Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1920-11-25

o,ated and shern Of It's wealth aud
beauty.
Imagine such conditions existing IN
these days of improved trails, teie-
phone lines. carrier pigeons, osborne
fire finders, radio telephones, iookouI
houses and airplanes. Instead or per-
hitting; fires to grow until they are
big enough to demand. personal atten-
ton from district headquarters. the
rangers have put out LAT fires 10
Washington and Oregon national for
ests in the past season and about 2.ooo
in Oregon alone have been handled In
cooperation with settlers.
The ranger no longer Is patrolman
covering a beat only along the trav'
eled routes and paying an occasional
visit to q prOmontOry handy to the
trail. He doesn't spend days getting
to a fire over old game and Indian
trails with grades so steep that pack
horses have to he abandoned. He mas
more material to work with ana q
mere wisp OF smoke means an alarm
to him. He is more resOurcefpl.
A Wife's Wisdom.
The word "res0urceful" recalls the
story of a ranger, stationed In the Des-
chutes national FOL ..st at Crane PrRi-
rie. Lightning had been running up
and down his telephone wires and
played havoc with the transmission an
that when he discovered a bad fire,
spreading rapidly through the lodge
pole pine. and attempted to cOmmunl-
cate with his wife and order men to
his aid all he was able 10 make her
hear was the sound of the bell. The
wife was puzzled. A number Of prac-
teal jOkers In the neighbGrhpOd Ind
been waking her up In the night BY
ringing the phone and then hanging
up the receiver. When she received
no response she assumed that such
was the case. A quick wit. however.
cautioned her not to give In too readily.
III this is you, John" she said, ''ring
twice."
The phone one Of those country
lines, rang twice. for the husband could
hear his wife's voice. although she
was unable to hear his.
IF you are In trouble" she said,
ring twice."
He rang twice.
"Ring once If You have fire."
He rang once.
"If you need men ring the number
you need" Thus the ranger put
through his call and received assist
ance In time to prevent disastrous
spread Of the flames.
Story Has Contrast.
What a contrast between this story
and the story told In the recently un
earthed report Of the MultnOmah an
Clackamas county burn that spread
over 10000 acres at the same time
fire was going through the YacOlt
country and which caused the death
six families homeless and completely
wiped out the schoolhouse. church
stores. sawmill and. In fact. the vii
lage Of Springwater. The story is told
Of crew Of engineers working on
power dam In q narrow canyon near
by. who were forced to wade into the
stream in order to save their lives.
And the cause of II all-careleSS
farmers! II used to be IL common
thing TO let the slaShings smolter
from May until October In the back
woods districts and when on SepteIll-
har IN SftT hrnaza IN tlnN,
from the northwest 1t found number
of ash heaps waiting to he famed into
something more serious. Even buckle
berry p.ckers had left campfires. and
these grew in size.
Propaganda Takes Hold.
A change has come to pass The
propaganda of fire prevention has
taken a hold and the following stnte-
ment in the 1902 report would scarcely
apply TO the present day. Said the in
vestigatOr:
$50 seldom dc the conditions favor
Ing crown fires come about that set
tiers have grown Indifferent TO taking
precautions. AS to ground fires. they
are permitted to burn at will unless
buildings. fences or pastures are en-
dangered. Farmers here have little
appreciation of the value of timber
and are crimlnaIly negligent"
In the states of Idaho. Washington
and Oregon there are now 725 wardens
on duty, hired by the settlers them
selves to protect areas outside the ma
tiOnal forests. This in addition to the
hundreds employed on government
lands. Expenses to private owners in
these three states for patrol alone
amounts to over $1,000 a day and fire
fighters are costing nearly an equal
amount.
Lightning Fires Numerous.
This season has been marked by
large number of lightning fires, but
otherwise has been favorable as com
pared with the seasons Of the last
three years. There have been no seri-
Gus losses; In fact. the greatest de-
structiOn has been 10 bucked logs
so much for the "criminally negli.
gent" farmer Of past years. His crimi-
nal negligence would have slim chances
of doing much harm when watchful
aerial observer Is making hourly trips
over his wood lots. And as for the
huckleberry picker and camper. If he
has blindly gone off and left his fire
and the airmanf has missed 1t. news
of the smoldering patch Of timber has
already Travelled In TO the forest super
visors Office from some ever-nleri look.
out station on mountain top and q
ranger Is packing his emergency kit
over ready-made trail to the scene