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The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848-1954) (about)
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Cite: http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3737311
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BUSH FIRES.
PINE FOREST MENACED.
PLENTY RANGES OUTBREAK.
Speoial Train Chartered,
WHITTLESEA, Sunday.-Owing .to the > dangerous position of Hie fire '-which ¡lins " worked in a westerly direction along"tliif" , Plenty Banges the Foi csts Commission
J chartered a special ti oii'i,. on'Saturday to !- convey men. from Melbourne to Wbittlc
fcca, vvhoncjsúhey w-cre'.taken' to ,thc"6ccnc , of the lire tin Hie vicinity of Mount Dis-
appointment, -where the.'Stnto forest pine , plantation is tlucatcncd with destiuction. , On üridny night the small gang nt woik . lind a hard fight to beat buck the fue, * which broke into the 'plantation on three
occasions. Should' a* strang north wind ' rise it will be difficult to save the planta-
tion, mid the outlook for the residents , of Bruco's Crpck settlement and Glenvale i Will not bo good.
A further batch of 15 men arrived .by train to-dny to reinforce thcMiody of men already at the "scene of the fire. They: were met by Mr. A. A*. Galbraith, of the , Forests Commission, at Whittlesea, station, i where arrangements weie mude for their I transport to Bl ucc's Creek. Temporary I telephone communication hos been ¡aid up I to tlio'mounf, connected through the local |. exchange. Prom Whittlesea it is impos l> Bible to locate the fire for the thick
! «moke.
FIRES AT KINGLAKE.
Damage to Sawmill Averted.
KINGLAKE, Sunday.-After smoulding
for several days in thick-bush country about four miles from Kinglake in the vicinity of McLaine's sawmill, u fire, which | had previously been considered a source i of danger to residents, gained renewed i activity. A icport was received at King -'Jake that if the fire continued in Hie di* ' section in which it was going, McLaine's saw-mill and the people who live in the
vicinity would bo m clanger. A large pally of fire-fighters lrom Kinglake Inn ried to « the scene of the outbreak, and after several , liotirs of burning breaks and engaging in
other precautionary mensures it succeeded . in preventing any serious damage being ' done. The tramline from the mill to the
railway station, however, was burnt, and other equipment of a minor character damaged. Soon nfter the,party of fire-fightcrs returned to Kinglake word , was received that the house of Mr. It.
Carson was in danger. With the assistance . of a number of volunteers from Queens ' town this danger wits also averted.
All day Sunday hundreds of visitors fiom surrounding districts nriivcd nt King- lnke to view the damage wi ought by the recent bush fiicb. Throughout the nfter , i noon Kinglnke wns the ecntie of unusual
interest and activity. Late last night it wns lcportcd that if thcie is no recur leuce ot Hie nat tit wind which blew yes terdny further danger to tile mill will not be fcured. '
CHANGE EFFECTIVE.
Airey's Inlet Fire.
s OEELOáNTG, Sunday-The continued cool weather »nnil easterly winds have confined the files iiflorostsfn the v'cinityi of Airey's
Inlet mniili}' to the! hilly,^country tow;nrds AVonsleyilale," wlicreKlittlc. danger is likely. The foiostfy officers,* hcvwcvci, .ure taking every precaution, 'Js ii chango1 .of wind to the north'or north-west' would .drive- the lire into'the extensive iibnbiirk'fotest at the back of Airey's ¡Inlet, ;nnd also threaten the pine plantation-at Anglesea.,' ¿
The olliûlge has given the residents o, much-welcomed i espito after their atténu- ons effotts during the week. Ibu outbreak which thicatciieel.the Anakie township lias but for a few big ,t«ces lim ned, out- .On J'! ¡day and Saturday the fire was^confmeel to the deep 'ravines in - the .ranges, and there it bnrue'd itself out.-Residents .'aie now satisfied that all danger is passed.
COMPLAINT TO POLICE.
Outbreak Wilfully . Caused.
HEALESVILLE, Sunday.-No further tiouble was cnuscd by fires in the district in the week-end. The town wns visited by hundreds of motoring parties, although theie was still a haze over the surround- ing hills.
A complaint was made to the Healesville police this morning by Mis.' Starr, of Comely Bank, on the Mycr's Creek rood, that a deliberate uttempt lind been made to cause a fire on her property. An out- break occurred in grass land near the house, but was quickly extinguished. De- scriptions of two people were supplied to the police, who have begun inquiries,
Kre Prevention at Healesville.
