The Portland daily press., 1899-11-24

as to h, the great force to he guarded
against.
The damage done by FIRE doas ro, stop
with the distraction of the forests,
though this is sure . make rs pinched
for timse In few years IL some mans
are not taken to replate the lost pre- racty.
In addition to the loss OF itlmpage, th,re
Is the ero NOUS Ioss of human lie, Sac
rlficed In SO many cases. There is the
great destruction Of game. OF tnssotivo-
rous birds, OF the aora and fauna of the
burned district Lumbsrmeu who have
the h ibit OF clearing their ktumpsge by
burning 1t over, sro a'ten surprised to see
the great quantity of game Of all kinds
that comes from district thought to be
unir ha bite |. The swifter-foc ID animals
dash out wildly, their fear Of man swat
lowed up in the al-abfo bling tsrror of
all living things, from man to ths lowest
orders. The entire population of the
for,st comes forth, the larger animals in
advance. Birds lily about uncertainty,
blincei by the smoke In th3 air aud ut
terina piteous cries at bsing obliged to
with the Tlumage on their backs and
.reasts soorched by the heat, guarding
their homes until they can stand no
mora. Tbs animals and rsptilss that
burrow come out as quickly as they are
able, the torpid snake making as good
time as the usually mere active animals.
One thought, one instinct, Ia In this
brains Of all these creatures; to get tn
water Bot even should they succeed
In reaching that protection, thHy are In
many cases destroyed. 1hs flames that
shoot out from the shore kill every living
thing on the surfacy OF the water asd dry
up anything brit u deep and wide lake.
Men and women are often killed willis
standing up to their necks In streams
and rivers. Or they are exposed to death
from the constant shower OF sparks and
live Goals that cover every inoh Of surface,
The disastrous effects OF tres over large
areas are gerry far-reaching. In addition
rs laying wEs'e SO much territory and
causing so much damage to property and
such extensive loss OF life, thsv destroy
tire cropl for years to come. After fire
has passed over a space Of ground the en-
tirs nature OF the soil Is changed. In
Brazil, whera the fires are namsrous aud
very hot on account Of the large quanti-
ties OF dried gras, which are found there.
an entirely new nora springs no to take
the place Of that which formerly covered
the ground. The fact that the chief fuel
is grass and light un1ert rush Is In a GER
tain senss an advantage. Certain chsmi-
cal elements are liberated, which give
some nutriment to the burned soil. But
where the fuel is Of . more substantial
nature, as it often 10 In our own woods,
these very elements are themselves de-
stroyed and the soil te;omes incapable of
supporting vegetation until some time
hiss elapsed. There is no mere desolate
sight than that Of a vast plot Of land
which has been burned over by forest
tire. There 10 an appearance of absolute
vacancy not be elualed by any other
scene Aud the dssolation extends for
several fee. teiow the surface. Small
anima ais like the squirrel and gopher have
besn found dead In their burrows where
they lay In fanciet security att depth
varying from three to i've feet under the
level OF the ground. At evan greater
depths animals are found In a Sort OF
duly stupor, caused By the smoke thar
has made Its way mo the tovtuous win1-
in IS Of tie hoe.
The actual cash damage den, by the
forst fras 10 hard to estimate. A COM
nIissicn has recs ntly besn np2oin.sd to
make canvass, sni has reported that IN
thu last 20 years in the territory OF the
Un ted Etates AMI the lsni in British
North America the damage has footed up
s0l.too,0 COD. In the en-, year Of 1880. .