The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-07-23
STRINGENT laws
TO BLOCK fires
col. C. II. GRAVES OF DULUTH
TELLS OF MEASURES TAKEN
IN SWEDEN TO PROTECT
FORESTS FROM FLAMES.

In view of the incalculable damage
that is being done to timbered areas Oh
the northwest by fire this summer, ow-
inc TO the extreme drought, the meth
DDS Of European countries by the prac-
,ice of which forest fires have been
,orgel,, eliminated. are OF timely In
,erest. Colonel C. III. Graves, United
states minister to Sweden. In Duiuth
outlined the system of that country Tor
preserving the woodlands of the king
dom from flames. His talk, as report
ed by the News Tribune, was as fol-
lows:
81 believe Sweden's scheme OF pro-
lection Is worthy of consideration H
embraces great chain of watch-tow-
ers. between thirty and forty miles
apart. the towers being erected upon
high points in the forests. A watch
man or lookout is stationed at each
tower and I'm this way the entire king
dom has fire wardens on duty night ana
day throughout the year.
Turns in Fire Alarm.
"When ne discovers fire starting,
he gives the alarm and 1t is the duty
under the law of every ablebodied per-
son to turn out from village and farm
and help fight the fire. There is no
time lost-all hands get right to work
because they know that 1t Is up to them
TO save their property before ii Is TOO
late. That, / may say. Is the great
consideration, obviously so. 1t Is so
there and would be here. It's the stop
ming of the fire before it gets such
great Roadway that makes this system
of Sweden such a great success.
"The Usual methods for extinguish-
ing the fire are whipping out and spa
ding, although of course where water
is available IL is used. Here the sys-
TEN would not be so successful at first
because there are not the number or
small villages to contribute fire hight
ers right in the middle and edge of the
forest. But when we have more popu-
lation in the wooded areas an alarm OF
fire heard by people trained to realize
what the tocsin from the tower means,
these blaZes that do such fearful dam
age when they develop, would be
caught in their infancy and hundreds
of thousands OF dollars would be saved.
Wide Swaths in Forests.
Sweden also has another plan to
keep losses from forest fires to the
minimum. 1t has great swaths, fifty
10
many places, and ii has found that
measure very efficacious. Inasmuch,
as already stated, they do not permit
the fires to get going strong fire of
medium proportions would be stopped
by the 50-foot clearing. or the people
could stop ii right there. It's all in
putting the embroyo fire out of COM
mission or combining it to a small area,
Il am not ready to say that cutting
50-foot swaths in our forests would be
desirable, but the other measure pur-
sued by Sweden has my approval.
have seen how ii works and know II &c
be successful.
Sweden has very stringent laws foi
the protection of her forests, and
cannot help but refer to them. A mar
owning a tract of timber there canno
cut one stick of IL until the govern
ment officials permit 1t. Inspector:
go into the woods and mark the trees
that he may chop down for lumber
These trees must have attained a GER
tain height and woe unto anybody who
destroys a tree before the inspector!
say ii has reached n growth so IL ma,
be cut down without danger to the gen
eral veal of the surrounding trees no
yet grown to standard"