The Springfield herald., 1914-10-23

soon became to feel as she expresses It. that the
lookout is IAN ounce of prevention" Then there
are three daily reports to be sent to the district
headquarters in town. to prove that everything
is serene: and extra repgFts Il they are not, and
lastly = lntls, very little. #housework to do
Not very busy day. az judged by our modern
standards OF rush. but lookout's motto might
-cn he "rhev also serve who only stand and
wait And there is always the great map spread
out at ones feet to study by lights and
shadows while waiting and the everbusy phone
with its numerous calls. which must be kept
within hearing. that one cannot wander far.
That phone, Miss Daggett says, with its grad
ually extending feelers. made her feel exactly like
big spider in the center of . web, with the fires
for Afes; and those hrest were certainly treated
to exactly the speedy fate Of the other unworthy
the term on November 6, when light snow put
an end to an danger OF fires she felt an ever
growing sense Of responsibility. which finally
came to 69-almost feeling Of prpprietorship. re-
sulting IN the desire to punish anyone careless
enough to set hres in her "dporyArd.
The utter dependence on the telephone was
brought vividly to Miss Dassett's mind one aft
ernoon soon after her arrivsl, when extra
caused one of the electrical arresters on the out
side Of the; cabin to burn but. quite contrary to
precedent, and she was cut on from the world
until the next day when someone from the ONCE
came up In haste to ind out the cause Of the
silence and set things Alright They often Joke
now. she says. about expecting to find her hidden
under log for safety. but IT wasn't quite fun
ny at the time
There seems. however. to be very little actual
danger from these storms. In spite of the fact
that they are very heavy, and numerous at that
elevation. One on becomes accustomed to the
racket. or at least. Miss Daggett did. But in the
damage these storms cause by starting fires lies
their chief interest to the lookout for It reures
. quick to detect, IN among the rage of fogs
which arise in their wake, the small pun of smoke
which tells Of some tree struck in burnable spot
Generally 1t shows at once, but in one instance
there was lapse Of almost two weeks before the
fall Of the smoldering top faened up enough smoke
to be seen.
names. and are easily spotted against the dark
background Of the ridges, but are not 80 easy to
exactly locate for an imm4diate report. Upon the
speed and accuracy of this report. however, de-
pends the efficiency of the service. as was proved
by the summers record Of extra small acreage
burned in spite of over forty nres reported.
To the electrical storms Miss Daggett adds are
attributed most of present-day nres,. as trav-
eler and citizen alike are daily feeling more re
sponsfble for the preservation OF the riches be-
slowed by nature. and although some still hold
to the same views one 0ld-timer. who made
the comment, when lightning nres we're being dis
cussed. that>te guessed that was the Almighty's
way Of clearing the forests. the general trend Of
opinion to be that man in the form Of
forest service. is doing an excellent work in
keeping watchful eye the limits of that hith-
erto wholesale clearing.