The Sunday telegram. [volume] (Clarksburg, W. Va.) 1914-1927, 1915-04-04

il 4 a
Service Bible" says are the qualifi-
cations. BY my own experience.
though, find a lot more; such as
cook as there is no one else to do
II he has to OF starFe: Surveyor, as
he surveys mining claims and home
steads;; horseshoer, for it is often a
hundred miles to the nearest one;
horse doctor, for the same reason:
lumberman. acquainted with aIltthe.
details OF the lumber business. for
he must sell Uncle Sans salablc
and unstable timber; silviculttlr-
ist SO as TO know whether or not
tree has served its full period Of
usefulness in the forest (if it has
he sells IT'D, game warden, police
man. trail maker, cabin builder.
stockmanE enough to read brands and
earmarks: clerk and last but not
least a diplomat. Those are ONLY
the principal ones that come to
mind quickly. In some parts he
must speak foreign language as in
the southwest. where the majority
of the people he deals with are
Mexicans, who always take advan-
tage of their "Quien Sabe, to go
ahead violating regulations.
The government as a rule fur
nishes the ranger with q house, a
barn and pasture. He has to buy
and maintain from two 10 five or
more horses. dependent on the size
and nature of his district. These
districts vary in size from few
square miles to five and six hundred
square miles, according to the ma
ture OF the country and the number
of users. Occasionally on larger or
busy districts the ranger. has a for
4 est guard to help him.
The service sells grazing pr1yi-
leges for cattle, horses. sheep, goats,
swine, etc, timber for sawmill, 1nin-
ing and tirewood and special priyi-
1eges of various kinds, such as per
rnits for hotels, sanitaria, resi-
dences. stores, telephone and tele-
graph lines, etc. Before herd Of
animals can be driven upon theafor-
est to Craze a permit must be Sc
cured and paid for, and the herd
must be inspected and counted by
the ranger or guard Before 4 stick
OF timber is cut 1t must be stamped
by the forest officer and then cut
as he says. The slashings the cause
of nearly all forest fires Of conse
quence. must be piled and burned
under supervision. Nie then scales
the logs and brands Them U. S., and
the party cutting the logs must pay
for them at tho rangers scale. Be-
fore man puts up a hotel, he and
the ranger go over the ground and
the ranger designates Just how
much lie Shall use by blazing the
trees And so it goes on. The rang
er is the actual "conseryer" Of the
public resources, and he is a good
one. He didn't get into the service
by a pull and a pull can't get him
out. Soslong as he does his duty he
has a cinch on his job and the bet
ter lie does it the more chances he
has to rise
Forest guards are appointed tenn
porarily in time Of need when there
are. no men qualified rs ranger.
The assistant ranger gets his title
after 4 very stiff civil service exam
nation. After several years Of hard
work he becomes a ranger if he is
capable. The guard gets $500 a year,
tho assistant ranger 81, 100 to start.
and the ranger UP to S1.400 4 year.
Most of them are hardy western
young men with fair educations. Oc-
casiona!ly lie finds anfold cowpunch-
CT and now and then an easterner,
but all Of them are strong and ro-
bust. and conscientious. hard work
ing men, realizing their trust and
working all the time for the honor
and glory of the service
Tie service is essentially one for
tllc people. Twenty-Five per cent OF
all the money received by the serv-
ice. from grazing privileges. sales O
timber. fines and so on, goes into
the school and road funds of the
II county where the sales are made.
All privileges AT: granted to the
small man first and il there are any
left. then to the big man. For
Instance in the matter of grazing
permits. a certain number Of stock,
\ is allowed 10 Craze in a certain for
est. but applications to Craze a
number in excess Of that arc filed.
Preference is then given TO small
y nearby owners. or persons living in
or near the forest owning improved
ranches who are dependent on the
resources of the forest. These are
called Class A owners. Next come
the regular occupants OF the range
but have no improved ranch proper
4 ~ These are called Glass b own
$ers. Last come the owners of tran
silent stock, the big owners at some
4 distance from the forest. who have
not regularl used the range within
1T. These are Glass q owners
wherever IT is necessary to- protect
The Class owner the district for
ester estab lishes a protective limit
in the number OF each kind of stock