The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1919-11-13
People Are Tired of Learned Nonsense


NETM EwspApERs surely are adactorsw when it comes to spreading
kA ~. II the propaganda II things which are untrue. Just the other
uERE2N day an article appeared report of the Forestry Service. We
M4@5m5N think it was-te1ing of the wonderful value of airplanes in
USMN detecting forest fires. The article wen into figures, compiled
NGNYSN by o expert telling of the thousands Of dollars in value
A&1 of the millions of feet of timber saved by he air service. Then,
as always in such cases., the statement followed that this sort of work "a
W have come to understand that in the last analysis, they all mean more
jobs to be given out by politicians, and more security in these jobs by those
who hold thu soft. but useless, snaps.
Newspapers publish this stuff joyuly. and exult in the supposed prog
r@s of civilization" We have the geological reports and the biological and
the agricultural, and reports on every conceivable old thing-yes. including
mines and mining-writen by people, many times. who have absolutely no
practical knowledge of what they are talking about But they believe in
what they themselves say-principany, it would appear, because it is easy
to say it, and the pay is good.
When the startling fact is considered that more than fifty per cent of
the population of this country consists of non-producers. the common-sense
idea would seen to be thatit is high time for some Of this expert business
to stop. Take the matter latest brought up-that of a great fleet of army
airphnes for the detection of forest fires. The army of forest rangers has
increased nightly during the past decade. but nobody car detect any
decrease in forest fires. A cynic might ven say the fires seemed to increase
in ratio with the rangers and their helpers and clerks. and chiefs.
For hundreds of years prior to the advent of the white man, the Indians.
who were then the only custodians of the great forests. prevented dearuc-
tive fires by periodically setting surface fires. to remove the litter of dead
extent of furnishing fuel for destructive fires. That this method of proven
ton W a successful is shown by the fact tina. the forests taken over by the
white man rarely bmes car of trees destroyed by fires.
On the contrary, these forests included the Big Trees of California.
thousands of years old. which the white al is having a hard time to protect
with his modern" methods: also the ordinary forests intact. with trees un-
injured by fire. hundreds of years old. Almost all of these trees. however.
bore evidence. by their charred bark. of the surfacehing practced by the
Indians
Notwithstanding the fire protection afforded to the forests by the Indians.
me wh.e a oohvious OF tn wisdom h might have learned from the
Indian. insists upon rigid suppression o. all forest fires. with the result that
the accumulation of litter in a few years furnishes the fuel To- conhagra-
tons which entirely destroy the forest
Captain Joseph A Kits of Grass Valley. California, a civil engineer Of
many ear experience IN the ood has prepared a plan which deals with
te historca act or this situation, and elucdats practical methods which
might be adopted by tn government to protect forests from destructive fires
encourage the reforestaton of areas % bare of rees. Such reforesta-
ton is essential to maintain a timber supply. but it is largely delayed and
prevented by the inefciency of scientific fire protection.
The Southern Pacific Railway Company is compelled to pay many thou
sands Of dalars annually because of fire damage at its crossing of the Sierra
Nevada mountains. west of here. Apparently the railroad has grown tired
OF the inemciency of the professors and their hired men (much as the entire
country has tired of pedagogyD. for it has inaugurated a movement to bring
before the public the Importance of the harm done by false education.
II the old s p will just stick ito this form of propaganda. instead of send
ing out bulletins telling O shaeon refneries which do OF exist and profit
able dry-farming: If it will take a tip from the Indians and the old time
practical men. in other words. the newspapers a do good work by print
ing the railroad stun.
A preacher came at a newspaper man in this you editors do not
tell thu truth. II you did. you could not live; your newspapers would be
failures" The editor replied: you are right; and the minister who will
a all times and under all circumstances tell the whole truth about the
one Sunday and then he will find it necessary 10 leave town in a hurry.
The press and the pulpit go hand in hand with whiewash brushes and pleas
ant words, magnhying little virtues into big les The pulpit the pen. and
the gravestone and the great saintmaking triumvrate" And the minister
went away looking very thoughtful. while the editor made funny little me
tons in front of the Linotype which told of the SURPRISING beauty of the
bride. while in fact she as homely as a mud fence.
The editor of a newspaper Owe the line into Idaho SAYS he is glad Eve
the tree yet and none of is amounting to a hill o beans. We arr aston
shed at ~ journalistic brother. He is worset than W e thought he al. and
that Is going some We are also shocked and panied. and hope n o Serpent
viii evr get around into his circulation field. for il it does there will be
another great fall OF course We are dreadhuny sorry Eve ate that apple
and have lost lots Of sleep worrying about. it; but re always sympathize
to hide behind a womans skirts. when he said: The woman tempted me
and did eat He should have lied like a gentleman and taken the blame
like a man. Note;-That metaphor about skirts is a bit mixed)
Yes. and when the voters If winnemucea look squarely at thu matterth thew
VIII demand NOR officers who live in the north and will attend to things
of public concern in the country where the wealth comes from.
You can't tell from looking at a dat how rr the rent VII -