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--- 194501 [2016/01/11 13:10] – tyreless
+++ 194501 [2016/01/12 09:03] – tyreless
@@ Line 117: / Line 117: @@
 Have not been worried by buzz-bombs, although as you may have read there are still a few about.
-,
+=====Snakes Alive=====
-SNAKES ALIVE - by M McGreeor
-"Look out.'" It was a rather belated cry because half the party had already walked over the black snake which was coiled in some grass on the track. The snake itself didn't seem to be worried at all by our presence for now quite a few people were gathered about it, watching, But, Hark the cry is David, And lo the scrub divides (with apologies), "A 'snake, where is it?" shouted he president pounding up to the group, but apparently tbe serpent had also heard that the doubty snake catcher was coming, so he beat a hasty retreat and successfully defeated all attempts to find him again,
+by M McGregor
-It was a beautiful place for snakes, a moist soak, with waist high reeds and low scrub. David rubbed hie hand reflectively over his chin, "Hmmm, I think I'll walk up the soak a bit. I've got my snake bag, I might catch one OT ---"
-As soon as the words were out, Peter and I ranged ourselves alongside him and asked if we might accompany him, He agreed and we set off walking slowly, ankle deep in mudt looking for and hoping to see a snake(Some people are mad).
+"Look out." It was a rather belated cry because half the party had already walked over the black snake which was coiled in some grass on the track. The snake itself didn't seem to be worried at all by our presence for now quite a few people were gathered about it, watching. But, Hark! the cry is David. And lo the scrub divides (with apologies). "A snake, where is it?" shouted the president pounding up to the group, but apparently the serpent had also heard that the doubty snake catcher was coming, so he beat a hasty retreat and successfully defeated all attempts to find him again.
-While we were vorking our way Up the swamp David gave us a few hints about places where they like to coil up and he also begged us to keep as quiet as possible, He even went so far as to say that if we were unlucky enough to be bitten not to shout and frighten any ether snakes in the vicinity but to, say. calmly, "This is it", He beamed down at us and added, "I have my universal antidete with me so there is na need to worry". These few words cheered us up a greateleal, as you can well imagine, but net wishing to appear scared,. we st=lt to our self appointed task and kept our eyes down.
-Things were going beautifully (not a snake to be seen) when quite cudeenly Peter shot vertically into the air to the amazing height of fifteen feet, (both David and I are quite sure on this point) and,while suspend'ed th're he uttered the magic word "snnnnnake",
+It was a beautiful place for snakes, a moist soak, with waist high reeds and low scrub. David rubbed hie hand reflectively over his chin. "Hmmm, I think I'll walk up the soak a bit. I've got my snake bag, I might catch one Or ---"
-He came down shortly afterwards and the three of us surrounded a small clump of reeds into which our Quarry had disappeared, Peter and David were armed with -short sticks and carefully I se-?arated the grasses until the bla ck body of. our
-o victim was exposed, Onel two and the sticks held him firms a little wait and then his head came into view; the hindmast stick (it ,is ao difficult to tell which is the front ot back end when a eneke is all coiled up) was
+As soon as the words were out, Peter and I ranged ourselves alongside him and asked if we might accompany him. He agreed and we set off walking slowly, ankle deep in mud, looking for and hoping to see a snake (Some people are mad).
- moved to a position just behind the h ad. The next move in this "Saga of the Swamp" was enacted by David, in went his hand, and his thumb and forefinger clamped themselves about its heck and'a black snake about four feet long was
- withdrawn from its retreat. Very carefully I photographed the final stage, then popping the catch into David'sbag we made off towards the rest of the party.
+While we were working our way up the swamp David gave us a few hints about places where they like to coil up and he also begged us to keep as quiet as possible. He even went so far as to say that if we were unlucky enough to be bitten not to shout and frighten any other snakes in the vicinity but to say calmly, "This is it". He beamed down at us and added, "I have my universal antidote with me so there is no need to worry". These few words cheered us up a great deal, as you can well imagine, but not wishing to appear scared, we stuck to our self appointed task and kept our eyes down.
-When we reached them the Inake was empticd out on to the road for all and sundry to see and "admire" whilst we explained and demonstrated how it was done by re-catching and re-bagging the specimen,
-Ne 'rank Buck or MaTtin Johnstcne could ever have been so proud as we were
+Things were going beautifully (not a snake to be seen) when quite suddenly Peter shot vertically into the air to the amazing height of fifteen feet, (both David and I are quite sure on this point) and while suspended there he uttered the magic word "snnnnnake".