HEALESVILLE, Sunday. - At the invi; tntion 'ol' tho Healesville l''no Brigade, lead- ing residents met nt the council chamber to hear Deputy Chief-officer Chellew, of the Country Pile Brigades' Board, who had been' sent to discuss the installation of an up-to-date motor pump and equipment for Hie Healesville brigade. The cost would be nbout £000,,and the bouid would be pre- pared to contribute up to £300. He sug- gested Hint about 800ft. of hose be piocurcd, with suitable coupling and branches, so that water might be pumped from small - mains. The meeting decided to apply to the
Country Fire Brigades; Board.for an up-to date motor pump, and to urge the board to have it'installed 'at "Healesville at the earliest possible moment.
Marysville Road Clear. ,
NARBETHONG, Sunday-The position of the fires in the Healesville district changed considerably in the week-end, but 'tiley are now well in hand. A band of 20 men is watching to check any further out- breaks. On Saturday the file passed in Hie direction of St. Fillans, but was beaton off .after a burn bud been burnt down.
In the Narbethong district from Wed- nesday to Friday night a heavy fire, cariy ing all befóte it, occupied Hie attention of a Targe bund of fue-fighters, mid the loads to Marysville was for some time impnBs able, but by Saturday the road had been cleared. Very little undei growth now re- mains between Healesville mid Narbe- thong, and thcie is now no danger in this part of the country.
Residents of Narbethong and district are loud in their praise of the work of «three members of the Lilydale File Brigade. One lesident said th.it these men for the last six days hod woikod continuously with little sleep, lighting files mid directing operations, nnd by their efforts they had .been laigely responsible in the saving of 'much property
Danger at Lyonville.
DAYLESFORD, Sunday.-The file nig ing in Daylcsfortl district assumed a dmi gcious aspect on Saturday evening in the vicinity of Lyonville. tSIides were shown ut the picture shows' advising audiences' ul tho serious nature of tile position. Notification wns given Hint if Hie danger continued an alarm would be.given anil a special train chartered to convey volun- teer. Later the fire wns brought under control mid the situation relieved. Mr. 31. A. Simmons, shire engineer, made a motor trip with four others mound the fire, and icportcd that nil VUIB now, piac tically safe. The danger lind not yet pnssed, however, owing -to burning tices und logs. Rnin is needed. Thousands of net es of fotest was ti oversell. Land ovvueis linn plain that the For.-'s' Commission showed neglect in not cm lying out s)s trjmntic burning mid clearing up, so creat- ing death-traps. Thev piopose to approach
the Parliamentary representative of the district and nsk him to protest in Parlia-
ment.
Damage at Yallourn.
Sir John Monash, chnirmnn of the Elec- tricity Commission, smd on Saturday that the damage done by the lecent outbicak of fire ni the open-cut at Yallourn was much hiiuillcr than'had been nt fiiht sup- posed. » Officers- of the commission lind now been nblo to obtain nn approximate estimate of the damage'. On the 150 B htennt shovel'nil the timbci-work had been burnt, and much of the mechanism de- stroyed,- hut so foi ,ns could be seen Hie main stiucturc nnd the main mnehinciy pnits were undninnged. A thoiougli examination of the' shovel had not been innde, but it was thought thnt lepmrs costing 'about '£800t would be necessary.
Eight pumps, willi their motors, control gear, and houses, had.been destroyed, but most of Hie pumps themselves could be reconditioned nt uninII expense, Five timber : haulage trucks lind been burnt, nnd two
steel trucks dnmnged. On the ropeway nnd londcr trncks n, the lower conl levels and1 on,the locomotive trncks qn the copi hiirf ace * a * large number'of sleepers lind been burnt. A quantity of wiring for power and light lind been destroyed, mid portion of the ropo and Xo. 1 liuulnge
dnmnged.'
' PROTECTING FORESTS.
2,000 Men Needed.
GEELONG, Snturdny.-"In A'icloria wc should have at least 2,000 men employed lill "the year round in the forest arens," declared the Minister for Forests (Mr. KichnrdBon) to-dny in discussing the ques- tion of protecting forest arens.
Such n number of men, said Mr. Richard- son, could bo kept constantly employed in cleaning up Hie forests, planting trees, burning firebreaks, erecting houses for those employed away from country town- ships, nnd destroying rnbbits and noxious weeds. Forestry had to be handled as a most important State function, ns it would menu hundreds of millions of pounds .to this nnd futuro générations if 'it wns dealt with in a business-like way.
Mr. Richardson said that it was a waste of money to plant trees unless the nreas were piotccted from fires. Those who ad- vocated the annual burning of wide fire- breaks weic correct, but it could not bo laid down when Bitch burning should bo made. Some people had the false idea that the tracks cut and cleared up in forest arcoB by tile Forests Commission were to act as fiicbrcaks. While they would be of Bome iiBe in Hie case of small fires, they had been made to act as tracks to enable fire- fighters and the commission's employees to travel tluough the forests. Those tracks, however, would have to be extended and widened to act ns effective breaks in the event of larger fires.
