The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-04-22
FOREST FIRE PREVENTION
New Haven Hopes For Good Results From Campaign
 ~I It Has Begun.

The problem of avoiding The dang or forest fires along it's lines has for some time engaged the attention Of the New York, New Haven and Hartford railroad. While various mechanical devices have been suggested with this end in view, experiment has demon strated to the sadifactfon Of the road that the best way to accomplish this is to clear of underbrash 8 fairly wide strip of land adjacent to the right Of way To do this ft is necessary either to obtain permits from the owners o9 the land or to buy it outright
 The road has now received bulk of the necessary permits for such work. Within the past month it has begun an actives campaign to clear thus eliminate the danger Of fire. Re- gently an appropriation Of $2,600 was made for this purpose. At the present time work is being coI1cen- tratsd chiefly on Cape Cod.
 It is recognized that forest fires are cause of serious economic loss, and while som etines an unavo1dabIe incf- dent Of railway operation, 1t is most essential to reduce the change Of them to a minimum Cond1tious which the New Haven faces in the Cape Cod district in Massac1f fusetta are somewhat exceptional. There t. dry and sandy soil, combined with a peculiar growth Of vegetation fr- creases the danger Of fire over what is usually found in wooded sections. the drought which has prevailed now in this part of the country for some years, causing the rainfall to fall far below the normal.
 Outside Of the Cape, the princiua1 wooded section where forest f1res can occur are in Plymouth, Bristol and Hampden Counties in MassacrnsetfsS in western Connecticut and iuS uart of Rhode Island
 It was recently estimated that Of the New E1aven's total mileage about 500 miles lie through country vvf,.re there is more or less danger fror,1 such fires Of this 500 miles about 200 miles have already been cleared | at least once.
 Within a short time it is hoped to clear all of these lines
 The method which the New Havs,1 l Is now following is the result Of the success of experiments made in re- cent years on a seven-uile stretch be- tween Myricks and Middlehoro in Massachusetts. On this strstch--one or the worst in it's territory-a1i ay- craze of twenty fires a year, requir- l ing payment of damage, had occurred I for several years. Since this stretch was cleared five years ago there has l been no fire at all upon it.
 l 4 strip adjacent to the raiIroad,s ,s
 
 I Woods in Rhode Island and Connec- l ticut was also cleared some years ago with similar results. More recently g large amount of clearing has great1 l ly reduced the fires in Plymouth County. Massachusetts
 | The efforts of the New Haven to l reduce the fire danger by this clear l ance method really began as far back lasx190O, when it commenced buying land or obtaining permission to clear i it in forest sections. Between 1900
 and 1905 about 200 acres, mostly east of 'Wi1limantfc, were purchased. Within the last five years the New Haven has bought probably 500 acres 1 just for the purpose of keeping r
 clear of underbrush and So preventfng E fire. These purchases have been chiefly in the Cape Cod district, be- tween Plymouth and Mfdd1eboro, Fall River and Mfdd1eboro, Taunton and 1 Mfddlebores South Dennis and Mid 1 d1eboro and araifatxea1and Plymouth ] Pufehases rf land have alno been