- about our ali alive" catch. We 'were walking on, gazing into space envisioning all kinds of exploits in the "Bring 'Em Back Alive" sphere, when Bill Hall, who was quite some distance in front of the main group rudely smashed all our dreams. We saw hin, armed with a sturdy sapling, viciously belabouring
-stt
+He came down shortly afterwards and the three of us surrounded a small clump of reeds into which our quarry had disappeared. Peter and David were armed with short sticks and carefully I separated the grasses until the black body of our
-.
+victim was exposed. One! two! and the sticks held him firm; a little wait and then his head came into view; the hindmast stick (it is so difficult to tell which is the front or back end when a snake is all coiled up) was moved to a position just behind the head. The next move in this "Saga of the Swamp" was enacted by David, in went his hand, and his thumb and forefinger clamped themselves about its neck and a black snake about four feet long was withdrawn from its retreat. Very carefully I photographed the final stage, then popping the catch into David's bag we made off towards the rest of the party.
-the ground. It could only mean one thing; another snake. We galloped up, quite ready to offer eur services but it was too late the job was done. With tears in our eyes we gazed at the carnage wrought by Bill's sapling. A once "beautiful" serpent lay before us, I supeose a moral could be taken from this part of the story -- A good snake is a dead one, because Bill's specimen was twice as fat and a good deal longer than the one we had taken such pains to catch aliVe.
-BUSH-FIRE FIGHTING By. ABORES AUSTRALIS
+When we reached them the snake was emptied out on to the road for all and sundry to see and "admire" whilst we explained and demonstrated how it was done by re-catching and re-bagging the specimen.
-There are very few properly organised bush-fire fighting services in Australia. This is what happens when such is available and to know about it may assist volunteers who are inexperienced. The Uticer-m-ehacge notified
-and works out the location of the fire by zroFs telc,p11)nr d from two
+No Frank Buck or Martin Johnstone could ever have been so proud as we were about our "all alive" catch. We were walking on, gazing into space envisioning all kinds of exploits in the "Bring 'Em Back Alive" sphere, when Bill Hall, who was quite some distance in front of the main group rudely smashed all our dreams. We saw him, armed with a sturdy sapling, viciously belabouring the ground. It could only mean one thing; another snake. We galloped up, quite ready to offer our services but it was too late the job was done. With tears in our eyes we gazed at the carnage wrought by Bill's sapling. A once "beautiful" serpent lay before us. I suppose a moral could be taken from this part of the story -- A good snake is a dead one, because Bill's specimen was twice as fat and a good deal longer than the one we had taken such pains to catch alive.
-or more look-outs, He then sends out one motor truck wieh a meal] party of men. This will be followed by another with war tank and pure, or the first truck may take both men and tank. Some responsible indvi,dual will be sent out with the first truck whose duty it iv to hic all round the fire, find out just how big and how bad it is, decide hew many meneand how much gear are needed to deal wtth it and arrar8o with the Officer-in.-Charge for the necessary re-infercements,
-A great deal depends upon the judgment of the man who does this work and his ability to fereceLst the weather during the next twenty-four hours or obtain the forecast from official meteorologists. If very bad weather is approaching he wi?1 play safe and back-fire from a wide trail or even a main road 3 if only normill weather is approaching he will go right into or very close to the fire,
+=====Bush-Fire Fighting=====
-If the fire is very small a frontal attack may be mad without any burning back. This is an attack right on the fire with rakes, bushes and knapsack pumps with ladywood sprays, of which we shall say more later,
-Having decided the extent and potentialiti:s of the fire, and unless very small a trail must be cut two to six feet wide, This trail must be thoroughly cleared of all sticks, bark and grass. The light rubbish is raked to the fire- ward side and froms a convenient windrow for lighting, The heavy logs,branches 'and masses of bark must however be taken well away on the lee side, As much as possible of the dead logs and brenches must be cleared from the fireward side of the trail for a distance of up to twenty yards or more. The ultimate chanoes of holding the fire depend to a very large extent on the thoroughness with which the trail is raked 'and cleared in the first Place.
+By Abores Australis.