It had been asked why the commission
had not done mote in the nature of clean- ing up mid protecting tile forests placed under its control. It was a matter of money and the necessity for unlimited power by act of Parliament. It WOB not until tbo Ministry passed 'through Parlia- ment the Loan Bill providing ' for the ex- penditure of £100,000 a year that the commission had enough money to carry out a fraction of the work considered neces
snry.
UNDERGROUND FIRE TANKS.
ENGINEER'S PROPOSAL.
. ' Board Makes Inquiries. ,
? "¡CRESWICK, Saturday.-Mr. Ernest W. Tn'ylor, engineer, of Kai Koura avenue/ -Hawthorn, has submitted/to the'Country, Fire Brigades Board a suggestion for pro4 viding underground fire tanks for" use in combating outbreaks of fire. Mr.,Taylor has rnippllcd,blue prints giving the design of the tanks/ which, if the size equ.il the de- mands Hkely lo bo made upon them in a given locality, should prove ,of.great ser- vice. In places where the water moina are numil .these tanks would, be valuable with a motor-pump in operation. The motor pumps'recently installed by the boord at Ballarat and Bendigo have ali cady done good work.
The Country Fire Brigades' Board has appointed a committee to formulate u plan for dealing with grass and bush fireB, with the view to seeking a conference with the Minister for Forests- and Hie Forestry Commissioners. The AVillaura fire brigade has an excellent fire-beater, mode of four short lengths of old fire hose working on n swivel. These are very effective in operation at grass fires.'
CLAIMS FOR AID.
CASES OP IMPOSITION;
lord Mayor's "Warning.
The Lord Mayor (Sir William Brunton) Enid to-day that he desired to urge upon district bush flies relief com- mittees to exercise tile greatest pos- sible care ip preventing imposition by unscrupulous ' persons. He had received authentic lntormation that in bome distnots district . committees had given assistance to persons who were not entitled! to receive it. This .would indicate that in these instances the district com- mittees wcie not making proper investiga- tion regoiding claims for assistance received by them. The distiict committees .were empowered to distribute relief to urgent, necessitous cases only, nnd unless proper inquiry was mode in eacli case, imposition would inevitably creep in. He, therefore, lisked that all district committees should Bee that,no OUO'WOB assisted UIIICBS the case was absolutely genuine. _ One instance hod becn'brought to his notice in which a settler who had a stock of hay bad been supplied by the district committee with fodder,- and lie wished committees to under- stand that the cential committee would not lecognisc any claims of, this kind which might be submitted to it.
COMMITTEE AT WORK. ' INQUIRIES IN GIPPSLAND.
Houses for Sufferers.
On Friday night the Bush Fire Relief Committee appointed by the Cabinet
turned to Melbourne, after an investigation of conditions in the Foster, Toora, and Gunyah districts. It found that
these nicas eight dwellings bad been de- stroyed. Arrangements were made for the transfer of £100 from the Lord Mayor's lund to meet urgent cases.
The committee found that applications for assistance had come to hand from
people who were not immediately entitled to it. One icport was that a man had applied for fodder for stock when he still owned a ? haystack. Another man had made successful application to two centres for clothing. In some instances of the kind Hie police have, been asked to step
Advantage wns taken by the committee on the visit to 'impress upon tile people that the Lord Mayor's fund is intended, for the time being at least, for the relief of actual destitution. The Lord Mayor is nt Hie present time being inundated witli appeals for clothing, shelter, and so forth' irom people who have apparently sufficient money in hand to provide such necessaries, l'or the- present, at least, the Loid Mo) or is sufficiently occupied in meeting eases of actual destitution. Latei on, when cases of lhinicdialc distress hove been dealt with, people who have biilfcied loss may prcfe, chums.
Meanwhile the committee is anxious thal application foi ins foi the erection of houses should bo i cull ned promptly, in order that a general survey may be made of the build
ing requirements. Arrangements are being made for the adoption of a standard type of building suitable for the various centres. Small plans of the different types of houses iccommcndcd arc being piinted, and will be sent out for the guidance of settles.
Complaint was recently made of lack of attention to sufferers at .Launching Place. It was said on Saturday . that the com- mittee at once got into communication with the shire secretary at Yarra Junction, and that lie had reported'that there wun no cause for the complaint. A distiict committee lind met, and ,wus providing for alP cases of distress. ,
Cricketers Give Help.
LISMORE, Sunday. - A'grass fire bioke out on Ettrick Estate, near Lismore, on Snturdny afternoon. Upon word of the out- break behur received nt a cricket match which was m progress at Lismore the game was abandoned, and the playeis, elad in flannels, together with about 30 other resi- dents, went to the fire, which was soon got under control. No damage was reported, except that 100 acies/of glass was burnt. The weather is extremely dry, and domestic water supplies arc almost depleted. A good downpour would bo welcomed.
