The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho) 1893-1925, 1919-10-02
ROtaS NEEDED TO
mlBAT FIRES
Valne q Timber Destroyed This
Year Would Build Adequate
Roads

Twenty-Five or 80 years ago, in the
northwestern part Of Kansas, Q. R
Craft published the Downs News. At
that time the "old man" Of The Index
was engaged in newspaper work in An
! adjoining town, and friendship grew
+ up that has continued to this day
Soon aftpENard, he quit the newspaper
game and became = railWsy mail clerk
Then m : number Of years We lost
trS<k efshin. Soon after taking charge
of n ln1ex (16 years ago today, by
the wayt this Office received gov
ernment check from the Ogden forest
cffies = payment for advertising. The
check was signed BY Q. r Graft. He
had gu1e into tie forest service, had
made HnPid advaneen1ent and finally
becama fiscal agent Of tie district for
est offiee 1t Ogden. Nov he has gone
up another notch and is on his way to
Denver to take up HIS new duties
| A letter received from his yesterday
contains the following interesting data
concerning forest fires:
Coming down from Montana, where
! had been paying fire fighters for a
month. / jotted down . few notes for
the Ogden papers, and If you have
not already talked all you care to
about your unprecedentedly expensive
NJ Ja~kr,vrktx,a e1rn~ ~ 49, Dovakka
II may Be. yeu can use the comparison
of 1910 and 1919 farther north and the
Admonition to campers; also the plea
for roads, for recall that the diff
Guilty in 1915 in getting to the Dollar
creek fire was lack Of transportation
facilities.
4 ] am sure that Supervisor Mains,
iike Willey, Of whom I .npeak, must
have never lost his poiss, kpr I always
thenght Of him n III old ulr horse Of
IL Ogden district. h W1 Nnins, so
N4s0 + l1Sew,lis1ho4 r1srssed tin
'use efat1 asispiaasl in firs dstetf5on.
and vixen hin ideas were given TO the
Salt Lake papers in Fehrnafy, 1916,
some of the Washingtsn meM consider
ed them visionary. OF course roads
and government trucks are the practi-
cal solution, but it alNrays seemed to
ne that Mr.. Mains had wsl-thought-
ont scheme for limited airplane pa
trbl during an unusual season, such as
- have just passed through, to serve
the Payette and parts Of the Boise,
idaho, and Weiser, and / wonder If
Mains, who combines originality with
practical Judgment, would consider =
dirigible economical emergency equip
ment.
although / can5t subscribe for the
papers should iks to read l would
an occasional copy Of The
Index when you havG something akin
to those charming Payette Forest
stories of 1914-1915, which were Of
interest.
"The area burned over in the Mon
tana- Northern Idahn forests in the
fire season now practically closed was
a little less than = million and half
acres, an area greater than that Of
any single forest with one exception
IN the Intermountain district It was a
little over half that burned over in the
other great fire season, the memorable
one of 1910. More fires were fought
this year than nine years ago, and the
expenditure Of funds for fighting was
greater. This year there was far less
loss of life, however, and relatively |
mall loss of homes, bridges, and ranch
Thursday afternoon Acting District |
Forester Rutledge and District En-
yineer Lautz, of the Northern district,
.scended to height of 5000 feet over
Aissoula, Mont, with Lieut.. Ernest
Harmon in the Martin bombing plane.
t was . smoky day, from the fires
west Of Hamilton and near
It. Regis, yet Mr.. Rutlsdge stated
hat this did not Obscure vision rs
hen looking through smoke more hor-
sontally, and that on even such
'moky day fire dstection from an air
,lane might Be- suecssafnl.
HSuch plane ~ he Martin could
airy small force of fire fighters, it
4 true. hut tn arnenafve orarnfion. 1