Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1906-03-18
What Forest fires Cost.

What Forest Fires Cost.
n OR forest fires cost Us about $4,000, 900
a year. In New York State, in the
~ spring Of 1903, the loss from confagra-
lions In the Adlrondacks was esti-
~ ooo at $S.bOO,0o0, without counting S175,-
~ spent In fighting the fire fiend. Twelve
nalIion collars worth of forest property
Msht up IN smoke within nine DAYS in
washington and Oregon, in I9o2.
porest nres are caused in most instances
py farmers, who, incidentally TO the clear
ing or Land, allow fire to escape into the
WOODS. Careless hunters are responsible
Ior many destructive confiaRrattons ~ the
kind which spreads from cafnn ares ps IN
roads, TOO are q frequent cause of such
Ihlscnletss on which account II has heen
sugsested that they ought to be comnelled
% use spark arresters In the vaat nine
- ore ~, on the Far North the ground moss
always extremely dry and tinderv 20
that lightning at any time IL lishis 10
start blaze H@oie 10
The greatest losses from forest A..
suffered on the Pacific COAST r.hti. ~
least Damage by this cause seems n ~
e 9s'. IA tne hardwood forests OF the sotIth
every year, taking an average. aometbs,, :.
like hfteen million acres OF our te-r,t,r,ss
or nearly twenty-four thousand o,,a,,s
miles, are flame swept. Unfortuns 49,,
the worst OF the damage Is done NOT 70 ~
trees but TO the soil, for it taxa froro
three to fve centuries to create a n,oid
one foot deep, which within a few ho',...
is burned up, making the land nss,es noS s1s
agriculture eSs lot
forest fire. even though II begins IN =.
ueAd calm, soon makes It own wind ov5n'a
70 the tremendous indraught ~ a. TLs
naines rise to height OF two hundraS
leet devouring the trees like so much
..-N,, ana out from the front of the al
Vancins wall Of solid blaze shoots az a..
leap and appear TO explode, dartfne for
ward bridging rivers and starting the Are
aIresh In advance of the main ool,r1n as
II impatient OF it's slower progress
Fire lanes-cleared spaces wido enorsh
20 malt nres-are commonly made In En-
rope. TO divide the forests into sact,a1,s
This is one OF the devices aITasII,, 'io AZ
cussed by our own Forest Bureau ina
loentally to the consideration 81 7,ean.
whereby such fires may be s,,cco.as' N.
tousht. Such lanes must be kept bnen az N
Isee nom brush, and the only inportan ~
oD9ectlon 70 them Is that their maintenance
Is somewhat expensive.
/ NNAASNSA
The highest tide in the world a. a.
Bay OF Fundy, between Nova scotia a me
New Brunswick The tide $50, anu
rises 70 the height OF seventv-ons ~.
ana the increase IL occasionally as nnncS
as foot every 1--WE minutes.
A grandson OF General Shrapnel who a.
vented In 1894 the missile that mas en-, I'm, m
q ngure In the Russo-Japanese war he ~
deavoring TO obtain from the British po,,-
srnment a part OF the $4,000 spent bv IN,
FOR the beneht OF his country.
The intrinsic value Of the Victoria Cross
the most highly priced decoration In M
British army and navy, is about three
cents. II was instituted by royal warrant
on January %. 1856, as a reward or "a
lantry Of all ranks. and the first presenta..
ton (of siXty-tWo crosses) was made bv
the late Queen Victoria in person on Fri
day, June g. 1857 Il Is in the shape OF a
Maltese cross. and is made TO this day out
OF metal from old Russian cannon captured
! at SebastoDoL