Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1903-05-30

turpentfne but whet the demons appetite
in regions which abound in those sylvan
products. Sometimes large clouds of in
flammable gas are said to be evolved from
the heated tree tops. just in advance of the
actual combustion. These explode and send
out great ribbons of flame, sometimes SPAN
ming lakes and rivers In some cases the
first sparks CT forest fires will smolder
along for weeks in some punky log and
there await weather conditions favorable to
spreading. Nature provides some trees
with an armor which will resist the fire
dragon. These the thick bark trees.
The bark of a living tree is not readily
combustitSe. The trunks of the great trees
of California are sometimes followed by
fire. leaving the shells of bark standing.
careful study of damage to tree growth
will be made. In a fire-swept forest not
only the giant trees ready for the ak, but in
many instances the terminating seedlings
the embryo forests of future centuries-and
also the seed itself, are swept away.
An interesting experiment is already be-
ing made in the field by an agent who is
scattering forest seed over a parcel of
ground staked off for the purpose and sub
sequently setting fire to the area. The
seeds burned over in this way are being
shipped to the seed laboratory of the De-
partment of Agriculture, where their pow
of termination are being studied
The effects of fire upon Seeding trees
is also being studied by care
full comparison of forest areas burned
over at varying periods, as five ten, fif-
teen years ago, and so on. Thus is being
rated the length of time required by nature
in the first stages of restora ton after forest
fires. In the forests of the north it is noted
that where white pine is burned off it Is
usually succeeded by brush growth aspen
cherry and birch-those trees prolific in
seed which is distributed by the winds and
the feathered denizens of the forests.
Damage to the soil will be carefully look
been estimated bat
requires from 300 to 800 years in which to
deposit one foot of soil by the decay of its
vegetation. 1t is this decayed vegetation
or mold of the forest which gives the fields
their fertility. Man therefore depends
upon it for his food But in few hours
THIS accumulation of from three to five
centuries may be licked up by the fire dra-
gon of the forest and left unfit for agri-
culture.
Tactics for Fighters.
Methods of protection will be carefully
considered. Fire lanes-cleared spaces
wide enough to halt fires-are common in
Europe where they divide the great forests
INTO sections to any one of which fire
will be restricted. There are no good ex
amples of these lanes in this country.
where they are generally regarded as too
expensive. They must be kept open and
free from brush. and although recurring a
periodic expenditure would prove econOrni-
cal in the long run. They offer forest fire
fighters excellent base lines for operation
In some of our states railway COMPANIES
are required to keep wide cIearings on
either side of their tracks such fire lanes
extending generally the entire width of
the right of way. But even this precau-
ton is limited to a few localities In the
southern states where the ground is burned
over each year to improve grazing the for
est trees are often protected by cleared
spaces around them.
More scientific tactics for forest fire
lighters Will be among the fruits of this in
teresting investigation. The most com
mon methods are to throw earth upon the
ground fires or to trench ahead of them and
to back fire.. Back firing consists in
kndling ahead of the main tidal wave of
flame a fire which can be kept in control,
and which can, by dint of rekindlng be
coaXed back, against the wind, until 1t
meets the advancing wall of the forest
fire proper. Rings of fire are thus burned
about forest settlements Fire fighters
generally elect to begin operations at some
vantage point where the speed of the adj
vancng torrent would naturally slacken.
Thus, inasmuch a forest fire will burn
faster up hill than down, downward slope
is chosen by the wise fire fighters as the
base of operations. A broad stream is of
course, the best vantage point to be found
| in Washington and Oregon last September
people were crowded into the water OF
streams where they remained for refuge
Our most fatal forest fire occurred at
HincNey, Pine county. Mimi, in Septem-
| Der, 1874. n thGt town AIS people were
burned to death. Sixteen lives were lost
In the forest fires of Washington state and
two in that of Oregon last fall.
Sad Details of Death.
! For details of the deaths in Washington
the writer is indebted to Special Agent
| William T. Cox of the forestry bureau.
when the fire swept along the north fork
| of the Lewis river. in Cowlitz county. it at
! tanned its greatest severity. This was on
| September IL. 1t was here that a party of
| nine pleasure seekers who had been Camp
! ing a the foot of Mt st. Helens met such
! a tragic fate. They We're d1iv ng ahead of
/ the fiery storm in an attempt to reach
Speleyah prairie, when they suddenly found
/ the narrow road barred by fallen timber
! There was no escape for them and all per
| ished together. When found by relief
party the nine charred corpsas lay Gloss
| together near the irons-all that remained
| of the wagon. The horses had managed
! TO get only a few steps from the wagon
| when they, too. succumbed.
'Oue settler as he left his home on the
| morning of September II told his wife tina,
| should the fires work dangerously near she
| was to take the children, leave the slashin
| in which the house was situated, and Ge;
| into the green timber where he supposed
| there would be no danger. She followed
| his advice, but the fire swept the green
timber more ferceiy than the slashinss
and the fire demon cllimed four more vic
| Tins. In all sixteen lives were lost on the
north fork of the Lewis river. Forty more
| people would surely have persisted had ii
not been for Spelayah prairie, a clover
meadow one mile long by a half mile wide
| the only opening In the forest for man.
miles Here these people endured the in
| tense heat and survived, although several