BONFIRE OF BACON.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 11790, 13 January 1904, Page 7

BONFIRE OF BACON.

Immense destruction of public propertyhas been going on here, -Axites the Durban correspondent of the "Daily Mail," for tho lsuffr three years under the supervision of the authorities, who have gone to great > expense in getting rid of stores. At first j they -were taken out to sea and tiironn i overboard, but during the last, cix -weeks or two months a truly original departure j has been made. Finding that the hams i and bacon floated and came ashore, the authorities decided to burn the stores, and the process goes on day and night on their barning-ground, a piece of Jand twenty-five acres in extent. Waggonloads of hams and bacon from the storehouses are brought to the ground, opened by gangs of men, and thrown on the fire. They bum most furiously and the sky is reddened by the blaze, •while the smell of burnt bacon the whole town. Enormous quantities of tinned goods—beef, jam, etc.—are heaped on the burning pile and destroyed by thousands of tons. The hams and bacon have been packed by well-known British and Irish firms, and to all appearances are sound and good. I have taken some hams out of the pile, cut the wrappers off, and found thn_t_the meat was exactly the same as that for which I J pay mv grocer Is 2d per lb. No reason is i given for the enormous destruction of public stores.