THE BUSH FIRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 127, 21 February 1908, Page 8

THE BUSH FIRES.

THE AUCKLAND OUTBREAKS. YESTERDAY'S LOSSES. ' (BY TELEGRAPH —SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.") : ... ... Auckland; February 20. ■ NewS still comos to hanc| regarding : the damago done-by bush.,fires In- various, parts • of;,tbo,country. : A .gentleman; ; who ;,has -just returned' from a-fire-swopt-district out WaikatO' way, v saidj.. in conversation .with . a " Star " representative . this looming: — " Until you see tho efrccts you have no, idea how disastrous these fires Tcally aro to tho ' farriiers.'- When you.see:paddocks, absolutely swept clear 'of grass,, and tho cattle without feed or water, .you * begin' to see .what a-bush ■ lire really means." : -Advice ■Hasjibeen'. received that a- large'area of bush has. boon burned iu tho forest reserve ■ at Awakino. This is a' very, hue bush, lying .to the north-cast of Dargaville. .; To tho south of Auckland, fires are now reported ■to be making progress, iii Marshall's -bush at ; the , Maukiv -. Ziman's : . bush .at . Purii; -and several 'swamps in tho same neighbourhood aro also ou tiro. / -v" 1 . ■ : Fire' is'. extending ,in the- Waitete bush, Waihi district, and Mr. H. Harley, contractor,,has so far lost'about 1000 fencing posts, which had been cut,,ready for removal: A ; largo' llasmill area. in . tho Thames . Valley; : ■owned by Dean' 8r05.,, of Paeroa, has. been ■ swept by swamp fires, and the loss by l .the. owners will amount to close on -£1000. ■ Tho area, in'question had been, reserved; for, four, 1 years, aud it was intended to start - cutting operations upon it within the next, few weeks. •'The VWaiuku district , is barren of every vestige of green,; except inthe swamps. :.Tho .surrounding .lulls aro a mass of burning embers, and at night present a weird spec- - tacle.s.Last -night'.Marshall's' bush,.;of several hundred acres, caught, fire, and, a, large, quantity' of'valuable timber was totally destroyed.'- ,To-night-.the' snibko in the township is so. (Jeii'se; that objccts a • few.'feet. away' can ■ scarcely ,be distinguished.' There', is.'.little feed for cattle and sheep, and .the milk sup^ . ply is very/small,. so much so'.that 'farmers ■ are " killing {off.Ctneic' pigs, . having ;jh'6 skim milkifohthem./: -At one;farm a spring, '.which' :■ had been'running vigorously for.thirty .years,, dried up two months ago, l but this afternoon it revived, again, : and is now flowing as ■ vig'or- - ously as ; ever:; • Many of the neighbouring ; farmers ;.have to cart 1 water-for, domestic ,uso six and seven miles. •. The fires in tho Kawhia now practically burned out. r : Mr:, . •,' of • Oparuj had nearly 800 sheep destroyed'and • 1500■' acre s: of grass swept: EFFECT ON-THE DAIRYING INDUSTRY:. ' ' ' PROSPECTS FOR THE WINTER. ■ . (BY TELEGEATn.—PRESS ASSOCIATION:) ': : . ■ - .Auckland, February 20--■ . The .effects of tho long-continued dry wea- '' ther, coupled with "the- resultant fires, arebecoming'. .very..-serious m this province . Apart from the destruction of valuable bush,' the" fires have/in .-'iriany instances,. swept across ; the . pastures,'; lvith : the' result' that thousands of' acre's are absolutely , without ■ a .blade .of'/grass..-; Naturally,, this, has;had . n most seriou3; effect, on the 'dairying industry, ;and,^unless\the"rains-set in shortly, it will be impossible for the pasturo to recover in time\to carry 'over the winter. '-'■■■ 1 . That. the gravity of the present position of affairs'jis; recognised by farmers is'shown by. thbfact that'they aroin many instances holding. back their chaff, ■ evidently fearing that they will yet require it for feeding their; own stock.J In . some cases stacks : of oaten hay which .had: been offered for sale have been withdrawn for that reason : Under such .circumstance's lit' is faut.nat-l ural that;the position of the butter'market i is very uncertain. It •is recognised that rains'. within a fortnight might result in supplies of butter for the autumn, but under- no circumstances now, can there be any flush "of butter this year.' ■" V,-,' LULL AT,NEW PLYMOUTH. DETAILS OF WEDNESDAY'S DAMAGE.:' (BY TELEGEAPH —SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.) • New Plymouth; February 20. " The 'high wind of Tuesday ana. Wednesday. ■ abated last night, and to-day a slight, breeze from the. seaward checked 'the. on-coming fires. In!, the afternoon the, wind veered . round again; to' the south-east-,' i and again brought, smoke down into the. town, but no further damage .is reported from: Egmont Road,-as the wind is but slight." >• - .The Mangorei Road settlers hav.e had' a , very /trying' struggle .against • fires in the pa?t;, few: days.' , The south-easterly ;wind' . carried fires across the district on Tuesday/ and during-the wholeof Tuesday, night.Mr. G. H:: Herbert,' assisted by his neighbours, was • lighting the flames to keep them from his buildings. :The dense.smoke was almost;over-: powering;. and, in fact/ the ifighters; suffered iriore from'smoko than, from the fires-.them- . selves. Air. Herbert and- Mr:/ Carriol- were suffering: severely; froni the.' effect's yester-. • day. ; ' ' '/'/. ■ .Higher/up thojfoad. .Messrs. Husband and' Parsous's house, -.was.in danger. ; The . fires' . came'very- close,;, and- sparks' :wero' flying about the - dwelling in/ threatening fashion.There has ';becn! little actual destruction' of ■ property apart, from', fences m ; . this ',district,■ but,pastures have, suffered a good deal, and a scarcity of winter feed is. feared. It is considered 'that in the long-run the fires will prove; beneficial, . but the immediate, 1 result is a.good deal of hardship lor uoth settlers . and ' stock. It 'is ..estimated that half ' a million feet of timber, valued at £900, was destroyed by the fire.'.which swept .over.: tlip: . Egmont Road- mill, of, the Sash arid . Door' Company. ; ; The;' irisuraiices, I understand, only amount to'about £300. . .

