The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1911-09-15

ENh1 >. dftAV E0, CuloI "a
the nations greatest flre de-
partment, sits in an ONCE ON
the seventh floor OF . build
ing in Washington these
days. waiting for news from the IRE
lines Great maps of the national for
est adorn the walls about him. COW
cred with patches OF red and blue.
and with pins and legends telling elo-
Quent stories.
Mr.. Graves follows the rain area
from day to day as it travels on the
weather map back and forth across
the northwest, and his fear of the tel
egraph messenger grows less as each
day passes. So long as the weather
man can attend. to that section of the
country. Mr.. Graves and his forest
patrolmen and fire brigades may rest
easy; for rain is the one best ally OF
the forest guardian.
But throughout all of the states from
North Dakota to California. where the
national forests sweep over the val
leys and mountains. the forest ire
brigade stands at attention. More
men that ever before: more and bet
ter supplies and fire-fighting appa-
ratus; new trails into the dense parts
of the forests; hundreds of miles OF
new telephone lines. and new lookout
stations where men are constantly
searching the horizon for signs OF
smoke or blaze. represent the work
that has been done since the disas-
trous fires OF last year to bring the
forest protection force up to the high
est possible state of efficiency.
1t has been q year of supreme effort
ON the part of the forest service. and
q the states 2E.vate owners and rail-
roads that have been cooperating
with Forester Graves and his men
The fire fighters are better equipped
this year than ever before. They have
been trained since last August at q
fire game" that rivals any of the wal
! games ever played on the maneuveI
fields or along the Atlantic coast.
1t IS not hard to control the fires
| that start along well-patroled railroad
| tracks. or on travelled trails and roads
| through the forests. The forest service
has been SO well organized that none
| Of these fires get beyond the infant
stage. The greatest part of the damage
last year was done in the Occur
| d'Alene forests In Idaho, the most In
accessible of all In the eastern for
ests of Montana, where the woods had
been broken with trails and means OF
communication had been established
the fires did little damage. although
the woods were as dry there as in
Idaho
The fire is regarded as the invading
army. Plans are made to meet 1t al
any point, and to arrange supplies
flremen and transportation that there
may be no surprises.
Every sawmill or railroad force;
every permanent cow camp: every
logging operation. or other business
going on In the woods. has been care.
fully inquired into and catalogued. In
the forest rangers cabin. which Is the
real IRE department headquarters OF
the forest. is q record showing how
many men he can get at Smiths
camp. how soon he can get them. how
far they will go. and how much they
will DO paid per day.
Today the forests are az carefully
studied as any field Of battle. When
the report comes Of IRE In certain
distant region there il no time lost In
getting supplies or men. In figuring
out the way to approach 1t. or in 60
ing over lost ground to gather MP =
fighting force