Evening star., 1909-05-23

courage, more nerve and
endurance, and finer ~, ~, ~
sense of duty than that of -,
the forest ranger Not in Las" in'ous" '"e Lane
frequently the fate of en-
tire villages and towns de-
pends upon the faithful
ness of this lone watchman of the wilderness Some
times, while fighting serious fire at the head of
hundred or two of discouraged. half mutinous hire
lngs he must resort to trickery to keep the
men at work. Then begrimed, wracked by hunger
and by killing thirst born of smoke and noxous fumes
he becomes the handspring in human machine
frantically fighting the devastating element. Day
and night he works at the head of his little army
directing men scattered along line from two to
four more miles long, encouraging them in the
face of most hopeless odds.
Before he realizes it, he may be cut off and find
himself in the midst of confagration whipped on
ward by hurricane faster than his horse run
If he is cut off from all sides his chance is
velop his head as best he may in bag blanket and
dart toward the fire, trusting to zigzag through
lane comparatively clear of flames Then groping
through the dense smoke he stumbes and founders
across stumps and fallen treetrunks trusting to his
God to guide him. until half choked and half blinded
his COnVuSed lungs suck the pure, clean
air, and he IS safe.
His Long Lonely Vigil
PUT it is not only in strenuous times like these that
- the ranger shows what he is made Of For weeks
he human face at long intervals when the
packtrain OF twenty thirty horses snakes its way
through the wilderness, stopping at his hut only long
enough to throw off canned things, tobacco.
soiled bundle of ancient magazines, and whatever
letters may have been sent him by those who happen
to think of him where there is the hum of human
voices far away At long intervals, also he the
forest Inspector making his rounds to that the
ranger has been provided with the necessities of life
and to make certain that he has not fallen i'll been
otherwise incapacltated by accident Thus, un-
watched by superior. the ranger shows the highest
form Of heroism by fulfilling his duty for the sole
son that it is expected of him.
The district the Government expects him to keep
reasonably clear of fires is the enormous one of one
hundred and twenty-one thousand five hundred
acres roughly, one-sixth the of the State of
Rhode Island, and to protect this properly eeaseless
patrol is necessary
Mounted on a rawboned horse and provided with
an ak. spade, mattock, and huge South African
water bottle filled with water, he rides along the
narrow, breakneck trails leading through his district
climbing here and there to mountain top that will
give him an outlook the forests below The least
sign OF column of smoke, and down his eyes
goes the brm of his black felt hat into the sides of
his horse gouge the rowes of his rusty spurs and at
top speed horse and up and at the fire in
the desperate hope of npping it before it can get
beyond control
The smoke may be owing to a settler who is simply
burning clearing for home but, having failed to
do this without the permission of Inspector has
made himself liable to arrest, together with fine and
imprisonment. The fire may be simply that of a