Please wait. Contacting image service... loading

Article text

TUESDAY'S BUSHFIRES.
THE MOUNT MERCER CONFLAGRATION.
TWENTY MILES OF COUNTRY DEVASTATED.
DAMAGE ESTIMATED AT £20,000.
HOMESTEADS AND OUTBUILDINGSDESTROYED.
FLOCKS DECIMATED.
A PICTURE OF DESOLATION.
(BY OUR OWN REPORTER.)
Perticulars of the great bush fire
wtuch raged on Tuesday from Enfield to
Elaine, and from Mount Mercer to
Hardie’s Hill, gleaned from a visit paid
to the burnt-out. district yesterday by o
■representative of “The Star.” reveal a
lamentable state of affairs, -the whole of
this fine farming district being burnt
black, and thousands of pounds worth
of damage done. All around one meets
with evidences of the power of the des
tioying element burnt and blackened
paddocks, demolished fencing, twisted
•wires, posts crumbling to cinders, and
Here and there tho chimneys standing
cn the spot, wliere once a. home flourish
ed.: at times crowded into corners the
charred bodies of sheep, some of them
■with the spark of life still feebly flutter
ing. and, though rarely, the carcase of
a fine cow ar.bulhJek. At odd places
one might see a singed, suffering herse.
and only too common were blackened
and still smoking stacks of bay or oate.
The path of the fire is only too painfull?
evident, and those wlto lived amongst I
what were on Monday smiling corn
fields, with the wheat, and oats stocked
and ready for carting, where the homes
of tho formers stood amidst their gar
dens, and' whereevery prospect was cal
culated to please; wore yesterday gazing
upon a scene of desolation and ruin.
'The little village of Grenville, the centre
of this splendid area, escaped aost-ruc-)
tion bv merest ohanco; indeed, at onej
time, tlie State school was ablaze, and!
was only saved from demolition by the,
herculean efforts of the resid mts.
Thousands of sheep perished in the!
flames, hundreds of thousand# of acres
of grass and miles of fencing were des
troyed. and with them went several of
,the most prosperous of the homesteads,
-burnt to tlie ground with all their fur
niture. It is difficult to esimate the
amount of damage caused by the fire,
which residents assert- was the biggest
known for many’ years. Many of the
residents have lost, everything, even to
the buggy in which they usually drove
into Buninyong to do business, and
several have had their stacks, from the
proceeds of which they expected to
make this years living, utterly des
izroYtxl* Fortmnntely “tho lists of per*
sonal injuries was a very small one,
though several maiwellously narrow es
were recorded. The path of the
fir© can, as stated,' be traced with only I
too painful clearness. As far as can bo
judged, it started in the Enfield dis
triot. where, it is alleged, some persons
were burning- off stunips in a paddiCK.
The fire cot away, and fanned by the
boisterous‘hot wind, soon gathered force,
and began to sweep ncros the country
towards Mount Mercer. The grass land
through the district, is exceptional, y
heavy, and some of the paddocks had
particularly’fine-grass on. As paddock
after paddock was seized upon by the
fire n vast column of smoko was earned
upward, and the flames leapt. 30 and 40 j
feet into the air. lte sgbt was «n awe-,
inspiring one, and tho se.tlero,- realisi g
tlrat at any moment their homes mi ht
be threatened, turned out in alldirec
taons to assist in fighting the flames.
The first holding invaded was that of
Mr Allen, who has.a. large area of graz
ing land on the Enheldsde. The fire
swept through this l-ko ff- tornado,,
carrving grass and fencing before it,
and' burnt into M'aays holding. Mr
M'Kav bad from 600 to 1000 sheep on
the paddocks, but ho and hrnjnon uere
on tho look-out,, and succeeded m ter a
lot of trouble, in mustering all but a
few of the sheep and- yarding them on
the ploughed land near the h ,
that, though the fire came very close m,
tho flock was saved. '
Mr A. MTiacMan, who rinanages the
next big hcl-.iing fbr.iff liindsJiy,
larat, had a->ery uMortunate_«cpCTri
<mre. The fire burnt tiie grosy off allhia
paddocks, and of 1600-
mazing on -tho land no fewer than STO
lore roasted to death. Mau? f
were made to save'the uiffortlftateam
mals, but the-wall_of flame whi!oh suept
across the land precluded any
reaching them, and they all
miserably. Tlie flames came
to tho homreb.-ad roduoed
shed to ashes, and burnt manj- rt .be
Stbuildings iS
erpafccsk thflfc "«• .
saved. Mr MTnchlan “kumM? 8
the value of tho lofijt shoep at 12s each,
and Ids total loss as_£2ooa . .
