The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-08-26
Pinchot Names Men Whom He
Declares are Response
bic for Loss
HE SAYS THEY FOUGHT
AGAINST PUBLIC GOOD
Prevented Purchase of Equip
ment and Employment of Ran
gers-High Praise for Those
in Devastated Territory.

WASHINGTON. d. c., Aug. g.
Declaring that Senator Hepburn tRe-
publican, ldaho) and Senator Carter
tRepublican, EuHtanal and Congress
man Mondeli Republican, Wyoming)
have in effect been lighting on the
side OF forest fires against the gem
eral welfare. Clifford Pinchot, deposed
chief forester. to-day issued a state
ment asserting that the loss, suffer-
ing and the deaths in the forest fires
in the Northwest were wholly unnec-
essary,
He paid high praise to the efforts
of the forest service, and called at
tenttou to the necessity for further
facilities. He laid the blame for the
disastrous fires at the door of Com
greas, which has made light OF the
efforts of the forest service to prepare
itself TO prevent just such caiam-
tty."
Fhe statement follows:
II am proud of the splendid work
the men of the forest service have
been doing against the Western for
est fires. Many OF them have given
their tfves 10 protect the homes OF
settlers, and the forests on which the
prosperity OF the Western people de-
pend; To my mind, their conduct is
beyond all praise.
Forest fires are preventabie. II Is
thing TO remember at this time that
nearly or quite all of the losses, suf-
fering and death these fires have caus-
ed is wholly unnecessary. A fire IN
the forest is the same kind or ching as
fire in the city. There is only one
way to fight either. The fire depart
ment of every city is organized with
the prime idea OF getting To the fire
when II Is young SO with forest iirea.
The time to conquer them Is -olore
they grow strong.
Like City.
II forest Is equipped with toads.
trails. telephone lines and "a reason
able number OF men for pa.sol there
is no more likelihood that great hres
Will be able to get started than that
there Is great contlagrati,as like the
Chicago IRE will get started In q city
with modern fire department. Tn
der rare circumstances they may. but
the chances are against it.
The forest~ service has done Won
ders with its handful of devoted men.
II has put out every year many thous-
ands of small fires, any one OF which.
under favorable conditions, might
have developed into conflagration
which ten thousand men could not
stop. This year. because OF the great
drought, the worst In much OF West
for more than twenty years, there
wf-e too many fires. and TOO few
a rars.
ste lesson from these forest fires
Is perfectly clear. When a city suf-
fers from Il great fire 1t does not re-
trench in its fire department, bur
strengthens 1t. That lis what the ma
ton must do. The men In Congress
like Hepburn. Carter and Mondeu,
who have made light OF the efforts
OF tsrr forest service TO prepare Itself
TO prevent just such a calamity as this
have in effect been fighting on the
side OF the fires against the general
welfare.
If even a small fraction of the
loss from the present fires had aeeu
expended In additional patrol ami
preventive. equipment. some, or per
haps nearly all. of the loss could have
been avoided.
Il believe our people will take this
les sonto heart and insist that the
settlers and their wives and children
the lumbermen and the miners. and
the two billion dollars worth of ma
tional property In the national forests
shall be adequately protected"