-If the fire is a large one, the trail will have been out anything up to six miles in front of it; it will be a full six feet wide and may involve felling trees if it cannot be kept on the fire-side of them. The trail having bncrt out7 the fun commenoeu and all volunteexel men and women aLd chndren are ufee-e, Tte firingbck stprts generally at night or in the la a:ruoon
-ar,j a'nged along the trail h,ve the work of pff,7f,ntli13 cy arks from
+There are very few properly organised bush-fire fighting services in Australia. This is what happens when such is available and to know about it may assist volunteers who are inexperienced. The Officer-in-Charge notified and works out the location of the fire by cross bearings telephoned from two or more look-outs. He then sends out one motor truck with a small party of men. This will be followed by another with water tank and pump, or the first truck may take both men and tank. Some responsible individual will be sent out with the first truck whose duty it is to hike all round the fire, find out just how big and how bad it is, decide hew many men and how much gear are needed to deal with it and arrange with the Officer-in-Charge for the necessary reinforcements.
-it, It is wildly e:cniting punn-LrIF down on sack end ,Lin rot, Everyone forgets to be tired and it is just a grafd ad-Jup
-.7u1D:y the fire will burn beck fairly well e-ren though it is against the wind, Let us assume that all has gone well and the fireha$ burned back
+A great deal depends upon the judgment of the man who does this work and his ability to forecast the weather during the next twenty-four hours or obtain the forecast from official meteorologists. If very bad weather is approaching he will play safe and back-fire from a wide trail or even a main road; if only normal weather is approaching he will go right into or very close to the fire.
-....101.....1 1.1....1.......
-te -Mle main fire and extinguished it. Now the really difficult and con-
+If the fire is very small a frontal attack may be mad without any burning back. This is an attack right on the fire with rakes, bushes and knapsack pumps with ladywood sprays, of which we shall say more later.
-sc:Leetious work begins, all the more difficult because by this time there has probably arrived a waggon of free beer from the hotel, You have perhaps read how much such and such a fire was got under, eCearted up again the next day, and so on clay after day, until the r-in came and did the work which the fire-fighters could have done perfectly well if they had been well trained and disciplined,
-Tljs is what lay behind that laconic nt'euspaper report that the fire rei3ta:c4;ed, The flmes had died down and with them had also died the excite- meet ee t 17.; h.,Drolo volunteers 61)(1(3en1y,roalso that they are wearr,
+Having decided the extent and potentialities of the fire, and unless very small a trail must be cut two to six feet wide. This trail must be thoroughly cleared of all sticks, bark and grass. The light rubbish is raked to the fire-ward side and forms a convenient windrow for lighting. The heavy logs, branches and masses of bark must however be taken well away on the lee side. As much as possible of the dead logs and branches must be cleared from the fireward side of the trail for a distance of up to twenty yards or more. The ultimate chances of holding the fire depend to a very large extent on the thoroughness with which the trail is raked and cleared in the first place.
-arfi ralar e L L. -- with thr backs to the
-fire -- hoca discusEing their adventures.
+If the fire is a large one, the trail will have been cut anything up to six miles in front of it; it will be a full six feet wide and may involve felling trees if it cannot be kept on the fire-side of them. The trail having been cut, the fun commences and all volunteers, men and women and children are useful. The firing-back starts generally at night or in the late afternoon and the people ranged along the trail have the work of preventing sparks from getting around it. It is wildly exciting pouncing down on sparks and putting them out. Everyone forgets to be tired and it is just a grand adventure.
-Then up comes the inevitable gust of wind, away goes a shower of sparks over the trail and the fire is off again, If that particular jumpover cur ot be controlled the whole party must retreat to another line of defence, and start the. whole job over again. Even without the gust of wind the fire will very likely sneak across the trail in a section that was carelessly raked, or it may invisiblyFcreep along between the bark and theewood on the
-underside of a big log that someone was toe tired to chop right through.
+Usually the fire will burn back fairly well even though it is against the wind. Let us assume that all has gone well and the fire has burned back to the main fire and extinguished it. Now the really difficult and conscientious work begins, all the more difficult because by this time there has probably arrived a waggon of free beer from the hotel. You have perhaps read how much such and such a fire was got under, started up again the next day, and so on day after day, until the rain came and did the work which the fire-fighters could have done perfectly well if they had been well trained and disciplined.
-It is because oftthis danger that the experienced forester tries to
-hold his own men back to conserve their strength until this time in order to do what is called the "monning up". This consists of completaly_extit2.guishing the remains of the fire for a distence sufficiently far back from the edge of the trail to prevent any' possible chance of a spark blowing-across, Dead trees and trees with broken dead branches in their tops are perticularly
+This is what lay behind that laconic newspaper report that the fire  restarted. The flames had died down and with them had also died the excitement and fun. The heroic volunteers suddenly realise that they are weary, and ?? under the shade of a tree -- with their backs to the fire -- and begin discussing their adventures.
