[Editor: This article was published in The Argus (Melbourne), 26 January 1922.]
“Black Thursday.”
MITTYACK, Saturday. — Thursday was a veritable “Black Thursday” in this district, as fires raged fiercely in all directions, and were carried along with great rapidity by the strong hot wind. Considerable damage was done.
Among those who suffered heavy losses were Mr. A. Grant and Mr. Upton, of Mittyack, both returned soldiers. The fire spread to a 270-acre paddock of wheaten crop belonging to Mr. Grant and destroyed the greater part of it. The crop was insured. In the next property, belonging to Mr. Upton, the fire destroyed about 75 acres of wheaten crop.
On the same day in Daytrap a fire broke out apparently on a road. It extended on one side into Mr. C. Bourke’s property, but did little damage. On the other side, however, on the land of Mr. J. Stevens, it consumed a heap of wheat in the chaff estimated to contain about 100 bags. The fire rapidly passed through Mr. Steven’s farm and got into Mr. Tiels’s cultivation, where it burned 27 bags of oats. It also made its way into Mrs. Murfin’s property, and burned about 10 tons of hay standing in the stooks.
Source:
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic.), 26 January 1922, p. 11
Editor’s notes:
Mittyack = a town in Victoria (Australia), located south-east of Ouyen and north-west of Lake Tyrrell
stook = a vertical stack of sheaves of grain (placed upright, with the heads at the top, so as to enable drying in a field)
[Editor: The original text has been separated into paragraphs.]
The Institute of Australian Culture
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