TUB LATE FIRE AT NORSEWOOD.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 839, 30 March 1888, Page 33

TUB LATE FIRE AT NORSEWOOD.

LETTER FROM THE DANISH CONSUL.

We republish the' following letter from Mr Toxward, the Danish Consul, who, as we recently mentioned, paid a visit to the locality where so many of his countrymen and other settlers have been burned out of house and home : . * jo TIIE EDITOR. OF THE XBW ZEAL.VND TIMES. . gm —ln order personally to ascertain the •extent of the suffering which the recent tire at Norsevvood has produced, 1 visited the burned out township, and found that there was no exaggeration in. the published narratives. The tire: had swept along the valley .for a distance of at least three miles, -taking with it all the dwellings in the set_ tlement except five houses, destroying 20 -dwelling houses, with two bushes (or -Norsewood and Makeratu), and something like dO miles of fencing, including cowsheds and stables. Upward of forty buildings have been destroyed. ; Flakes of hre had been •driven many miles before the fierce wind, which was so violent that, where the houses formerly stood, nothing remains except a few chimneys; not even charred - wood—•everything:was burnt up and swept clean .away. Already the gieen grass is springing upon the sites of the houses. 1 wenty families, including fully fifty children, have been rendered houseless and penniless One paiuful incident was brought under my notice, -but it was brightened by the self-sacrihcing act of Mr Rees, the Danish clergyman in the district. A settler’s wife, the mother of -eight children, whose name I cannot recall, was on the eve of her confinement. In the absence other husband she gone to bed, and was unable to move. Mr Rees, who was digging a hole to bury his valuable library of books—almost his sole possession _leffc his house and his wile, and lif ting the 'Woman into his - buggy drove some miles :avvay through the dense smoke to a comparatively safe place.' The mother gave birth to a stillborn child. On his return he found his own home burned to the ground *with all bis belongings, including all bis cherished volumes. But be saved the woman’s life. So dense was the smoko and .j,o intense the heat , that many were ternnorarily blinded, and people had to take refuge in the ditches, lying lace .downward an order to he able to breathe- Great diffi•culty was experienced in getting the many children conveyed to places of safety.- 1 found that some of the? sufferers had -their buildings insured, but in the majority -ol cases the properties were mortgaged to the full amount of the insurances. In one case I was told of a man so' circumstanced -on whom the mortgagee had foreclosed, and intends at once to take the insurance money. The sufferer wa3 a cabinetmaker, but he stands penniless, with all his tools destroyed. -One case of insurance sharpness came to my knowledge—rare of its kind, I should hope. The Napier agent of a company, whose pre'inium receipt for a policy , of £l5O J was rshown, came to the burned-out policyholder, :and jauntily offered him £IOO iff full and to cry “ quits 1” I strongly advised .the man -to refuse this generous offer, aud he means, -as he is justly entitled to do, to demand the full amount on the face of the policy ; but -this is by the way.. . - ■ • t The people in the stricken district are now all huddled together in huts and small -houses, with absolutely no accommodation ; •and I was told of one instance where no 'fewer than twenty persons were sleeping on • the floor in one small dwelling. , t ' Great praise is -due. to hie -Mayor of Napier, Mr Swann, and other gen-.; -tlemen of that town for the prompt assist- • ance they rendered in sending Hour, sugar, •tea, candles, and .other necessaries. These were dispensed by a local relief committee, ’-with the assistance of Mr Mahon, the Napier Relieving Officer, , whose a.d was of -.great valne. It was my intention on reaching Palmerston to send another ton _of flour . and other requisites, but I found/that the Palmerston people had already responded to the necessities of the situation,' and baa . for* -warded supplies. ' . - ■ ~ ~ And now let me say a few words as to the ••remedy required. For the last fifteen years the great roajority of these people (who con- , aiat of various nationalities, r .chiefly Soandi- • navian) have made a heme for. themselves in

the bush, and it becomes a question as to whether, having suffered so much through this calamitous fire, they will be able to remain in the district: .To my . mind, unless liberal things-are devised, both .by the Goyernment (whose tenants- they practically are), -and by the public at large (of whom they form a most industrious portion), they will not be able to continue their holdings, without generous arid substantial support arid assistance ; but assistance should be speedy, for the cold nights are approach - iDg. '• 'V' The que tion now remains," What is the best method for providing that practical sympathy and aid which is demanded by reason of .the-great distress and poverty which, has suddenly overtaken these unfor. tunate settlers ? In my opinion, funds Should be immediately provided to enable the settle! 8 to reinstate their dwellings,, however simply, to begin with, and to find food and shelter •for " their families arid tools for their customary occupations. Whatever money or material may be given them should be devoted solely to these purposes, and be in no wise touchable for any- debts which they may have previously’ incurred; for numbers’ of • them are'undoubted ly in debt.. .Of course the first considera-foti in bestowing such aid should be for those persons who are absolutely destitute. His Excellency the Governor has expressed his strong sympathy, and has signified • his desire to assist in any measures - for promptly relieving the existing distress,and i it :. is-, to . be, hoped that the ~ wealthier classes will cheerfully follow his Excellency’s example. What is'wanted now, as it seems to me, is at once to organise a committee to .make the necessary arrangements v for providing - the requisite funds; and I would respectfully suggest that his Worship the Mayor of the city should call a meeting for the purpose of having such a committee appointed, and the proper steps taken for securing that substantial relief which is so clamantly necessary. I am, itc., v T -'-" ' : • • .. C. Julius TOXW.UU), ‘ Danish Consul.

(per press association. ) •, Waipawa, March 22;

A'public meeting was beldb'erelast night, when it was decided to form a-Central Committee, consisting of the Chairmen of the Waipawa and Patangata County Councils,; the Mayors of Napier, Hastings, 'and Woodville, and the Chairmen of the Waipawa, Kaikora, Ormondville, and Danevirke Town Boards. It was resolved to make a general; appeal to the people of the Colony. Much was; expressed 1 at the steps ' already taken in Wellington,: Christchurch, arid Auckland, and it was earnestly hoped that all other centres will also"assist. A large sum ' of money will be required to alleviate the distress, and to put the people back in --homes of the humblest . kind. One speaker, having an intimate knowledge of the settlement of Norse wood, said it was most lamentable to think that after years of hard struggling, and when the inhabitants had been enabled to build good houses in the place of old: whares, and hal . harvested.their props, that all. should. be' -swept away in- one night. He bad - passed through Noreewood just before the fire; and what was then a pretty village, with holdings arid houses that r were a credit 1 to the people; was now a blackened waste: 1 The work of years had all gone. It is earnestly hoped by the Committee that, by riieuns of messages sent by [ the Press Association, the people of the. Colony will; bo stirred by sympathy.; with 1 , ! the homeless people, and that an adequate sum of money will be. raised speedily. Delay' will mean increase of misery, as, owing to the altitude of the settlement, winter comes on early, arid is always rigorous. The subscribcrs to the fund may rely on its judicious expenditure, as it will be administered by responsible and representative men. The Comriiittee earnestly request that all the information' they , are - enabled to send, to-, . gether with their appeals,' will be published by every paper in the Colony. Great activity is being displayed in Hawkea Bay, and help is being freely given, but it is impossible to raise sufficient money within , its borders to fully meet the case.