The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1906-12-28

than twenty dollars o. more than Az
hundred dollar. 81 shall be imprison
ed5inthe county jail.not less than ter
days Or more than Six months. Or ma,
be punished by both fine ana impris
onment ANY person building q fri
upon forest lands for camping pur
poses, or otherwise, shah CAREFUL,
provide against the spreading Of suct
fire into or through any forest, ami
shall totally extingulsh It before do
parting from the place. Any failure
| to do'so, and which shall result in The
/ spreading Of such fire into any forest
shall be construed to be the same az
setting the forest on FIRE. Any person
who shall cause a forest fire by caro-
lessly negligently, or deliberately
i dropping a burning match, or empty
ing fire from a pipe, or dropping a
LIGHTED cigar or cigarette, or discharg
ling a combustible wad from fire arms
shall be deemed guilty Of setting the
forest on fire. All railroad companies
operating steam locomotives through
over, or upon forest lands within this
State, shall provide all such locomo
tives with efficient spark arresters
ANY failure so to do, and which re
suits in the spreading Of forest fire
within this State, shall be construed
the same as II said forest had been set
on fire by such railroad company or It's
agents. The words forest lands
when used in this act shall be cou
struei 10 mean any tract Of woods, en-
closed by fence or unenc1osed, con
tanning fifty acres Or more, whether
such tract shall belong to one or more
than one person. Any tract of land
of fifty acres or more, containing
sufficient growth of trees, brush, and
leaves TO render it unfit for grass OF
grain in It's present condition. shall be
deemd to be forest land within the
meaning of this act.
Sec. a. All duly elected or appointed
constables within the State Of West
Virginia are hereby declared to be and
are ex oticio fire marshals for their
respective magisterial districts, and
their duties and powers shall be as
hereinafter set forth. Immediately
upon the outbreak of forest fire with
in any fire marshal's district, he shat
proceed to the place Of the fire and
take measures to extinguish it. Il
shall be his duty to warn as many Of
the able bodied male, residents of his
district, between the ages of IS and
so years, as he may consider neces
sary, and he shall direct them to pro
coed forthwith to the fire, and acting
upder his orders, extinguish it. Said
marshal may deputize, in an emer
gency case, any suitable person to as
sist in calling the resident fire fight
ing force. Any person so warned
either by therfire marshal or his dep
utv. ia assist in eXtinguishing a for
est fire, and shall fail or refuse Il
obey, without lawful excuse, shall be
deemed guilty of misdemeanor, ant
upon proper proof before justice o
the peace of such disobedience or re
fusal, he shall be fined not less thar
five or more than twenty dollars.
ANY fire marshal who without law
full excuse, shall fail Or refuse to act
promptly upon receiving knowledge o.
information of the outbreak of a for
est fire within his district, shall be
liable to indictment for neglect Of
duty and upon conviction he shall be
fined not less than twenty-five or more
than five hundred dollars, and may
be Imprisoned not less than ten days
or more than six months. No person
shall he liable to action for trespass
who in good faith. enters upon the
land of another for the purpose OF eX'
tingulshing forest fire. No person
who, exercising reasonable Judgment
and acting in good faith, shall set a
back fire for the purpose of extinguish'
ing a forest fire, shall be prosecuted
or held blamable for the consequences
of such act. The collection Of all fines
imposed in accordance with the pro
visions of this act, may be enforced By
imprisonment in the county jail at
the rate Of one day for each dollar OF
such fine remaining unpaid. All fines
collected by authority Of this act
shall be paid into the general fund OF
the county in which they may be col
lected. In the absence Of fire mar
shall, or IL he is unable from any cause
to act promptly, and II danger from a
forest FIRE is apparent and so immi'
nent that delay would increase the
danger, any resident of the State who
himself sees the danger, may in that
emergency, assume Of his own volt
ton the authority of the marshal, and
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