The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1910-11-10

y IL Is nothing for q atorest resefYat
ton to have d populRtion of II, COO
persons; exclusive % he employees or
THE forest service. Several Of the
forests tnsIdaho and Montana are filied
with .nestera.,, Y.
:. AS for the loss in money from for.
sssf Ares I'D Ordinary years, That INIT.
self Is enough 10 Warrant extraor.
binary EFFORT and expense Stn the pre-
syention Of suchl dtsaste rs: s.
.sWill 1T pay to SUPPORT an adequate
fife protection systern33 Z: y
Thississ the question practical lum:.
yberpent Of the old ssthooi ask. The
forest service meni! ares confident It,
viii. They have; had experience and
know that reaaonable 81 projections re-.
squiress no patented tools, no secret
me thod. II operation on 1 IL part or
The state geyernmen ts and more.
money from congress will bring about
the desired results. "A
4. Does .theS tnalnt nance of an experi.;
siye fire.fghting force pay d city?' is
the counter question 5of the forest
service experts, " The safifrmatiyes an,
1s@er$ comes promptly
The government met ods OF hight.
Ing and controlling forest fires are
simple Y They consist of nothing
more than extreme caresto prevent as
many fresfas possible and plain, bus.
inesslike methods i OF getting to- work.
on the flames as soon as they are. dis.
covered and staying with. the fire un-'
til IT Is out. 81 q, :,
An ak, a mattock, Ia pick, a shovel
and a wet, gunny sack, II water is OBJ:
Stainable, are the forest rangers fire
fighting apparatus. In the more &C.
cessible regions. where water is abund-
ant, wagons equipped with hose are
used. But these are; impossible far
up IN the Mountains where the most
sure.footed horses find progress dif.
hcult. III III Y 4. d 4, N.
Get Quickly to Work.
Z There the work Ii done BY the cool,
neryy rangers. Trained woodmen they
are, who know their work and have
the. heart to dosit: They haunt the
high places and keep persistent watch
over the surrounding country for
miles. 3t'tf< asttst
When they see q are they go to II.
il it looks too big forions or two men
to handle they. hurry % the nearest
station for help. {. In some Of the
ranges the telephone and telegraph
wires and the railroads are at their
disposal. s'ti.,.F & ~
Gradually the forest service is lay.
ing out d network ofstelephone lines.
through the; forest reserves. But such
"a system as is contemplated in con.
nection with forest preservation is in
its infancy today, and, In the last an.
alysis, the average embryonic fire Is
fought byssmalls groups; of men,, some.
times by only two men, sometimes by
single one.
OF the thousands of fires that are
put out every year in the national re.
serves before they get we'll started
the general: public knows nothing.
They are part, Of the regular routine
Of the forest guards and rangers. =
The amount spent on forest fire
fighting, by the forest service is up.
proximately sec, 900 q yearsin ordinary
years. Twice or three times that SUM
would not seem large in view Of the
amount Of property. saved, to say moth.
ing Of loss Of life prevented.
Aside ,from the loss of life and leav,
ing out indirect resultssof forest fires,
damage done by such CONGREGATIONS
include the death,of standing trees, Id.
Jury to trees that are not killed, In,
Jury, 10 the soil, reduction Of the
growth Of the stand and. the effect on
reproduction. Some Of the resistant
species OF trees are harmed but lit.
tie, while forest fires at times utterly
wipe out species OF less vitality, 50
that they never return to the terri.
tory which has been swept, by, the
flames.
In considering theAcalses Of fires
the forest service has learned by ex.
perience that the principal ones are
sparks from locomotives, sparks from
sawmills. camp fires, burning brush,
careless smokers, incendiarism and
lightning.
For, the prevention Of fires. or les.
sening their raVages, the following
ara neceasnry. -.4 - .r.
Elimination, SO far as, possible, OF,
the causes of fires, proper organ.
ization OF the,forest by, the. careful dis.
position Of slash, by which Is meant
chips and cut branches the opening
of roads and trails, adequate super.
vision, and sufiiclent:men, armed with
the proper apparatus.
/. The forest service gives great i'm.
.portapce to the necessity Of carefully
/ burning brush and Of the establish,
Inent Of trails through the forest, so
the small fires may betthe'more easily
got at. The brush should be piled In
small piles and each pile burned in.
idependently. This worn, is best done
in the winter, when there iszsnow on
the ground: or, when the air iss rnoist
and less liable to spread the fianes.
The careful watching Of a tract