that the fires have broken out afresh owing to tlio smouldering Jogs being fanned into flames by the frssh wind which sprang up from the north on Monday. All through Monday night the employees at Mr Wall's station fought strenuously to keep the flames from the homestead. They were successful in this task, but they cuikl not prevent some stacks of hay and fencing from being destroyed. Early yesterday morning the bush at either end of the new suspension bridge over the Ruamahanga river was alight, and feai's were entertained for the safety of the structure, which is a line piece of workmanship, and was only erected about two years ago at a cost of about £2,000. A messenger was dec-patched to Masterton for assistance, and four mem-1 bers of the fire brigade, viz., E. \ Jenkins, T. Jenkins, Bert Pickering and H. Selby, arrayed with buckets and ropes, set out to help the settlers to keep intact the only link which connects them with Master ton. The firemen had not returned from , the scene of the fire at midnight last night, and as no communication was received from Mount Bruce during the later [part of the day, it is not known in town how the bridge has fared.

FORTY MILE BUSH. MANGAMAHOE IN FLAMES. A SCHOOLHOUSE AND RESIDENCE BURNED. MANGAORONGA SETTLERS CUT OFF. EKETAHUNA TOWN IN DANGER; The wind which sprang up yesterday fanned, the smouldering bush and log fires in the Forty Mile Bush into flames again, and the settlers are again experiencing an anxious time. Fires are breaking out all over Mangamahoe, and yesterday the district was literally a mass pf flames. According to latest reports the Mangamahoe Church is in imminent dagger, and there. :'s every probability that the building will b» destroyed. On Monday night, and all day yesterday, the settlers at Parkvale were fighting the flames, and several residences are reported to have narrowly escaped destruction. At Nireaha, yesterday, the fires were burning fiercely, and a large gang of men left Eketahuna in the morning to assist the settlers in fighting the flames. The schoolhouse and teacher's residence were burned down, ar.d the fire is raging all round the creamery. Very little hope was held ou'-, yesterday, of saving the creamery, unless rain came.

At Newman the settlers were having a hard fight with the fire, and several settlers' residences were in danger of being burned down. Ilukanui was enveloped in smoke, and everywhere in the district fires were brrning. The Hukanui sawmills were in danger of destruction, and large gangs of men were all day on duty keeping the flames from the mills.

Fresh bush arid grass fires broke out, yesterday, at Mangamaire, and a large area of grass and miles of fencing have been b. r ,ed. At Rangokokako the fire spread with great rapidity. Mr Ericksen had his cowshed burned, and fear? are entertained that his homestead will also be destroyed. The fire is burning all round the cheese factory and school. A gang of men left Eketahuna yesterday afternoon to assist in saving the cheese factory from the flames. The fires are the worst ever experienced in the district. The settlers at Mangaoronga are completely cut off by fire from Eketahuna, and an effort Js to be made to reacli them from Eketahuna. Mr J. R. Bluett's house at Waiwera has been totally destroyed by the fire in that district. There was no insurance on the house, and Mr Bluett is a heavy loser. At Eketahuna the fire spread along the banks of the Makakahi River, and the town was in danger yesterday afternoon. The whole of the district is enveloped in a suffocating smoke.

A number of tradesmen's delivery carts, which left Eketahuna, yesterday morning, for the outlying districts, wsre unable to reach their several destinations on account of the fires, and had to return to Eketahuna. Fires are reported from other parts of the Forty Mile Bush district, and the settlers busy, yesterday, removing their stock to places of safety. In a number of cases fires were raging so close to homesteads that the settlers took the precaution of burying their furniture in pits for safety. In several instances settlers had to give up attempts to save their stock and confine their efforts to keeping the,fire from their buildings.

EKETAHUNA DISTRICT. SETTLERS HOUSES DESTROYED. A YOUTH MISSING. SAWMILL BURNED. 15V TEfjKGItAPir • P'.iEaS ASSOCIATION' EKETAHUNA, January 21. The dwellings of Messrs McKinley, Gooden and Seay have been consumed. The Nireaha cheese factory is still in danger. A youth, named Waterens, who was out fighting the fire, lias not turned up, and grave fears are entertained for his safety. r Busst's house, and the creamery manager's residence at Nireaha have been burned. The Nireaha dairy factory took no milk this morning, those in charge and the settlers uniting to fight the flames. There are reports of numerous other losses, but they are not confirmed. A settler's house at Atea has qlso been burnt.

