FIRES CAUSED BY THE NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIX, Issue 8825, 14 March 1892, Page 6

FIRES CAUSED BY THE NEW ZEALAND RAILWAYS.

As affording an illustration of the injustice and loss to which settlers living alongside the railway lines are subjected through sparks from the engines setting tire to grass and other property, the following narrative will be found interesting :—On the '24th of December last, while the mid-day train was passing through Mr. Hosking's property, near the \Vhan<_'arata Railway Station, a spark from the locomotive ignited the long grass growing alongside the line, and everything at that time being dry, the tire quickly spread and communicated itself with a ten-acre paddock of grass seed almost ready for reaping, and totally destroyed it, the loss being valued at over £30, besides a quantity of green growing flax and other property damaged. This is now the third time .Mr. Hosking has been a victim through railway tires, and a great many other persons living alongside the railway line have had the same disastrous experience. This sort of thing is of frequent occurrence when everything is dry in the summer time. The Railway Department presume on the knowledge of the difficulty there is in legally proving the origin of a fire, and treat each application for compensation for loss sustained by railway fires with little less than contempt. While lots of persons are quite prepared and willing to swear that the fire was caused by the passing train, yet it is quite another thing to swear that they saw the spark come from the funnel of the engine, and set the fire agoing ; an 1 so this thing goes on, no change being made to remedy matters. Now, sir, does it not seem a hard and most unjust state of affairs for a railway to be forced through a hard-working settler's holding without proper precaution being taken to ensure safety from sparks setting lire to property on either side of the line, or at leaet making good the loss thereby sustained, and have compensation provided for such cases ? To seek redress means taking legal action against the Government for the acts of their servants in a court of law, but few of the settlers have money to throw away in what may only be a futile attempt to obtain justice from the Government, backed up by all the force of laws made to suit, and lawyers to twist them to better suit their purpose. —[Onewhero Correspondent.]