Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1910-09-23

| Gent supervision most Of the unneces
sary fires can be prevented.
AS part OF this supervision by the
forest service all the government for
| est reserves are posted with warn
ings. These warnings are printed II
English, Italian, French and Spanish
| They warn against carelessness ant
| describe the penalties. The four Ian
| guages are used because many Italians
are at work on the railroads and more
| Mexicans are adrift all over the west
Watch for Incipient Fires.
All over the forest reserves are
| lookout stations. Ii the fat country
| they consist of platforms in the tops
OF high trees, approached by ladders
Ii there are no tall trees towers are
| erected. In the mountainous coun
try any high peak or crag will do.
From these lookouts the keen eyed
rangers and guards, provided with the
best long distance glasses, keep
constant watch over the territory as
| signed to them. From one to another
they signal in various ways. Where
ever it is possible the telephone is
used. In the wilder regions more
| primitive methods must need be EN-.
ployed.
Among the most effective is the old
| fire system, the system used by the
P1cts of Scotland, the system the
white men of Europe found the red
0f vi rbn fyc,f
| struck the shores of the western hem,
! isphere.
At time when fire signals are moi
| needed the rangers and guards build
| little brush piles all over their terri
tory. Placed about 100 feet apart
| they are ready to burn at a moments
| notice. A regular code of signals pre-
| walls. The number of brush fires burn:
| ing at the same time conveys the sig.
| nal. One fire means forest fire on
| the west of a certain mountain. Two
| fires mean one to the east, and SO on.
Where there are no brush fire sig
| nails the simple Indian system of a
small fire and a blanket serves the
purpose of Uncle Sans forest guar
| dams. The small fire is started Then
| wet grass or earth is used to deaden
| it and make the smoke heavy. Over
! the fire a blanket is thrown to hold
| the smoke down. When the blanket
is released solid puff of smoke goes
| skyward. Again the blanket is ap-
| piled and quickly removed. Up goes
| another puff of smoke.
Other methods are the heIiograph-
| a windmill with small mirrors at
| tached to it's wheels, which flash the
signal of fire, and, in some cases,
| the flag system of the army signal
corps.
Best of all, however, is the tele-
phone. Since 1906 the forest service
has built 1850 miles of telephone line,
| and is extending them as rapidly as
| congress appropriates the money.
| In a report on the forest fire Ques-
| ton Chief Forester Graves says it is
impossible to give a specific rule for
| the number of men required to pro-
| tect tracts Of different sizes, although
he supports Mr.. Pinchot in saying that
| the forest service is undermanned
| In some cases a single man has to
| watch a tract of 1000 acres. More
men are required in fat regions, as in
| the mountain regions a single man
| may, by climbing to a high peak, and
| there pitching his camp, keep guard
| over vast territory
The fire fighting crews of the for
est service are we'll organized. One
man is always in charge. All know
| their business. The first rule is to
| get there as quickly as possible. Then
| organization counts. A well organized
| small crew can do more work in an
hour than an ordinary gang of able
| bodied men, we'll intentioned but ig-
| norant, could accomplish in twenty.
| four.
Hand-to-Hand Conflict.
In most cases the battle between
| the rangers and the fire is hand-to-
hand conflict. Using coats, slickers,
gunny-sacks, or whatever they have,
Uncle Sans guardians go after the
fire as though it were a den of snakes,
and beat it out. Dirt, if it is loose,
may be dug up and thrown on the
fire.
SOU1otlm0S WAFER is dUSOIuC0Iy nee
essary. Often it has to be brought
from a distance, and must be used
economically. A little water is thrown
on the ground to deaden the fire, and
then beating begins. The foresr
guards know that the most effective
way to use water is by means OF
hand sprays. These little pumps throw
water from twenty to thirty feet, and
by them the water can be placed
where it will do the most good.
Where it is possible chemicals are
used, but they are not feasible in the
remote places. If the fire cannot be
checked quickly light trenches are
dug ahead of it in it's direct line OF
march and the fight is made over
these trenches.
So much for the ordinary surface
fres They are handled with COM