The totara reserve at Nireaha is burning, which will be a very serious calamity. Alberthpen's sawmill at Nireaha has been destroyed. At Eketahuna it was scarcely possible to see across the street for smoke. At Mangamahoe the fire was working up close to the station, which, however, was not in immediate danger. If the wind increases, there is a prospect of serious damage to homesteads in the Hastwell, Eketahuna and Kongokokako districts. The settlers at Kongokokako are digging holes and burying their iurniture in anticipation of the lire becoming more severe. The wind lias eased slightly, and, with the efforts of the workers, the position of the factory is rendered safer, though U;e fire has got within thirty yards of it. The Eketahuna Borough men are engaged in putting out incipient fires in open sections. At Newman the fires appear to be spreading over a good few farms. LATER. Lighted timber is being blown over Eketahuna, and is starting small fires in the paddocks. The wind is increasing.

MANGATARERE VALLEY. FIVE WHARES BURNED DOWN. The damage done by the bush-fires in the Mangatarere Valley is greater than was at first reported. Messrs Booth and Co. had five workmen's whares, a few chains of their miii, tramway, and a small bridge destroyed. Outbuildings on several farms were destroyed, and an extensive area of gras3 was burned. A large number of trout in the Mangatarere stream were killed by ashes from the fires. A HOUSE BURNED DOWN. Early 011' Monday evening the wind sprang up from the westward, and increaseclmto a gale as the night wore on. &.t about three yesterday morning, the fire spread along thev,;,slopes of the Tararua ranges at West Taratahi at a rapid rate, and, a considerable area of grass was destroyed. A house belonging to Mr A. Bishop, and occupied by Mr was burned down, together with the furniture and effects. The house, which was valued at £4OO, was insured for £l5O in the Royal Insurance office. The furniture was uninsured. Mr Blackwell had only removed into the house on Monday last. The outbuildings adjoining the house were also destroyed. MANAWATU GORGE. NUMBER OF L'RIDGES BURNED. PALMERSTON N, January 21. ' Bush fires extend over a mile through the centre of the Manawatn Gorge, and a number of bridges ha\e been burnt. Pal merston-North was enveloped in heavy smoke to-day, and the fires are approaching much closer. DANNEVIRKE AND NORSEWOOD. BY TELEor.,\rii—ri'E§? DANNEVIRKE, January 2t. A heavy southerly wind blew last night which freshened up the bush fires. The town is enveloped in smoke. Reports have just reached town that heavy fires are raging'in the Norsewood district.. Several farmhouses have been destroyed, and a a number of others are threatened.

HASTINGS DISTRICT. BT TELE3RAPH—P3ESS ASSOCIATION. HASTINGS, January 21. Stifling smoke, brought by the south-east wind, enveloped the Hast; ings district this morning, indicating an immense grass or bush fire in close proximity. Telephonic communication, which was obtained with outlying stations, failed to locate the fire. The most reliable information is from Gvvavas (inland from Waipawa) stating that Ashley Clinton is on fire at the foot of the hills. At 10 a.m. the wind changed to a boisterous south-wester,and tbis probably saved a large portion of the northern Hervtaunga . Plains. Great anxiety is felt at all tht homesteads. FIRES IN HAWKE'S BAY. t£l> BY TELEGRAPH —PKESS ASSOCIATION. NAPIER, January 21. Bush and gi-ass fires at Pohui, Puketitiri and other places in the vicinity completely enveloped Napier in a cloud of smoke this morning, quite obscuring the sun, which shone through tho haze like a red ball of fire. I\o damage of any extent to dwellings or property is reported, except at Norsewood, where five farms in the Ngamoko valley and two bridges on the ma'n road between Ngamoko and Norsewood have been burned. Grave fears are entertained for the safety of the creamery at Cohr, the sawmill and many others of the settlers' homes. OUTBREAK IN NELSON. NELSON, January 21. Bush and grass fires are still burning in all parts of the district; Another and more serious outbreak is reported to have occurred to-day in the Whangapeka, and settlers are out defending their homes and stock. No reliable reports of the dama'ge done have yet come to hand.