AUSTRALIAN BUSH FIRES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19254, 17 February 1926, Page 10

AUSTRALIAN BUSH FIRES.

Australia is a land where, when things happen, they do so on an extensive scale. The bush fires which have devastated whole districts in Victoria are an example. WholeBale destruction of property, including stock, and, worse than this, a heavy toll of human life, has signalised the outbreak. It has become more than a disaster: it has developed into a tragedy. The fight with the forest is generally unequal, for usually all the odds are upon man. Occasionally the wilderness strikes back. If it is itself destroyed in the process, it none the less levies toll on those who have challenged its supremacy. The events of the past week have proved that in Australia the perils of pioneering have not all passed away. In thi3 land of rain forest, with plenteous and wide rivers, it is not easy to imagine the wide sweep of the flames and their terrifying rush over a countryside grown as dry as tinder. New Zealand has had bush fires, and has suffered from them, but has not and cannot experience the visitation which has fallen upon Victoria. Consciousness of that exemption should quicken the imagination to a deeper sympathy for those upon whom this disaster has fallen. It is part of the price which must be paid for the wide spaces, the breadth of horizon, and the tropic warmth which in happier circumstances contribute to Australia's greatness. This is one of the times of payment, but the circumstance only emblazons the tragedy of those who have had to yield up the price.