The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1915-07-22
THE FOLLY OF
FOREST fires

Says Ed. Allen, "a tree will make a
million matches; a match may waste a
million trees. A match has a head. but
il does not think. You have to do all
the thinking for it
Visitors returning from the San
Francisco Exposition speak particular
ly of the motion picture Of the great
Sisson fire, in the government theatre
palace of liberal arts, and this in spite
of the abundance of motion pictures
in connection with commercial exhibits
Of various kinds. Not cnlv is the aw
full grandeur impressive of this fearful
holocaust in the heart of the great tim
Der trees of the Sierras, but the de-
tails of fighting a fire are portrayed to
thousands with a vividness that is not
obtained by hearing and reading of
forest fires or viewing still pictures.
The picture starts with the possible
origin of the fire from a glowing match
thrown away by careless hunter land
this was staged, to complete the series.
IN Logan Canyon, in Utah, and the film
pasted on so as to Just precede that Ia
ken ON the ground of the actual fire.
The discovery of the fire bv the guard
az the lookout tower is shown. the
spread of the alarm. the telepboning
toI more help. the rush to the fire. the
building of fire trail and back firing.
and administering first aid to the in.
lured. The approach of the fire to the
town of Sisson and its elimination in
the destruction of the town is fairly
thrilling.
1t is hoped that by the impression
OF thousands of these pictures with the
no longer tolerable destruction of gov
ernment resources by carelessly started
fires strong public sentiment will be
formed against such waste. Forest fires
which spread from a match carelessIv
thrown away, an unguarded camp fire.
famed up at night and carried miles 70
the forest boundary, are as unnecessary
as war itself, and by any process of
reasoning indefensibe.
From every point of view. forest fres
are detriment. The very men hired
yearly to put them out could much
more proftably be employed in buiId-
ing roads, so that the hunters, pros
peetors tourists, campers, and home
builders can reach regions and re-
sources now inaccessible or attained al
great inconvenience. Their time might
he better utilized in planting trees, or
improving the forest in many other
ways. And vet each year more fires
are started bv human agency than by
lightning, despite the fact that those
who start them are representative of |
classes of people who suffer greatest
because of them.
Thirty years ago a father and son
nerded cattle on alternate davs IN
northern Kansas-the same cattle /
with the same pony-on open range
surrounded by fields of corn and other !
crops. firing of the somewhat drv
blue stem and drier buffalo grass. the
cows would make supreme efforts To
reach the corn. sometimes succeeding
when the less alert boy was in charoe I
Racing through the field with the herd /
eT after them, they would knock off
ears of corn and break off the rapid-
growing brittle stalks. doing great
damage. While chasing one out, others
would enter, so that the prospect of re-
moving the herd without help became
almost hopeless, and there was grave
danger that the cows would eat so
much of the corn as to hazard their
lives. Ny boy said the father. "T
succeed by keeping my eyes ON the
cows all the time, and by always keen
ing between theri and the corn field
toward which they are grazing. IF Won
wait until they raise their heads and
start, the struggle is difficult If not
lost.' And the boy found, bv follow.
ing this simple suggestion that herding
became relatively easy matter. Would
not application of somewhat similar
principles of watehfulness prevent
many forest holocaustf
A stigma is east upon all campers
by the Indifferent, unidentified camper
who leaves in his wake through the
forest unextinguished camp fires.
Equally accountable for absolute law
lessness is the farmer or ranehman
who permits his fire for clearing land
or burning stubble to get away and
consume thousands of dollars worth
of the peoples property Surely when
the great treasure at stake is thought
fully considered, patriotic citizens can
well afford to cease burning trash and
extinguish camp fires during the en-
suing two months of greatest fire dan
ger.