The Washington times., 1910-08-25
No FEDERAL aid
FOR FIRE FIGHTERS
Manned Volunteers VII Go
PennileSS Unless Special
Law Is Passed.
Continued from First Page1


The question OF caring for the wild
ows ard orphans Of the men who met
their deaths in the burning forests is
likely 20 prove a serious one
After q man is disabled. the Govern
ment cuts or his pay said one Of the
officials Of the Forest Service this morn
ing AS the lax stands. we have no
connection with a man after he is hurt,
ana JneTe IS no means, so Tar as ! know,
OF taking coguizance of the fact that
ne was KILLED IN the service
The forest rangers themselves have
a mutual protective association. and the
regular soldiers sent 10 the FIRE lines
VIII have the same standing II injured
or killed, as II the casualties had been
sustained IN battle. But there is no
standing for the citizen volunteer"
A peculiar anomaly has been brought
forward BIZ this situation ForeS4 rau--
ers have fun authority 20 90 into mill
factory or on ranch and order OUT
volunteers for hre-fightinE service If a
cltlzeu refuses. IN some States. he may
be placed under arrest Prom the time "a
citizen answers the call OF the rangers
until he IS dismissed or disabled he Is IN
the pay OF the Government Blu he has
no claim on the Government rzuch Of
the nre-ughung has been done Oh the
Government domain and has been. in
many respects, public service, but the
Government has no authority as vet to
recognize a CLAIM which at best, aU
this time. Is but 4 moral obligation. &C
cordlnS 10 the opinion OF the Official
During the present fires. for the first
time. the regular army has given aid.
and half a dozen pack trains have been
sent 10 the field with hospital equipment
and furnished the first provision ever
made by the Government for caring for
The fre-fghters-
The report Of " & Greedy. district
forester at MisSoula, Mont. gives hope
thai TIE worst Of the fires ere over
He has advised Associate Forester Pot
ter the IRE conditions are greatly i'm
proved with the light rain and snowfall
IN the AbSsTOka and LOlO forests Prar-
tiCally all Of The fires east OF the divide
are under control The flames in the
Pend OreilIe are being checked. as are
those in the Flathead and BIsCkIo0t re
OF ali the fires now raging. those in
the kOOtenai hills are the most danger
GUS All settlers have however, been
the towns OF Troy and Libby are safe
for the present. There has been 10 def
mite information received concerning che
fires in the Cabinet forest. lJt the
kanis1u and Occur d'Alene f-es are
extremely critical
The two companies Of militia ordered
yesterday are at the Occur d'AIeue
on the Occur d AIene. Lolo. and
Ctearvate- reserves, the work j. now
mainly CT relief OF missing fire crews
anG settlers There are no known deaths
amonc the forest rangers at this time.
although only eight Of those having FIRE
fighting parties in charge have been ac-
counted for The deaths among the
temporary euDlOves of the fire fighting
crews now aggregate IN the NissouIa
-e-iOr TWENTY-FIVE.
The Forest service here Is anxious to
have estimated as soon as possible. the
extent Of the damage To the forests As
sOCiate Forester Potter explained this
morning that many Of the cOnfaEra-
tons may have been what Is t-HOwU as
crown fires" or fires which have Sweut
over a forest. burning the tccs Of the
trees. vet with little ccnfiaZraIlo1 IN the
ground growth.