The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-10-07

| tions are embodied in bulletin now
| made public. As the subject has a
| local as well as general interest. we
give herewith the bulletins substance.
Investigation has shown that. in an
average year, 60 human lives are lost in
forest fires. s"5,OOOOOO worth of real
property is destroyed, 1O,274.OS9 acres of
timber land are burned over. and young
forest growth worth, at the lowest esti-
mate. sT5.OO0.00O, is killed. A special
canvass of the country by the depart
ment of agriculture in 1891 discovered
100000 acres of timber land destroyed
by fire.
These figures are mere estimates,
which fall far short of showing in full
the damage done. No account at all is
taken of the loss to the country due to
the impoverishment of the soil by fire,
to the ruin of water courses, and the
dryngrp of springs. Even the amount
of timber burned is very imperfectly
calculated. and the actual quantity de-
stroyed is far in excess Of that account
ed for. Forest fires in this country have
grown so common that only those are
reported that are of such magnitude
as to threaten large communities. The
numbering industry in remote sections
of the country may be ruined and peo-
pie forced to flee for their lives without
a mention of the disaster beyond the
places near where it occurred.
The fires that burnt this year in
Washington and Oregon We're uncom-
mon only in the number of lives lost.
The burning of logging and mining
camps and farm buildings. the loss to
the country in the destruction of timber
and young tree growth, is of yearly
occurrence. Every fall, not only in
Washington, Oregon, Colorado. and
Wyoming, but up and down the Pacific
coast and all over the Rocky mountain
country fires burn great holes in the
forests and destroy the national wealth.
The air of the mountains over hun
dreds of miles is pungent with the
smoke Of conflagration and navigation
on Puget sound has often been imped-
by DR.. Henry Gannett, of the United
States geological survey, should convey
fair idea of the damage done in the
state of WashingtOn: "In less than a
generation two-fifths of the standing
timber has been destroyed in one Of
the richest timber regions on the con-
tinent. and of the destruction more than
half has been caused by fire. Assuming
that the timber would, if standing, have
the value of Is cents per thousand feet.
not less than $50. 100000 worth has gone
up in smoke. Il dead loss to the people
of the state
According to the bureaus records, the
most disastrous forest fire in the history
of this country occurred in October.
1871, simultaneous with the burning Of
Chicago. 1t extended all across north
ern Michigan and Wisconsin and into
Minnesota. At least 1000 persons We're
burned to death and $4,000 We're made
homeless. The property loss has never
been calculated. The Hinckey fire of
1894. which destroyed Hinckley and five
other Minnesota villages, burned to
death AIS persons, destroyed $15O,CO0
worth of farm and town property, and
about 400 square miles of forest \ fire
in southeast Michigan in 1881 burned
the forest on As townships, destroyed
S2.O00,000 worth of other property,
burned to death 125 persons. and made
homeless 5000. Another Michigan forest
fire, which occurred in 1885, made
homeless 1000 persons and destroyed
town and farm property worth $780,
600. Wisconsin lost by fire in May,
1891, 1873 square miles of forest and
other property worth 100000 In 1894,
in Wisconsin, l3 persons lost their lives
and 5000 their homes, and 81 900, 900
worth of town and farm property was
destroyed in the Phillips fire.
The enumeration of great forest fires
could be extended almost indefinitely.
One feature, however is common to
them all: They were small fires before
they grew uncOntrollable, and with lit
tie trouble might have been eXtinguish-
ed. For example, the FInckley fire
smoked as a ground fire for weeks and
nobody paid it serious attention. But
one day the wind rose and famed the
SlnouiuerlnS eNlDerS INTO name, the
flame caught in the dry underbrush,
leaped into the trees and became fire
of SO terrible a volume that no human
power could stay it.
Legislation, even in the east, has done
little toward solving the forest-fire
problem. Pennsylvania, Minnesota,
Massachusetts, and New York are pos
sible exceptions. The best forest-nre
laws are probably those of Pennsyl-
yania, which makes an annual eXpendi-
ture of $4,000 in support of them.
State constables serve as fire wardens
in their townships and receive extra
pay for their services. Minnesota,
brought to sense of responsibility by
disasters, of which the Hinckley fire
was the most terrible, has established
an efficient orest-hre system. Massa-
chusetts has had good legislation in
the matter The New York forest fire
laws, though generally limited in their
effect to state reserves and parks, have
brought good results. West of the
Rocky mountains little is done toward
the suppression OF forest fires, except
by the forest rangers on government
reserves, who are employed by the
department of the interior.
The creation of sentiment against
forest fires is the first step toward their
suppression. Legislation is necessary,