I 1 ires are- still .burning- in.tho vicinity of the Upper . Carrington'Road; and many hundred: acres of. grass have) been destroyed. Locally, fires weio burning fin the. Frankley' Road district yesterday, and several, residences wero, threatened. - No" nenous damago is, however, reported. ; V''-... The fires got into .a- clearing at; the. rear of Mrs. ■ Arden's residence,, and spread to within' a few yards of: the fciices.;.: The position was serious, for had the flames; oped caught the fences it would have been, impossible to save: the homestead and some lovely 'bush, with which- it in' surrounded. The furniture, was all 'taken, from tho house and covered with, wet blanket?.' Tho spread of the fire was.'• only prevented, by' the ready assistance of .several, neighbours, who wore' fighting' hard against tho; flames,for tho greater,pare or the''night'. ..It was reported that tho Frankley Road Dairy-Factory had heen destroyed, but thishas not I .been'confirmed. 'A : firo. ; did occur* in the vicinity of' the factory, : and thero wero grave' doubts as to whether the- buildings could'be saved: •It was reported late in the' afternoon that' tho lvahui' lload School -hadbeen destroyed; by fire. No official new.s has been received; and no definite information is to hand regarding the Newall School, which was reported to havo been dcstrojfcd. OUTBREAKS IN THE FLAX SWAMPS. V POSITION IN THE MANAWATU.; , IBi' xiii.EGr.Arn—rniiss-association.) •' •• , Palmerston North, February.2o. Fires liavb; been 'causing' a" good deal, of anxiety to flax owners, in tho. Shannon and Makerua districts dnring' thb'past few days, and on Wednesday last the work at all the mills in the locality was brought to a standstill, the mill'hands being employed fighting tho flames. . : ' - ' .Yesterday thero were.three soparato fires. One "occurred in the .hills at .the ..back of 'tlio Seifert 'Company's'. Miraniii_ mill. 'It swept down' a gully, and 'had just reached:'the paddock when-'its progress" was stopped", by the men hastily picking ■ up. the fibre. About eighty Acres 'of Mr. Greig r s flaxland "was swept, but the ! '- ; .fire there is now but; " Another' outbreak' occurred in the To-, koraaru swamp. : lt'.is 'believed that' a -considerable amount of damago has been" done there, although'-'it is not definitely -known to what extent.' A'-'tinton; Craw's /mill'.'was threatened,' : and' the 'employes had a; hard; time'saving the building 1 ' •. Latest information from' the "Pohangina Valley says that the'fires are. Still ."serious':' Mr. ■ property suffered' very ,'rnuohfrom tho Ires, and the homestead" was only saved after a hard fight.