A Perpetual Burning Railway Station.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVI, Issue 63, 18 March 1904, Page 4

A Perpetual Burning Railway Station.

—o It is not generally known, says a Home paper, that in Scotland! not three miles out ol Glasgow, there is a fire raging at a railway station which has been going on for months, and, notwithstanding that tons of water have beeu poured upon this | insiduous fire, it cannot be put out. lit seems incredible, but it is nevertheless true.

The details are as follows. Several mouths ago a waste piece of ground close to the station was wanted by the railway company as a siding. The level of this ground was too low, so truckloads of refuse were "dumped" o» it to bring it to the necessary level. A large proportion of this refuse consisted of rotting vegetation, and in the course of a little time it heated to such an extent that combustion set in and started not only a smouldering fire, but flames actually burst through the ground. Attempts were made to quell this fire, and it was thought, after several weeks of hard work and tons of water, that it had been put out. What was the surprise, however, to see it break out afresh in another place, and nearer the station. Fours then began to be felt for the station buildings, especially as the main double line to important coast and country towns led through rt. Fresh energy was then brought to bear and much more water was poured on this fire, which seemed to have its stronghold in the bowels of the earth, but from the volumes of steam and smoke issuing from innumerable crevices it was seen that the fire demon was resisting all efforts, and was slowly creeping nearer and nearer to the foundations of the railway station. It was now whispered and soon i became known that the station had originally been built upon a sort of , shale that came out of the mines in ', the near neighbourhood some years [ ago. These shale mounds have , been known to take years burning ' right through, and the stench from . them is anything but pleasant.

Now, when it became known that the fire referred to was gradually eating its way to the foundations of the station, a mild sort of alarm began to be felt, not only by the railway company, but by the aristocratic passengers who daily use this suburban station. For the mines have been worked out, and hundreds of beautiful villas have arisen out of their ashes—so to speak. The fire gained ground every day, until by-and-bye it reached beneath one of the platforms, and any day thereafter might be seen the novelty of a crowd of people wailing on a platform from the chinks and crevices of which were arising in many places jets of steam from the fire below. Such a volume of water was kept continually playing upon it that actual flames were prevented from showing above ground, but any casual observer could see the evidences of the great heat below. In time it was observed that (he foundations of the station wore cracking and twisting in many placer, and all sorts of efforts had to be resorted to to keep the buildings from being personally injured. At this present moment, as these lines are being penned, the fire has readied under the main line of the track, and it is one of the curiosities of the neighbourhood to see the jets of steam and smoke issuing from between the sleepers. It is now a foregone conclusion that the fire cannot be extinguished, and it is being left to have its own sweet way and burn itself out. When this will happen nobody knows, as there is a large portion of the foundation of the station not yet reached ; and as this has been going on for many months it is quite probable that this fire in the bowels of the earth will go on sapping under the station until the buildings tumble down about the passengers' ears.