The Kendrick gazette. [volume] (Kendrick, Idaho) 1892-1968, 1917-08-03

-nntion by his young daughters who
had listened to lecture on fire pre-
vention at the afternoon session of the
school and who took him down into
their basement and stood watch over
him while he cleaned up the rubbish
which he had carelessly allowed to &C.
emulate, while perfect wave OF
chimney cleaning swept over one of the
cities of the State caused by a state
ment to the school children that their
"houses were in danger of catching
fire if the chimneys had not been
cleaned within year.
The Farmers Responsibility.
Above practically all other occupa-
tons, the eyes of the Nation turn to-
wards the farmer, the great producer
of food supplies, and to the farmer and
fruit grower the necessity is urgent
of using every means to protect and
preserve their products. 1t is a serious
misfortune, from the personal point of
view, to see the fruits of years of
labor swept away by fire, but when
10 this is coupled the greater and more
dominant loss to the country in the
destruction of food supplies, the re-
sponsibility Of taking every precaution
against fire becomes doubly imperative
in the great grain growing sections
of the Pacific States the menace Of fire
during the summer time always exists
and this menace is intensified in the
majority Of rural districts by the abb
sence Of regular fire departments and
other fire fighting organizations. The
farmer, therefore, is necessarily thrown
upon his own resources for the means
of preservation, and upon him rests the
double responsibility of first eliminat-
ing all possible fire hazards and also of
having fire extinguishing apparatus
ready for immediate use should . FIRE
occur.
Precautions Against Fire.
Dry grass along the roadsides and
in the pasture fields is serious menace
to ripe crop of grain. A spark from
match or passing train or emitted
from the exhaust of an automobile en-
CINE, or lighted cigarette or cigar
stub thrown carelessly aside, can easily
start a fire which, with surroundings
favoring it's spreading, will result in
incalculable loss and destroy a guam
tity of grain sufficient to furnish an
entire community with food. Where
conditions permit, burrows should be
plowed between the grass and the grain.
If this is not possible, the grass should
be moved close enough to afford q
| check to the spreading Of fire.
A New Hazard.
A comparatively new danger to grain
| fields is white-hot carbon discharged
| from the exhausts of tractors when
pulling uphill or through a heavy part
Of the crop. Every exhaust should be
protected by fine wire screen, which
should be renewed at least once 4
month, as the heat becomes so intense
as to quickly destroy its effectiveness
When the grain has been threshed
and piled in the field, it should be pro.
| tected by a sufficient number of fur.
rows to prevent its destruction from the
burning of stubble.
Danger From Threshers.
The time of one of the great dangers
to grain and grain fields in the North.
west is during the threshing season
and is caused by careless methods in
threshing and piling the threshed grain
too near to the straw stacks. Every
threshing machine by the very reason
of its operations collects a certain
amount Of smut or dust, which is high.
ly inflammable and subject to explo.
sion, and the farmer should insist that
before a threshing machine commences
operations on his settings the machine
be thoroughly cleaned out, flues exam.
ined and water tanks kept full. If
possible, the straw stacks should be re.
moved every night, but where this is
not possible then under no circum-
stances should the threshed grain be
piled so close to the thresher or the
straw stacks that the burning Of either
would endanger the grain. Every
threshing machine owner or operator
should be required to have good sized
chemical tank with it's equipment to
Immediately extinguish small fires.
| If not sufficiently cured, and whether
1
baled or loose, hay will generate gases
which are susceptible of spontaneous
combustion unless the barn is suffi.
GENTLY ventilated to carry off these
gases. Every particule of dry grass
and all litter and rubbish should be
removed from barnyards and from all
buildings on the farm. Under no cir.
crmstances should smoking or the use
of matches be permitted around barn
buildings, while candles or any other
open flame should be strictly prohib
tied and only closed lanterns or cleo.
tric pocket flashlights allowed in OF
around barns carrying any quantity OF
hay.
Fighting Fires.
The great difference between the
trained fire department and the volnn
teer organization is the fact that an
experienced fireman knows exactly
what to do in answering an alarm OF
| fire and has his apparatus and eouip