ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

Wellington Independent, Volume XV, Issue 1403, 3 February 1860, Page 3

ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE.

DESTRUCTIVE FIIIE AT GREYTOWN. Greytown, January 25th, 1860. (7b the Editor of the Wellington Independent.) Sin, — I send you an account of a destructive fire which originated in the neighbourhood of Greytown, and which is supposed to have been caused by an incendiaiy. Whilst engaged in the bush on the east side of the Greytown road, on the 21st inst., between one and two o'clock p.m., my attention was attracted by a huge column of smoke rising as I | surmised from Mr. Moles' s corn cultivation. ; Hastening to the spot, I found several persons (amongst others Mr. and Mrs. Moles, Mr. Jones, Mr. Stevens, and Mrs. Hacker) already collected, and removing, to a place of safety the grain which had been cut, whilst some were I endeavouring to extinguish the fire which ap peared at intervals iv the wheat and which rasped at either extremity of Mr. Moles's cornfie d (16 acres.) I Mr. Moles, for whom much sympathy is mani- ; fested, is a heavy loser by this lire. At a rough [ estimate not less than from nine to ten aci & es have. been totally consumed, aml'it is impossible tiisay how much grain has been scorched, and thus rendered comparatively worthless. His clover also hs3 been burned. The feucing too which enclosed the scene of devastation, has in some places disappeared altogether, and is generally destroyed. The extent of Mr. Moles's loss however cannot be appreciated unless it be

borne in mind that the 16 acres thus cropped' were twelve mouths ago in a state of Mature, so that he will receive a, very inadequate return from the residue saved, for a very considerable outlay within a very limited period, which outlay including expenses of falling, burning ofl', seed, hoeing in, aim fencing, cannot in the aggregate full short of £400. The neighbours generally mustered in force un the following Monday, and replaced the post and rail fence coisumjd, by a frnpit ry djg fence so as effectually to secure his remaining- corn from cattle trespass.

Your Obedient Servant, Maiious Colltson. r.b. — Mr. Moles has offered a reward of £50 fin- such information as shall lead to the conviction of the perpetrator of the outrage.

(To the Editor of lhe'" c iii n(]lon Independent) Grey Town, 30th Jan iary, 18(50. biß,— tour statement about the fire in Grey vowh (as published in your journal of ihe 24th ult.) is rather calculated to mislead, therefore I will trouble you with a tew particulars that will be a little nearer the truth. Mr. Moles has about three acres of wheat damaged, aud twenty chain of feucn, value £50. Mr. Hugh O'Connor has about one acre of wheat destroyed, and a considerable amount of fencing— in all he has sustained damage to the amount of £30. Several other partieslive sustained damage, in all to the amount of £ 10---and a subsequent fire caused by Mr Wilkie setting fire h the bush, by which Mr. Greathead has sustained damage to about £10 plates the damage in Grey Town during the pait week, at £'100 from fire

lhe loss of giaiu cannot but be deeply regretted "by all parlies, as this district lias not yet been able to supply itself with wheat, but tins year v would have been nearer doing so than any previous year, had not fires destroyed it both in Grey Town, Carterton, and Masterton ; and although we have had unus tally dry weather the wheat might be considered an average crop,— also the oats and barley are remarkable for good grain, but in most places short straw. Early potatoes may be set down as a failure, although there are *ome very «ood ones in favoured spots; mid the cabbage family are severely blighted, and all other vegetables have a famished appearance; but if 'the rain cwi.tmues as it promises this far in the moon, a great many vegetables will recover, and thenwill be a good crop of late potatoes. Most of tl;e s.null farmers will have a sufficient supply of whe.it and potatoes and some ft r sale The best • whaat tint I have seen is upon a small farm in Carterton, at the hack line, owned by a person named Walker, and lie will have about fifty bushels to dispose of. Mr. Moles has bad a considerable share of sympathy, bein" a grower of wheat for the supply of the district aud it is fortunate that his loss will be no worse than his neighbours ; and there is no doubt but that it will be a means of causing more caution in the use of fire, and show that the welfare of a community is greatly depcudeut upon the friendly and good feeling that exists among the people-. ° John Ashmohe.

j (To the Editor of the Wellington Independent. ) Wauganui, January 23, 1860. Slit, — In common with most of your readers litre, 1 was horry to see by your leader of the l''th. iiist., that you h.ul been misled as to the tone of Wanganui feeling- on the Separation question. The result of the Separation meeting,; and the ridiculous failure of the subsequent attempt to gvt a sufficiency of signatures j to the. Petition ; must have shown you that the Chronicle's article of the oth did not correctly represent Wanganui opinion. The late editor of that paper (whose death was announced in it last week,) was obliged during- the last few weeks of his life to gather opinion rather at second hand, and as the Separation question thus takeii up by a few very noisy individuals he probably w.ts misled as to the extent of the feeling in favour of the move.neat: thou-h it is rumoured that the article of the oth insTant, was notfrum his pen, but- from that of one who took advantage of his failing health, to procure the insertion of remarks that would compromise the journal on the question. The tone of the next leader, the last written by the l ;l te editor, and that of the last week's paper would, seem to sho v there was some foundation for the rum»ur. The Spectator's leader of the 14th; by its unfeeling irony ou the writings of a mau whose declining power was well known to be the result of failing health, and itss'yrapon Mr. Gibson's knuckles by its allusion to Mr. Watt's ability to read his amendment, has disgusted some, and cooled the ardour of others, of the Separa tionists. There has always been a strong wish in Wanganui to see Wellington made the seat of Government ; from a feeling that the consequent growth of that place would give a steadier market for our produce ; and as pocket interest is very strong in a place like this where many of those whose money gives them influence have nothing else to depend upon on to do so, nothing that would be likely to lessen the Wellington chance of " capitalization" commands any very great support. The feeling here is decidedly to listen to the arguments, pro and con on the Separation question ; but not to take the plunge except as a very last resort. I doubt whether the majority of us would not rather sec the present Provincial Council die out in natural course than separate from Wei. Hugton; aud whether anything short of an actual re-election of a Radical majority in the Council woald induce us to vote for such a measure. I am, Sir, Your obedient Servant, Wanganui Elector.