The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-11-19
STAY WITH THE JOB
Women Fire wardenx Do Not Quit
 Post To Go Fishing

Because they have greater patience and less temptation to quit watching : and go off fishing or shooting than men. a limited number of women are employed by the United States fire patrol service in it's stations on the lonely mountain tops of the woods territory of Oregon, Washington and California 1t is not what one would ordinarily call a woman's job, yet Tor every available job of the kind Uncle Sam has a dozen feminine applicants.
 Next to keeper of the lighthouse 1t is the most lonesome job in the world. For weeks at a time they live alone. continually on the lookout for the fatntest sign of one of those for est fires that used to eat up m1lllon dollars worth of Uncle Sam's fvalu- ahle timber before anyone even Smelled the smoke.
 The lookouts are housed in glass towers which enable them to sean the countryside for miles in every di- rection. Six women were on duty for three months last summer. Thelr tenure of office ceases with the year. ly tenure of the special fire patrol service. but so successful has the ex- pertinent proved that in all probabil- ity the tenure for the lookout women will be continued next summer.
 The thin wreath of blue smoke that presa ges the starting of a forest fire cannot be seen by the naked eye at any very great distance, so binoc- 'alars of very powerful vision are employed. With these glued to her eyes the lone watcher endeavors to keep every square acre of the wooded territory under observation in the daylight hours of summer and early fall
 o,rhe hardest thing about it. though" says Mrs. Gertrude Merrill, of tlra yyOn1en tOOkOutS of last summer 'is to distinguish between the forest fire smoke and smoke from other causes. The ascending smoke that rises from a camp fire can easily be mistaken for the beginning of a forest fire. The same is true of the smoke from a lumber mill Even the Gust from a moving flock of sheep 0ay be deceptive. Way up on top Of the mountains, with perhaps 100000 acres or more under your care, 1t is quite easy, especially if the day be hazy. to make these mista,les."
 When lookout on one of the mountains spots a forest fire she can tell often within a few hundred feet, exactly where the blaze is located. In her glass tower a firmly mounted table stands before her. It contains a detailed map of the wooded terri tory over which she keeps her look out. and she is further equipped with
 
 ployed by surveyors.
 When the lookout sees smoke she turns this instrument in its direction. and by adjusting her sights she can ascertain the location of the fire by consulting her map. She communi- oates the information as exactly and in as great detail as possible to the nearest fire ranger as well as to a central station.
 This does not look, at first sight, like a woman's job. yet the fire pa- trol servicss officials assert that women make better lookouts than men, Women are found to have the greater patience and nervous endur- ance. and, say the service officials, If there is n job in the world that re- quires both 1t Is that of being fire lookout on top of those hills.
 Again. the greatest temptation man is under is to quit watching for a few hours and go fishing or shooting. He is right in the fishing and shoot ing country. and mere man must be sorely tempted as the long hours drag slowly on while he sits in his tower eternally scanning the terri tory. Hour upon hour day upon day. often week upon week, with no sign of excitement, nor of human commit nication with the world outside save for the weekly visits of the fire ranger is the lot of the lookout.-- New York Evening Mail.