-de.:eecTeeus and Must be felled even though they be ut to twelve fee"-6 in girth.
-A Jng1e spark landing on the to of broken stub in the top of a tree will smoulder away and eventually send out sparks which will carry the fire over the
+Then up comes the inevitable gust of wind, away goes a shower of sparks over the trail and the fire is off again. If that particular jumpover cannot be controlled the whole party must retreat to another line of defence, and start the whole job over again. Even without the gust of wind the fire will very likely sneak across the trail in a section that was carelessly raked, or it may invisibly creep along between the bark and the wood on the underside of a big log that someone was too tired to chop right through.
-trail. A hollow tree roars like a blest furnaCe and showers the country
-side with sparks.. A stump may be completely burnt o-ut yet carry fire along one of its roots to pop up on the other side of the trail a week, mexybe two weeks, afterwerds. Mopping up there-fore me ns cutting treesv grubbing stumps and examining ashes and the ground beneath them with the naked hand. A fire is not considered as being extinguished until the naked be:nd,Can play with
+It is because of this danger that the experienced forester tries to hold his own men back to conserve their strength until this time in order to do what is called the "mopping up". This consists of completely extinguishing the remains of the fire for a distance sufficiently far back from the edge of the trail to prevent any possible chance of a spark blowing across. Dead trees and trees with broken dead branches in their tops are particularly dangerous and must be felled even though they be up to twelve feet in girth. A single spark landing on the top of broken stub in the top of a tree will smoulder away and eventually send out sparks which will carry the fire over the trail. A hollow tree roars like a blast furnace and showers the countryside with sparks. A stump may be completely burnt out yet carry fire along one of its roots to pop up on the other side of the trail a week, maybe two weeks, afterwards. Mopping up therefore means cutting trees, grubbing stumps and examining ashes and the ground beneath them with the naked hand. A fire is not considered as being extinguished until the naked hand can play with it happily. Mopping up is hard, dreary work and often means many burns.
-it happily. Mopping up is hard, dreary work and often means many burns,
- For moping up you cannot have too much water, a thousand gallon tanker-waggon with powerful pump which will force the water into the tiniest
+For mopping up you cannot have too much water, a thousand gallon tanker-waggon with powerful pump which will force the water into the tiniest cracks of logs or stumps is the thing, if you have one. If you haven't and in rough country, the humble knapsack water-container with Ladywood spray is worth its weight in gold. This has an adjustable nozzle like a hose and it is surprising how far five gallons of water will go when sent out through a fine nozzle. It has a fine mist spray which is used for damping down grass and a fine needle spray for cutting into ash bed and the insides of logs and stumps.
-cracks of logs or stumps is the thing, if you have one. If'yoil havealt and in rough cOuntry,' the humble'knapsack water-container with Lad'ywbo'd
-spray is' worth its wetght in gold. This has an adjustable nozzle like a hose ana it is surprising how far five gallons of water will go when sent out throul a fine nozzle, It has a fine mist spray which is used for damping
+Even though a fire may be thoroughly mopped up by careful and conscientious men there is still a good chance that it will break out again, and to prevent this or to control the new fire should it break out again, the trail must be patrolled for several days after the mopping up has been completed, There are cases on record where small fires in logs and rubbish have been raked over and doused with water to the extent of twenty gallons of water per square yard and yet some hot ember has been missed or thrown aside and has started up again the next day. If therefore the preliminary work of extinguishing the fire is not to go for nothing, a great deal of work must be done for a long time afterwords.
-done, eeass and a fine needle spray for cutting inta ash bed and 'the insides of legs and stumps,
-Even though a fire may be thoroughly mopped up by careful and conse-;ee tceue men there is still a good chance that it will break out again,
-and 0 lercvnt this or to control the new fire should it break out again,
-the frai.T. must be patrolled for several d ys after the mopping up hoe been
-.
-cmpleted, There are cases on record where small fires in 1.ogs and rubbish 11:vc' been rak-A over and doused with water to the extent of twenty gallons of water per square yard and yet some hot ember has-been missed or thrown aside
-and has started up again the next day. If therefore the prcliminary work
-of extinguishing the fire is not to go for nothing, a great deal of work must be done for a long time afterwords.
 yomTnT RE MONTHLY MEETING
 Notice is hPreby 7,-:.-?cn that the Monthly General Meetings will in future start at 745 etelJa the 2nnual General Meeting wal com:tence a 7.30p m.