The Salt Lake herald-Republican. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1909-1918, 1910-10-24
USE OF TELEPHONE
AIDS THE RANGERS
Many Forest Fires Put Out
Before They Have Time
to Spread.
WHAT THE RECORDS SHOW
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE AND
PROPERTY IN TIMES PAST.
BY SIDNEY EsPEY.


an instrument Of salvation, and there
are many cases on record in the for
estrv bureau where This modern ap-
pliance has saved innumerable lives
and many hundred thousand dollars
worth OF timber.
The installation OF the telephone
service in the national forests, where
there is naturally much Isolation Is
counted on. not only 10 prove OF great
convenience To the men engaged in
the administration of these vast
tracts, but also TO save property ana
lives Former Chief Forester Plnchol
introduced telephones and the patIol
system of the forests and during the
four or five years they have been III
use the system has been extended IN
iii today there are more than 0VO
miles of telephone wires strung
through the various reserves.
Those in charge of the reserves
consider the prevention and cohlrol
of forest fires the most important anu
me most difficult of the work that
confronts the forest reserve force,
since fires annually cause more loss
than all other destructive agencies
combined. The records show that the
destruction of timber by fire amounts
10 about $4,000, 600 each year, ana
that at least fifty deaths occur an
nually from forest fires. Statsllcs
show too. that more than 1000 per-
sons have persisted in forest fires IN
the United States during the nine
teenth century.
Where the Telephone Is Handy.
Experience has taught the officials
in charge of the forestry bureau liae
II is almost out of the question 10 cope
with forest fires after they have be-
come fully started. When they get
good start and have favorable cOndl-
tions. such as a brisk breeze ana dry
weather, the flames sweep through
the forests and over sufrouhullls
country without meeting any great
resistance. Therefore. the officials OF
the bureau have determined that the
only possible way 10 control these
fires is TO prevent them-that IS at
tack the fire at its inception.
II is at this point where the tele-
nhOne gets in its work and has DEM
cnstrated itself as an important iac-
tor as a machine of salvation. AS
means of preventing fires and 10 as
cover those which have not gained
anv amount of Roadway. thousands OF
men have been employed annually Dy
the government as rangers ana pa
trOlmen. They are assigned 10 us
tricts, which they are called upon 70
Datrol but the work OF this patrol
system did not really become er-
fective until the telephone was intro
duced
As the condition presents itself To-
dav. Il forest ranger leaves his caDlh
in some secluded valley TO patrol tne
territory allotted TO him. His trails
are well kept. his telephone is IN or
der with call boxes arranged every
few miles along the path and IRE
lanes. and at observation towers. he
reaches a spot where a party or pros
pectors or others have been camping
and have left their campfire Wlthou'
extingufshing it. Since their de-
Dsrtnre and prior to the appearance
/ az the ranger the fire has extended
along the ground in the dry forest
Garnet and assumed proportions 100
Great for him to handle alone, though
| his efforts may be sufficient TO checK
the flames for a short period. me
ranger can either remain and flght
tba fire alone and wait for the arrival
/ az other rangers, who have been at
| tracted BY the smoke, or he can rlde
10 the nearest telephone box and sehd
| out an emergency call
Under the Old System.
BEFORE she days of the telephone
tho ranger. after discovering a blaze.
vas compelled to ride 10 the nearesi
I settlement. which might have peeh
one IN. two DAYS ride, 10 obtain as
sistance. During his absence the IRE
would get beyond human contrOl alu
no and the men at his command We're
practically helpless -
The use of the telephone on INC
forest reserves is not supposllioi ls
nor merely contingent matter me %
\ ficials of the forestry bureau conteno
49, its trial has been practical. and II
has been proven by time 10 De ih'oi-
liable. .h,s
countrv is rendered exceedingly COM
nlex by the diversity of natural con-
/ fitions or the one hand. and on the
otber nv artificial differences OF own
ershin and control Variations IN
cItmate. in topography, and conse-
ouentlv in forest types. are nowhere
[ 20 great. except perhaps IN lndla.
Moreover. the dual political authority
nlaces a federal administration along
i side of a number of state adnalhlstfa-
i tons, vet leaves individual ownership
,,,itbout important restriction, which
a
stand in the way OF thorough and uni
form management
Severe fires are not or rare anu
snasmodic occurrence. They cOnsu-
u tilte a perennial event so regular that
two fire seasons are recognized each
vear-in the spring in the east and In
the fan in the west. The last fires Sc
we're enough TO have historic interest
occurred in the north Atlantic states
i'm the spring OF 1903, when the loss
was about So, 000 goo. In the autumn
OF 1902 a fire occurred in the states OF
Washington and oregon. with loss
Il of S1s .OOO. coo ard eighteen lives In
/ the fan of 1894 fires in Minnesota
caused loss Of 500 lives and $4,000
600; in Michigan. in the autumn OF
1881. not less than $50 persons per-
ished: I,S00 square miles Of forests
were burned. while the property loss
/ exclusive OF timber. was more thar
g.. OOO. geo. A decade previous an
autumn fire in Wisconsin swept ovel
2 eco square miles and caused the
death of zee persons.