CONCERT AT TIVOLI.
£252 for Relief Fund.
A packed mid very appreciative house attended the charity concert held at the Tivoli Theatre last nighfin aid of the Lord Mayor's Bush Fire Appeal Fund. During the interval the honorary manager (Mr. William Moloney) nnnounccd Hint tile tak- ings lind totalled £252, 'which is probably a record for a Sunday night charity conceit in Melbourne. The theatre start were paid for their night's work, and all gave their woges to the fund. ,
A pleasant surprise was afforded the andienen hV the unexpected appearance of Miss Leo White nnd Mr. Clny Smith. They were noticed by Mr. Moloney Bitting in one of the boxes, nnd lie linked them to come on lo the stage.' They snug several of their fnvourile munbeis, mid were greeted with immense enthusiasm.
Other nrtists who contributed to the ex- cellent programme were Miss Marie La Arnrre, Miss Lily Morris, Miss Jennie Ben- son, Miss Floie Allan, Miss Violet Jackson, Mr. Bruce Green, Mr. Joseph Foster, Mr. Leo Dornton, Mr. Cecil Parkes, the Misses Olga and Ednn Dnvis, tile Ambassadors Plantation Bnnd, the Victorian PoBtal In- stitute Choir, Hie Tivoli Foiir Quartet, Miss Olive McKillop, Mr. Harold Rodgers, and tho Tivoli Orchestra, under tho baton of Mr. Robert Keers.
s Suburban Efforts,
At a public meeting of Carrum Iloroufrli resi- dents, convened by the mayor (Councillor II. Rigby), nnd held in the Cheletm municipal chum Lcrs, it wns decided to organise an appeal through* out tbo borough. Subscriptions will be received until March.'!,-!. On Sunday night picture RIIOWS were held nt tile two picture theatres at Chelsea, and the completo proceeds will be devoted towards the mayoral funds.
Action in the Country.
- WONTHAGGI CHILDREN HELP.
TO THE EDITOR OP THE AltClUS.
Sir,-Enclosed piense find cheque for £10/0/7, being nmount raised by the chil- dren and staff of tlie Wonthaggi Junior Technical School for the bush fire relief funds. May 1 sny how delighted the pupils were with the idea of their being able to help, and 'how eagerly they entered into the little entertainment by which thiB amount was provided? The sufferers have many little sympathisers in HiisHown and district.-Yours, &c, v '.,
' ' , :Wi M. OAKLEY, Head Master. . Wonthaggi, 'Feb. 20.
,- [Cheque for £10/0/7 received.-Ed. A.]
FROM MARYBOROUGH "OLD) BOYS."
-TO THE EDITOR. pF THE 'ARGUS.
. Sir,-I have very much pleasure in en- closing a' cheque foi; £S from tithe Mary- borough Old Boys' and Girls' 'Association towards the bush > fires fund. ,ÍAs there are several associations similar'to ours in the city Iitrust' it will be an incentive to others.to'follow.-Youls, &c, {tv
-J.HaOODMAN, Hon..Treasurer. Feb. 27." ' .,' K>: -,
[Cheque for £5 received.-Ed. A.]
AID FROM DENILIQUIN.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS.
Sir,-Enclosed is a. small donation to- wards the Gippsland fires relief fund. We also express our deepest sympathy for the sufferers. This little district has passed through a trying time owing to fires this summer, and the danger is not yet over. We are thankful that our losses nnd worries have been so light compared with those of our fellow citizens in tlie forest country. Yours, &c, A. II. CHALMERS.
Deniliquin (N.S.W.), Feb. 25.
[Cheque for '£8/13/0 received.--Ed. A.] APPLICATION 'FOR GRASS" SEED.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE ARGUS.
Sir,-The great wave of sympathy and liberality that lias swept over Hie State for the fire stricken settlers will move the
impostar to attempt to gain his ends, und
unless core and wisdom are used in the dis tribution of the funds, many uren and women possessed of honest and indepen- dent natures will not get their due sbaic, while others less scrupulous will find them- selves in a much better position than be- fore the fires burnt.Hiern, out. Already we hear a plea for grass seed. All the grass country that has been burnt out will sprout forth with Tenewed vigour "as soon as the autumn rains fall. The ground will be sweetened and fertilised by the fire, and the growth will be greater than in a normal year. If tile settlers deßire to "sow down' their holdings with English rye grass nnd clovers (and they should be encouraged to do so) the applications should be dealt with on a different basis. Money should be pro- vided ns'a'loan. It certainly is not a case for charity. A great responsibility rests on the State Government tornee that the vast amount of money raised is not squan
-Yours, etc,
HAK!" l'Alain.