THE BUSH FIRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 107, 29 January 1908, Page 8

THE BUSH FIRES.

SERIOUS LOSSES IN NELSON.• SETTLERS READY. TO :QUIT THEIR - • .HOMES. -. .: - (nv TELEOEArH— rRESS ASSOCIATIOK.). ' Nelson, January . 28... , The Long Plains creamery, destroyed • by firo yesterday, was' insured for £225 in . tho Standard Office. It- is unlikely tlie crcaniery■will be set up,again this -season,' as the milk supply has fallen off owing to the drought; which is daily becoming more; acute. . Biggs's accommodation' libiise,' 'well-known to travellers, but 'lately piirchased as -- a homestead l>y : M'Phedran Bros.,- Motiipiko, whioli'was ddstroyod'tyy fire yesterday', was insured fori£2oo in the Commercial Union, but the contents wore ' uninsured,' and M'Phedran Bros. Ri'o heavy losers. ; The weather to-day Vis inclined to bo clondy, but'it is difficult to distinguish clouds from the smoke of hnsh fircs. Tho whole district is anxious, and in many localities settlers are ready to quit their homes at a moment's notice.

. . . ' Later. The position with regard to bush fires "remains much the same. -There is no appearance of rain, and the,only favourable circumstance lins been the absence of a'high wind. If a strong wind does arise there is every probability of vast and widespread disaster. Several homesteads in tho tipper, Mqtupiko Valley are'still threatened, and .others have only been saved by the most strenuous efforts oi the hands of workers. One crippling effect of the grass fires on the small settlers is that they have no feed left for stock, and are selling sheep at less .than half value. Thprc is no alternative except to keep and starvo them. ' The continued drought is .baring-, a: projudicial effect on the large fruits, which aro not filling as'they should, while of thoso in tho ripening • stage large. quantities are falling off;

Altogether, the outlook in the. back districts, is gloomy .and disquieting. . , .' , Many helpers sustained slight burns, and, there aro several, cases of smoke'blindness. f QUESTION OF STATE AID. With reforenco. to the losses incurred by bush fires 'in the Wairarapa district, our special -correspondent writes that ho has mado general inquiries,' amj in none of the cases brought especially under his notice is' there any necessity : for Stato aid, or help from ' any public fund. A Thero are' 1 many farmers who have experienced severe losses; but they state unreservedly, that they have supremo confidence in ' the good seasons which will ensue when their lands are wholly cleared. To the farmer'" a good burn'" is everything. . Our correspondent records tlio faot that near Waiono he observed a settler logging .up- in. tho almost-blinding' smoke, and only, two days before he liad been burnt o;it of house and horns. . It' may I ,bo mentioned, that the : insurance covered a great deal,-but in hisiconversation the farmer was mostly interested as to how . much. of tho paddock ho was in would. 1 be cleared of its timber before tho rain came. Tho greatest sufferers from - the' bush'''fires are the- mill owners and ,their employees. Owing to- the heavy insurance tariff there is hardly a mill which is-insured,'.and tho .owners have therefore- lost heavily. Tlio employees have usually boriio tho. brunt of tho fire'"fighting; I 'aind then; in. many casts,- they have'closed'their tired' and • smoke-dried 'oyos ; only in .time 'to get up ahd fleo :for their lives. The greater number cif'these, men, however, aro single. -