POISON FUMES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18999, 23 October 1923, Page 13

POISON FUMES.

ALARM IN HOBART. VEGETATION IN DANCER. ~ TERRIBLE OBJECT LESSON. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, October U. At the first signs of barm to their beautiful vegetation, of which they are justly proud, the people of Hobart and the surrounding districts have taken the greatest alarm concerning the possible effects of' the fumes from the electrolytic works at Hisdon. Two years ago those who had observed the devastating effects of similar fumes elsewhere gave warning, and urged that assurances should be required from the company. The Government, however, was reassured after an investigation by the Health authorities. But the magnificent trees and shrubs in the vicinity are now exhibiting alarming symptoms, and the advice which has been sought has not allayed public anxiety. The experience of Queenstown, Linda, and other places on the western side of Tasmania have been quoted as an incentive to immediate action to protect the vegetation around Hobart.

Mr Lawson, warden of the Queenstown municipality and a member of the Tasma nian Legislative Council, in recounting the arboreal tragedy suffered by his district, says;—‘‘When I first went to Queenstown 26 years ago, all you could see was a little trail of smoke amongst most beautiful forests. But that little trail of smoke—the fumes from the Lyell smelters—in the course of time destroyed all the vegetation for miles around and turned a beautiful spot into a. desert. Get on the top of any one of tire hills in tho district to-day, and as far ns the eye can reach you null sec the effects of the fumes. Practically all Lie trees and other forms of vegetation were destroyed, and, however much a, man might want to grow vegetables he could not do so. Things aro beginning to grow again now, but that is only because there is only one smelter going as against six or seven formerly. Hobart is faced with a similar fate unless action is taken in the matter. From what I am told, and also from what I can see for myself, the tunics from the zinc works are having a very detrimental effect on tho vegetation on both sides of the river. I have seen some of the trees in the neighbourhood of Risdon, and they are dying off in precisely the same way as they did on the West Coast—fust, the leaves, then the limbs, and finally the trunk. If this is allowed to go on, in time you will have no vegetation at all. In my opinion the Electrolytic Zinc Company should be forced to treat their fumes. There is a means by which they can do so, and steps should bo taken to see that they do it as quickly ns possible. The longer this is delayed the greater the damage that will be done. When the company starts the making of superphosphates tho position will be sti.* worse. They ought to have everything in going order by than to prevent the sulphur fumes escaping; otherwise it is going to bo a deadly business. Prompt action is therefore all the more imperative. Describing the strange effects of the fumes at Linda, a writer recently said: “Tho idea of an oasis in a desert with its vision of au island of vegetation in a sea of sand, is familar all the world over. But Tasmania shows the paradox of an island of desert ringed by dense forests, almost tropical in their luxuriance. Though it lies in tho West Const region, where the rainfall is measured hy feet or yards, not by inches, (he heart of this desert is as bare of vegetation and as destitute of wild animal life as any part of the ‘ dead heart of Australia.’ A blood-red stream flows through , a valley, appalling in its niter nakedness and barrenness. There grows not a tree, not a hush, not a blade of grass; the only living (lungs aro a few humble lichens and one patch of green, where aquatic plants grow in a swampy patch. Twisted and worn info strange shapes, the rocks thrust up through the naked soil. With its crude colours, black and red and yellow, and its desolation, the valley resembles more than anything else in the world those awful nitrate deserts o[ Northern Chile, where rain never [alls. The mountains that hem it in are as bare as any living thing as those desert ranges on the western side of the Rod Shu.”