' Messrs . <W; #o hare
Jtney were It ~, J I
■■nearly.-, all, aoihiyS'J u»-l
: ;■ Mr w. D. w)&4
990 acres adiosps file one
tioned;- ; was' ale o.fortun e„- -.in ,
-Se sheep and
and f-encmg cwerebiswebt (off* tLe,
uSd hnd Wk? fife ripnt-wpl to
Kin a feiv yariis l of / -the-l>bifbe^itepLL--
A most unfortunate experience was
now comer,
ly: taken ntho McHint-Morce^hg^sjoad.
Mr K r
: on which' wfere -2000 aheepy |XK>
‘force that it •:
save.them,.. ..
twith:the,Twisteinco
tirig i. af;
•pmaiWeTmdlafeo MB head 06 .tattle ?nd
'doetaadonord® «tae# ★anexfcilM, wnd
would consider himself fortunate. In
this case also the flames burnt up almost
to the very doors of the homestead, and
all the grass and fencing were swept
away.
Mr R. Leigo, the nest door neighbor,
lost 700 acres of grass and nearly all
liis fencing. He estimates that about
50 sheep perished in the flames, which
went across one corner of the property.
Mr Walter Laidlaw was another
heavy loser. In common with others his
property was cleared of all the grass
and fencing. The firo burnt right up
to the home, and seized upon the out
buildings and stables which were des
troyed. while a dray that was in one of
the sheds was also so burnt as to be
useless. Mr Laidlaw lost a fine mare,
| valued at £35, which was burnt to
| death. Sir Laidlaw had some 200
owes in the out-paddocks. _ and as he
somewhat- pathetically put it ho was
afraid to go out and look for (them.
One of the heaviest losers in the dis
trict was Mr Duncan M'Kenzie. He
had a fine property, well stocked nnd in
good grass, but the fire not only clearea
800 acres of the grass off, but eight
miles of fencing was swept away. lor
tunately the stock, with the exception
of a few sheep, was savod, but Mr
M'Kenzie suffered severely, for tho
flames burnt right up to his house, and
swept away the outbuildings, amongst
the property burnt being a reaper and
binder, a dray, a chaffcutter. and a
quantify of harness. A heavier *oss,
however, awaited Mt M'Kenzie, for the
fire sweeping across the paddocks bore
down on two houses, one of. six rooms
and another of five, which were oo
cupied by his sons, who re dau*} fsrni
ers. Despite strenuous efforts made Ko
savo them, both houses were burnt to
the ground, the young fellows saving
only their clothes. Almost every head
of poultry on Mr farm
perished in the flames, and it is dif
ficult to estimate the amount- of Ins j
losses. He was absent from home at
t-lie time, being at the Ballarat stock
sales, but he bore bis hoary loss stoical
lv and thanked Providence that his j
cheque book was not "burnt also. Mr j
M'Kenzie has had some very bad luck |
with liis cattle, as only a short tame ago j
ho lost 69 dairy cows through their eat- j
ing tho carcases of poisoned rabbits, and i
also through the locusts' eating the
grass. 1.,.''"
Messrs Turner Bros, were also heavy ,
losers. The fire went across part of
their holding, destroying 100 acres of ,
grass, while about 100 sheep were also |
roasted to death.
Mrs A. Crawford and Mr W. Craw
ford lost from 30 to, 50 acres of grnss
and a quantity of fencing. . ■
Mr W. Gillott- lost all his grass on I
400 acres of holding,■; and his fences |
were swept-away. but he able to get |
his stock out safely, only a few sheep i
being burnt. ',' v -' ]
Mr A. Hitchcock was a heavy loser. |
Not only was all the grass burnt off lus |
oaddocks but the flames bore down on
the homestead- with-.such velocity that
the residents almost abandoned hope of
sating it. They were eventually able
to keep the fire, which ignited the house
three or four tames, in check, but the
stables were destroyed, and a valuable
buggy burnt, wliile two stacks of; hay,
onoof 30 tons, and another of 20 tons,
were utterly swept away. The horses
were ‘saved, though several of them,
were badly singed. Fortunately there
was a good supply of water in the well,;
and by dint- of vigorous pumping and.
use -of'buckets the house was rescued
from destruction. : Messrs D. Crawford
and C. Barber were out in the paddocks
getting sheep out; when they observed,
Mr Hitchcock's t house catch ou fire, and
leaving the sheep they galloped back
to the homestead and assisted in saying
Mr W. Twomey lost.Jieavily. The
flames swept right across his paddodm,
consuming 100 acres of grass, and a
largo quantity of fencing. A large
stack of wheat, together with a. waggon
loaded with sheaves, which stood beside
ft were wholly destroyed. ’ ‘Mr Twomey
had almost finished carting and had a
very fine stack house-caught
fire'in half a dozen places at once, and
a wall of flame enveloped it, rendering
hopeless to attempt to save it. The
house and furniture were completely
destroyed. In fact-Mr Twomey may
he said-to have, lost everything he pos-,
messed hutHho'dalrid -itself. The house.
