BUSH FIRE HEROISM

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 7 April 1926, Page 8

BUSH FIRE HEROISM

COURAGL OF THE CHILDREN WOMAN DOCTOR M LOUR SITRLI OF AUSTRALIA FLOP RIF HODGES’ SACRIFICE Great heroism was displaced liy set - t.ii is. voting and old. during the bush fires in Vtetoria- Dr. Irvine Stanle. M .|,00l i!i"di- a 1 e-fheer of the Education Depai inieuf. who examined eliildren in ei rtai-.i schools in the lire taUigcd dis D iets "f MarhurU’i’,. Mount Evelyn and l.dydale -hiring February. describes • i\-.|R in the following article 1 tier expt iiene-s and itiseiw ations. the principal of whit h was the praiseworthy manner Ui which the children acted when faced with fearful odds. Dr. Stable writes: - I ;,.|t Melbourne on the morning o! I-',.hi nar-v 8. but I was quite ignorant nl ;iu extent of the liavoe wrought. T ex-ne.-ied io be recalled when the serious- : -. s of a hairs l.ieeame known. Relieving th.it the genera! population would hr more o- less pame-strirken and the daily sehoool routine disorganised. But. as t found later. I was rntteli mistaken. 'Ai hoc lournev r eml .great excitement i- igeeil. but no panic. \ cry aiarmiug were |be ~ei e-u nl s of the great destruction of properly on the previous day j dark Sunday. ‘ Dining the second night after my arrival, 10-ikng from my bedroom window. I caught sight ol two o|-i re,| stumps. I was t errilied llial the ouieseeiit- lire '.night, be fanned up by .'he wind. After keeping watch for some lime i ria nt hack to hed exhausted and foil into a ‘troubled sleep. 1 experienced tin- most hideous nightmare ot my liic. When I woke in the morning I realised the agony of mind and the wild ferret' which must have seized those poor \ iciitns will perished iu the. flames. l-'un: AT CARDS "Despite the hush (ires., 1 was able, with one exception, to visit the schools practically in the order set forth on the programme drawn up. At Three Bridges, formerly a station on the way to Poweltown. one was met by a queer sight, the rails sagging down in mid-air in the space winch previously had been a bridge. Thei r was I In' Big Store, perch dup on "e.e side of the road. Oil (he \.-i,in-la It, in the heal of I lie day. eat fo-ir nien, I'lnM'oils --I all else, playing raids ai a unal! table. I wa.. drawn into con versa I ion with thiep small Roys sealed iu (he ground in i In- dust Tln-v spoke of I lien- recentexpcj'ieuecs hire 01-l men. (tue. little (hap, with Ins mother, had had a very narrow (.•;:,; i|.-e front their blazing rlwel ling. Tal- s of giirillaf, or of Red Indians would have sounded feeble compared whit ibis ilrant;-. 'I hey were young dramatis personae--these three youngstcis the heroes of the hour, pouring forth their narrative in all its lurid dr bail, with trio histrionic power.

CURRICULUM K El'l

■ One monmig ! -set out lo visit. - r-dioo! a few miles from Wmburton. A tiiirk clourl of smoke hung just over the spot, for which I was bound. As 1. uppirsiched. I caught sight of a furious fire, but ai that moment some horsemen emerged fl rum the smoke and assured me that Urn lire was on one side of the read only- 1 held my breath and kept my head down in apprehension as t passed nloong that road bordered on one side with blazing, crackling and falling timber.

"I drew a long breath when I arrived tit the selmi a short distance further on. Head teacher, and pupils in almost full number, were present to meet. me. They quite expected mv visit and assured me that 11itiI lire, which was really only a stone n throw from I lie school, was fitpresent. under control, was really quite safe and would net as a lueak unless the witch hanged.

DASH TO A SSI S’l

"At short intervals throughout the afternoon, while I. examined the child-! ta.ii. ve peered anxiously out of the window to make sure Unit the dense volume of fmoke was arising *in the right direction. At times, it appeared tu swir| in every direction. Suddenly :he head teacher asked In he excused. Word had come that the lire at. a certain p.'ir.l. about a mile and a luijf away, where thirty men were holding it in cheek, was causing anxiety, and (lint his help was needed once more, lie had spent the previous day working in this wav.

"1 was struck by the children's calmness durum time of stress and anxiety, their sound conimonscnse and patient watchfulness. They were not carried away by excitement or emotion. Everywhere the school work proceeded calmly, almost normally, even though some ol the buildings had been saved with great difficulty. "Where'er I went. 1 heard of the suffering and heroism of the brave men and \vmn< n who came face to face with this disaster, and some of whom met their death. Loud was the praise also of the maimer in which the children acted "-lieu faced with fearful odds. In i. lie dist riel. I heard everywhere accounts of (he courageous! act of Finnic Hodges, told with especial pride by the head teacher and scholars of the little school which she had attended till recentlv.

f.N KX AM I’LKI) 11 KUOIB.M

It is a 1 moot beyond comprehension, the wonderful lira very of this child. She -led from the dwelling with the three youngest 'of the family down lo the i reek, presumably to a place of safety. Inn it was ret long before she realised tier mistake. She was forced lo leave

• ii«- creek, mi account of danger from luirimer o'er banging Loughs. She dipped | lo- children into (he water ; tli.cn 1 1 uri’ird them to a le>. dnngeious spot.

.•'ii- ]• ] v :11i i . Inlien-elf over liieir huddled fOf IMS 11)1 Iho grolied. fdl'.’ prepared 10 ; niter and if nerd hr h> give op her life. She tim ll rld only of Ihr safety and p> "(ref ion of llm haliies in her ear*’ I li'Tr she lay suffering slow and ago in? mil; tm l nre, hid .‘■■lie remained with the ''iidnraere of a Spartan, and ihe plnrk and fin-tit tide of a Nurse t'a veil. This child will hear the marks of the file. • hiouglmut In i life, as an external niani j !i ■1 of ii■ 11 of her suffering nothing will! over reveal the deep sear which this tor-1 lifting even! has left on her memory; in-thire will erase it. Her act should i all forth from the hoys and girls all ~ve r Australia their greatest wonder and idmiril mu.

This illustrates the fine spirit in vlnrli \oung A list ra la ns met the disaster. dust an our Australian manhood showed tin- heights to which They could lire pi courage and self-sacrifice on the battlefield and proved their stoicism and wit. : nur hips and giTln lon e rerenth f* llowe.l their gallant example and pro•’d ‘hemsehes worlhv of the traditions of

"HI race. "Whatever emergency may cccur in ’ln iutnre ilie children of . or land can