GLASS BOTTLES AND HEATH FIRES.
[TO THE EDITOR OE THE "SFECT•TOR."]
SIR,—In an article in the Spectator of May 15th on "Heath. Fires" the suggestion is made that broken bottles may have something to do with the origin of these fires. After many- years' residence on the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, I am able to prove the accuracy of the writer's suggestion. We- have terribly destructive bush fires here owing to the blazing beat of our summer days, the extreme dryness of everything for weeks together, and the inflammable nature of the- constantly collecting fern-leaves on the ground. Our fires- may be put down to human agency, lightning, and glass bottles, and I now believe the last to be the most frequent. cause. Last December (our summer) on a hot, dry morning a curl of smoke was noticed rising from a little heap of leaves and twigs, and, after making the incipient bush fire safe, I ascertained that only two persons were within some hundred yards, and that neither had been near the spot ; indeed, they did not know about the fire having started. Among the ashes was found the expected white glass bottle,—the bottom part.
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