ANIMAL INCENDIARISM.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15513, 21 January 1914, Page 12

ANIMAL INCENDIARISM.

FIRES OF STRANGE ORIGIN

On*b of the biggest fires in history was caused by a bullock kicking over a lamp in a cowhouse in Chicago about nine o'clock in the evening of Sunday, October 8, 1871. The fire burned all through that night and tno greater part of the next day, devouring great blocks of houses, and growing by what it fed on. The total area burned was 2124 acres, or nearly 3 l-3rd square miles. The total number of buildings destroyed was 17,450, and 98,680 people were rendered homeless. Thousands, flying before the flames, sought refuge in Lake Michigan, and remained standing in the water for hours as the only means of preservation against the intense heat and the showers of sparks and cinders. Yet only 250 persons perished. That, of course, was an altogether exceptional case of animal incendiarism, but minor cases are very frequent. Only the other day a serious fire was caused at Dover by a cat knocking over an oil lamp, and a still more remarkable case was r£ ported of a fire which broke out in a village in Cumberland. There was a nest of sparrows in a roof, and it is supposed that the birds used some matches in their nesting material which, becoming accidentally ignited, set fire to the roof. The midnight rambles of a cat plunged a city in darkness and incidentally caused a small though quickly-subdued fire. The manager of the works of the Cardiff Electric Light Company said that the cat, which lived upon the premises, yielded to temptation and strayed from nis usual haunts. Either there was no mouse to limit and he became tired of inaction, or he was suddenly seized with an insatiable desire for exploration. Anyhow, he climbed on to the switch-board and strolled among the cables, one of which was fused and caused a local conflagration. The cat was killed, and the lights went out in sympathy. On another occasion, and in another place, not a cat but a mouse did the very same trick. It ran among the gear and caused fusing, a fire, and darkness throughout a large section of the town. But one of the most remarkable cases of animal incendiarism occurred in one of the manufacturing towns in the North of England. The oil-man was going his rounds when, from some unknown cause, the horse, which he had left standing, suddenly took fright and bolted down the street. As bad luck would have it both horse and cart came to grief when the animal bolted into the boilerhouse of a neighbouring cotton mill. The oil poured out of the vehicle in such quantities that the boiler fires set it alight and a serious conflagration was caused. A story which reminds one of Samson's exploit of sending his fire-brand foxes into' the standing corn of the Philistinos occurred last autumn in the Midlands. A gentleman, who lived alone in the country, was in the habit of taking a lamp to light him along the dark lanes when he went abroad at night. He was almost invariably attended by a dog, which he had taught to carry his lantern. But disaster put an end to this pleasant planWhatever it was the dog spotted, whether a stoat or a hare, his master never knew, but he set off in mad pursuit with the lantern still in his jaw. Had he drooped it in the lane all would have been well. But he didn't. He dropped it near a haystack, and before his master could reach the spot the stack was in such a blaze that nothing could stop it until it was reduced to ashes.