The sun., 1909-06-27
TIE CoMBUsTIBLE PORCUPINE.
Ono Cause Of Forest Fires, Says IN
Adirondack Guido.


LAKB CLEAR, N. Y, June 2o.-'Yo'
may expeot all kinds OF weather in tn
Adirondaoks,' said the old guide. but
is right uncommon to have snow afte
the middle OF june
He referred to the weather Of thre'
days ago. when there were several hur
ries Of snow-one Of them more than
furry. for II coated the ground with thir
lsver OF white. Thsthermometerd didn't q
above 70 degrees that day and there wa
stiff oold wind. The New York paper
OF the day before had noted four hea
prostrations in the city.
'There has been great change In th'
Adirondack climate; 1t is changing al
the while.' continued the old guide. II
was not 90 long ago-in the days wher
Grover Cleveland came up to Saranao Inl
to flsh-that we had good sleighing al
through April. There was only one thav
in the winter then. what We called the
January thaw. Now We have half &
dozen and nobody minds 'em.
Il think the winters were colder ane
the summers hotter. We would have
five or six feet OF snow on the ground
all the winter. Snow would pile up *
high ON the roads sometimes that th'
horses would just slip OF. With the thav
in May the winter would be over.
sOf course It wouldn't be unusual te
have some snow In May. Not counting
this snow spasm last week. can renem'
Der only onoe In my time that We had
snow after the middle Of June, and ther
It wasn't any worse than what We had
here last week.
The guide commented on the hot dry
spell last year and the fires.
Funny thing about the forest fires,
said he. "The blame is laid mostly TO
the railroads and tho summer camps. but
nobody takes into account the porcuplne.
The porcupinep Yes.
"Now the poroupine. a. everybody
knows, Is a dull and sluggish animal.
Not much move and 60 to the porouplne,
and there arc lots Of 'em In the woods.
11obs The sow sns NTH the d %aRy Rs aSs has
What's the result?
sThe porcupine fingers along and
doesn't get out Of the way OF the blaze
when the fire Is travelling fest, famed by
the wind. First thing you know a spark
has touched on one OF his quilts and IL Is
sblaze. The porcupine's only defence
is his tall with the quills. y'know, and when
he Ia In danger he uses that.
well, first one quill takes fire and then
another and he scampers Oh through the
dry brush; not going very fast. but fast
enough. He fires everything he touches,
and be causes lot Of trouble
Ever see a porcupine ablaze?" in
Quired the camper who was looking for
first hand information.
sYou bet.' said the guide without paus-
ing to think. I'D heard OF this and
thought I'd find out about Il
sOne day I came across q porcupine
In the brush and decided to see how Il
would work. ! got piece OF dry pine
and lighted IL, then I crept up to that
porcupine.
quilts and had no trouble In lighting one
OF them. One by one the quilts all bla1ed
up and he ran OF in the woods. That
fellow started more fires than ten men
could have put out II 1t had been . dry
ssaeon. He had DO many lights on his
back that he just looked like an altar
with all the candles abhxe; yessir, NOV
ing altar with all candles lighted
sWhat happens then? Tho quills
burn and burn until they're all burned
out and the porcupine, pore fellow, ex-
plodes or somethin'. suppose
It was time to turn In and the guide
turned In for an undisturbed sleep.