The Washington herald., 1913-03-30
BY WILLIAM L. ALTDORFER.

Uncle Sam is getting ready for the
1913 crop of forest fires. The aeroplane
and the heliograph are the latest addition
to the forces of the government In the
scientific fighting Of the great forest nres
that usually occur throughout the coun-
try about July and August OF each year
Every one is more or less familiar with
the terrific forest fires of recent years,
particularly those of 1910 and 1911. 1t was
the destructive fires that occurred dur
ing those two years that awoke the peo-
ple of the nation to the serious and
damaging nature of forest fires in gen.
eral. As a result many schemes were
offered the government to prevent the
occurrence Of such disastrous conf1a-
grations in the future. Among the many
unusual plans offered were only two
that promised even a partial success.
and these two are the heliograph and
the aeroplane.
During the past winter the Forest
Service has been experimenting on a
large scale with the heliograph. And
it has proven a remarkable success as
an additional aid in detecting forest
fires before they reach dangerous pro-
portions: The instrument has been
found to be of special value to forest
rangers in communicating with lookout
stations in the inaccessible backwoods
Ing. In the great stretches of back
country" where lightning fires are fire.
quent il may be years before tele-
phone can be run to some OF the more
distant stations, and in the meanwhile
il is the intention to use the heliograph
Many things are in favor of the new
system. Those who have made the test
say that the heliograph is even more
dependable than the telephone. because
in the case of the latter the wires may
ca silly be broken, blown down. or burned
away which would leave the lookout
stations absolutely helpless. With the
new system however, there are no wires
and nothing but the instrument itself.
which can be carried in one hand and
located wherever desired. Then commu-
nication can be had with any station
within a radius of sixty miles without
glasses, and 100 or more miles with the
use of glasses. In fact. the distance the
fash of a modern heliograph may he
thrown to-day is only measured by the
curvature of the earth. and If il were
possible for two stations to be located
on mountains high enough the flash of
the instrument could be distinguished at
almost any distance.
crude means of signaling has been in
Use among peoples of all ages. From
earliest times the civilized races have
used the blanket and smoke signals.
Every one is familiar with the smoke
and fire signals used by the American
Indians during the days of the Indian
campaigns. Then later came other means
of communication from mountain top TO
mountain top. This was followed by the
wigwag flag system of signaling used to-
day on our warships and the high seas.
Later came the heliograph. but in
much cruder form than we know il to-
day. The armies Of the world have been
using the instrument for many years
with great success, but this is the first
time il has ever been used in a CONNER
cial way. 1t is only another instance of
science delving into ancient history and
making use of ideas and instruments
discarded hundreds of years ago.
Fer several years past the government
has been constantly improving forest pro-
lection plans, and the new use of the hell
ograph is expected to play very impor-