Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-08-03

blvouac OF tent, but it
-1Ssag mas too often removed
AS2, us from the opportunity
OF enjoying this pleasure
To the increasingly
large number OF people
who do find it possible to spend the
summer and fall in the woods and
mountains note of friendly warming
at this time may not be amiss This
Is the season when each year thou
sands OF inexperienced and oftentimes
careless people enter the forest to
camp and fish and wander. to let their
minds and bodies grow. How many
oi these people realize what menace
they are to that same forest which
tney admire, and to the old trees which
they .reyerepce2 .....-----~.
Even Old. experienced woodsmen are
81 hf9s arrays 'xktfosNl lq'%it.lit theif csiiM15
nres. Hunters who have been in the
woods for 20 years often leave smol-
derlng embers when they break camp.
Ihls, OF course, is pure recklessness,
Tor these people know better. They
appreciate what consequences may fol-
low II the wind should fan the smol-
derlng Goals. Usually however, men
VINO nave lived in the woods all their
hves or who frequent the forest re.
glons during a portion of the year
are very careful where they build camp
tires and how they leave them.
The question of camp fires, like the
forest fires which may result from
them, must be handled differently in
dl1erent parts of the country and in
Inherent kinds of forest The differ
ence In the danger element is very ap.
parent between a fire started in the
sandy soil beneath pine forest and
the deep duff beneath the spruce. Dur
ing even the dry season it is yerfectly
easy to clear away inflammable mate
RAJ and scoop out hole in the sand
Mhere camp fire may be built with
comparative safety. In the spruce
forest 1t is different; great care must
be taken in the selection Of the site
1or lire, since it will be apt to creep
back beneath the surface and to gain
headway after all trace of it is sup
posed to have been extinguished. When
one digs a fire hole in a forest, such
as spruce or fir, 1t is necessary to dig
deep and find material that will not
smolder, or, better yet. select site
along some stream or Jake shore where
there is gravel or rocks.
Do not build large fires. They serve
no useful purpose. AS an old Indian
said: Indian he build leetle fire.
stay up close, keep wa-a-a-rm. White
man he build great fire, stand way
back, roast one side, freeze other" It
is too often true that campers, particu.
larly those who are but slightly woods
wise, pile on the wood to their own dis
comfort and sometimes to their immi-
nent danger and that of the surround
Ing forest. OF course camp fires should
never be built against trees or stumps
where they are likely to smolder 1t is
we'll 20 give thought to the fire some
little time before breaking camp. Do
not build up hot fire only an hour
or SO before leaving the locality. This
will save trouble in extinguishing the
last vestige fthe Goals and perhaps
save an extra bucket of water carried
from an inconvenient spot.
The question of camp fires leads lit
orally to the question of forest fires.
Nearly every one who has been in the
woods during the dry season, whether
1t be in Maine or in British Columbia,
has had the opportunity to prevent the
spread of some incipient forest fire.
Sometimes they are called upon to
take part in controlling fire we'll I'M
der headway. This kind of work is
necessary. 1t may mean carrying wa
ter to pour upon smoldering fires in
dry peat in a spruce or tamarack
swamp; it may mean raking back the
leaves from creeping surface fire in
an oak thickct; 1t may mean digging a
trench Trough the leaf mold and duff
Y forest OF fir; very often it means
beating out with boughs the flames ad-
vancing through grass and needles be-
meath the pine; occasionally it means
the fighting of fierce crown fires when
gale is blowing. In the latter case,
of course, fighting from the side and
narrowing in the front of the fire is
one way of making progress. Another
Is to retreat to some favorable ridge.
water course. or other natural point
of vantage, dig trenches. and back fire
o strip across which the advancing
fire cannot travel.
Practically every state has laws max
ing it misdemeanor to leave camp
fires unextinguished. In Colorado the
penalty is $25 to $1oo, or Is to 60 days
Imprisonment. In Maine the penalty
is $50. In Montana Persons starting
camp fires without taking sufficient
steps to prevent spreading of them, or
ailing to extinguish them before leay.
ng. are guilty of misdemeanor and Ii.
lble to fine Of $4,000 or one years
Imprisonment"
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