SPARKS FROM RAILWAY ENGINES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11433, 25 July 1900, Page 5

SPARKS FROM RAILWAY ENG INES.

THE COMMISSIONER'S REPORT.. : [by telegraph.— correspondent.] ' ■ : Wellington, Tuesday. The report 'of. the Commission which ■ inquired into the fires alleged to have been caused by sparks from railway engines was laid on the table of the House to-day. ' The Commissioner, states that there can bo no doubt that fires are caused by sparks from engines. .' Allowing for those that may be due to the throwing out of the carriages by passengers of lighted matches, or still smouldering stumps of cigars, there are still some that can be accounted for only by sparks falling from the engines on djy, inflammable matter. These fires always occur in the dry soason, and if there is much wind they spread in spite of all efforts to check them, sometimes doing much injury. Referring to the claim of W. S. C. Blackley and others, the report says: "This fire caused considerable damage to a wattle plantation. The exact amount of the damage cannot be given, but it would be somewhere about £1000. There were Maori gumdiggers about the place where the fire started, and they left immediately afterwards, and have not since returned. It is as likely that this fire was caused by them as by a spark from the engine." As to the claim of Jas. Wallace, Papatoetoe, the report says: " Mr. Wallace has suffered considerable damage apart from that caused by this particular fire, and after viewing the ground, the Commissioner is of opinion that the damage is entirely due to sparks from the railway engines. Owing to tho configuration of the ground near his farm, on the opposite sido of the railway line, there appears to be an increased velocity of the prevailing wind at a particular place, which carries the sparks on to his grass paddocks. Traces of former fires are very numerous, and in addition to the damage from this source, there is constant watchfulness required on the part of members of his family during dry seasons, in order to extinguish incipient fires after the passing of trains. The amount of damage due to this particular fire would be about £20." Tho Commissioner cannot find, on the evidence, that the fires, or any of them, can be attributed to the negligence of any person. He thinks that the appliances used on the New Zealand railways for preventing sparks are equal, if not superior, to any used on tho principal railway systems of the world. They aro inspected daily, and any defect has to be at once reported. The appliances being the best known, and proper supervision being exercised, in order to maintain them in a state of efficiency, and reasonable precautions being taken to prevent the accumulation of inflammable matter near the lines, the Department is blameless in respect of fires caused by sparks from the engines, and they must be regarded as accidental.

As tho Auckland section, on which soft coal only is burnt, appears to have very many fires, apparently due to sparks from the engines, the Department should, as an experiment during the dry season, bum only hard coal on that section. This wcild involve an expenditure of perhaps £1500 for alterations to engines and the extra price of hard coal, but the fires are so numerous, and the settlers appear to be so discouraged by them, that the outlay would be justified if the fires could in this wav be prevented. f . If claimants be compensated without the judgment of a Court, there will be suspicion of favouritism. On the other hand, if there is to be no assistance without such a judgment, many deserving settlers will suffer great injury if they be not wholly mined through no fault of theirs. The Government might consider the advisability of placing a small tax on property adjoining the railway lines, for tho purpose of compensating such sufferers. Being in tho nature of an insurance, it would not press heavily on the contributors. It could be collected by the local authorities, and handed over to the Department without expense to it. If a fund derived from such a source existed, compensation could be given under proper safeguards without the necessity of Court proceedings, which must, in the great majority of cases, be fruitless. Smoking on platforms or other parts of a train, except in the smoking carriages, should be entirely prohibited. In the smoking carriages there should be receptacles for cigar ends and used matches. There should be a by-law, if such be not already in force, making it an offence to tlyow such articles from trains, and notice of this, with file penalty for non-observance, should be posted in the smoking carriages.