I*' Messrs 1 M‘Koiizio°Bros. r 'holding, hi*
that r of Mr-.Tworaqy, -wfis,^eptof.
everything. .1:1 A.
bofird--,lto*ae: wept-, witkrtme fpmiturq, ,
dike aabdx of >matches,- and onlyv tfte
;chimneys weto.leftvstafflding,:, : crFdrty;
' SO ton stocks i OLihsyy ■
this ktaies.lftpdk'ciftß-outter, were: alsd;
’assayed.' ,Ti r, -" , ■%* •f$
•Mr .T. Bowden".loit u0■ acreSjorgraefc,
andTtf.'large r -flUCTtity-.,-of n fencing weije
destroyed, r4>ut [iaLQ hpuse was saved.- D
f v - ®r CKapman ßvrai t another
'Sdki-pWef. ! -d-'-Hirf- gnus'-arid-;' fencing
lyai
! hifne''Wt'the -taifie-; lost Sttawsreei
! „rra> „Vft» i: ijPhay? v 'doubW mowqhedi an<L
ltsdf .wi?.
saved. - xviedsxSt
- Thg~fife7TraToreod-
cock; jun.’aiTlgpygrty with ; disastrous
results to the crops.' - Ho lost, one stack
of Ml
dodclf :?.3r.5J-VrOfTfiOD ft . ;,bn C
/.a•' Mrs fed Bok«tarffßStoM9r, -*t
grm m »
but ’ffiiflcrpp•¥«: saved and; the ; house
escapedrit.be .flames. ."V
The'following lost grass and. fenc
ing—Messrs" John Jewell,' John Hayes,
T.' HayeSi'P. O'Connell, T.. Neville, J.
tiourke, dnd.M. Flannagan. •. .e-
Af-'ono time’it .appeared ..as .if ithe
Ettle'townsliip of ! Grenville - was to ibe.
Swept" "ftway' by.’the flames. Mr: Two
moy’s bouse,' which 1 'is.' close 1 intothe
' a&'titatfcd, destroyed* by
the flames, which' then spread right l jtnd
loft and vburnt right’. info “the*;inttin
street. . The.- villagers a. sniall .one,
comprising .Male .and . Minjfie’s hotel,
atoro end .post, office, a Union Church,
State-school, a • blacksmith’s shop.-aiid
.ten or a dozen-houses. The fire raged
fiercely down the street, and at , one
time Male and MinifieV premises r were
ablaze, bnt by dint of energdtic: use .of
water and firo beaters'. in-• which Mi&s
Ethel Male distinguished hereelf-to ad
miration, the flames wore beriten hack.
Further «p . the'street the ‘fencing
around the State school caught alight
in a dozen places. Everyone was too
busily engaged in keeping Vthe fire off
his own Diane .to mind those .of -others,
and Mr. J. Saunders and his ,young son,
Cyril Saunders.- tackled the; job ,of sav
ing the school alone. They had a stem
fight, the lad doing splendid work and
between them thoy 6aved the building.
At one time it looked as if the wholo
township was doomed to destruction,
hurt the precaution taken e-Krlier in the
day when it was known that the .fire
was advancing on the township—of
damping the grass in the main street,
and around the houses, and burning
hack, doubtless saved it; The district
recreation reserve—the old Grenville
6how ground—was burnt out complete
ly. After going through the township
the fire crossed the River Leigh as
though it were onlv a ditch, and got
into the bush country. It burnt- right
down to Austin’s Hill, on the La mud el
Estate, and shortly after 1 o’clock in
the morning a fairly heavy shower fell
and arrested its further progress.
Tho whoel area covered by the fire ex
tended from Enfield to Larundel, and
from Handle’s Hill to Mount Mercer,
roughly 30 miles by 10 miles. The
damage dono is immense. Hundreds of
miles of fencing has been destroyed,
thousands of acres of ground stripped of
grass, ho'mestoads ruined, . and stock
burnt in all directions. Those who
were seen by our representative yester
day estimate the total damage sustain
ed by residents at not lees than £20,000.
Many of the younger settlers have re
ceived a set back which it ‘will take
them years to recover from. The older
residents have also suffered severely,
and the loss in sheep has been very
great, especially in view of the high
prices ruling.
It may be of interest to mention
those who .were most prominent in tlie
fire-fighting work, which was carried on
from'9 o’clock in the morning. They
worc Messrs'J. Saunders, Master Cyril
Saunders. Messrs G'. 'Brimiicombe. Al
len,; W. D. Clarke. TV. ' Kendall, R.
Leigo. 0. M’Kenzie TV. Laidlaw, TV.
and -T. Simpson, Turner (2). Gillett,
Crawford i2). Hitchcock (21. C. Barber,
Twomey, M’Kenzie, Bowden, Chapman.
Freeman'."' Roberts, Jewell, Hayes,
O’Connell, Martin. .O’Loghlen, TVylie,
Bourkc, and "Flanagan.
$