WAIKATO PEAT FIRES

Press, Volume LXXI, Issue 21377, 21 January 1935, Page 6

WAIKATO PEAT FIRES

PASTURES DESTROYED | ; (PRESS ASSOCIATION TEI.BGBAM-) & " HAMILTON, January 194" ; • The, peat -fires continue their rik' morseless .encroachment on P as * X.,;'. land in various parts of the distW-.' One of the properties most affected • is a block of 2500 acres at Eureka, owned by Mr F. Burley and occu- *- pied by Mr F, E. B. Lovelock. Of «» acres of pasture, more than hall ma been destroyed, aftd the ««s»s£ mostly swamp land, is a sraouiaerag , The fire also destroyed several mjtes- ■' of fencing, shelter belts, and sevWU,- . bridges. During Mr Lovelocks «- sence from the farm yesterday W nine-rooiried house was threatenedw flames. Mrs Lovelock, the only <*e . home, took buckets of water'to vm point of danger, and subdued the oqt* The'railway shed at Eureka was also , threatened, a change of wind saving the building. ' The following message has been rt- . ceived by the Mayor of Hamilton (l». F. D. Fenfold), from the GovernorGeneral (Lord Bledisloe): "I am rnuon - distressed to learn of the fires prevalent in your locality and the losses suffered by settlers. They have mvprofound sympathy in their misfortune. I sincerely trust that the progress of the conflagration will soon be checked.