Perth Amboy evening news., 1923-05-07

WASHINGTON, May 7:-Recent
forest fires in Maryland, Virginia,
PENNSYLVANIA and New Jersey-seV-
eral of them near Washington and
others close to other large centers-
have taught the people of this Sec
ton the lesson which the Forest Ser
vice has long been endeavoring to
impress upon the people of the
try as a whole.
One of these fires ragged over an
area of sixteen square miles within
an alarmingly short distance of the
nations capital city, and caused a
large loss of property in houses,
barns, etc, in addition to the loss in
timber.
During the coming summer there
| will be approximately $4,000 of these
forest fires, il the annual average OF
the past six years is maintained. Last
year 38.400 such fires were reported
to the federal authorities.
The lesson to be learned is not
alone of the great loss which they
cause, but that almost all of them
could be prevented. Fully eighty per
cent Of them are the result of human
agencies and are due to carelessness
or ignorance, or both. Natural causes,
such as lightning, are responsible
for only about one-tenth.
win we this year have learned
our lesson of care" asks Col. w. 3.
Greeley. chief of the Forest Service,
"or will hasty Automobiles travel
through the forest this summer,
leaving oil-soaked rags, cigar and
cigarette stubs and burning matches
in their wake? VIII campers again
build fires without regard to COM
mon sense rules Of safety? VIII
hunters and fishermen forget that
unless they exercise care and rea-
son in preventing fires they will no
longer have game to hunt and
streams to whip? viii farmers who
desire to clean up a wood lot or a
field by burning the underbrush and
slash fail to use care?
"And there are some who will de-
l~iberately set fire to the woods be-
cause of a fallacious belief hat by
so doing insect pests can be destroy
ed or that better grazing lands can
be obtained. These are the principal
classes of offenders who are doing
their bit to reduce the fast diminish
ing timber supply of the United
States. These are the classes Of peo-
pie to whom the United States gov
eminent wants to teach f~ire-preven-
ton lessons"
Remote and Unnoticed
Most forest fires are in remote
localities and are practically unno-
ticed by the general public unless
they are of extraordinary magnitude
and occasion loss of life, 1t is when
they occur comparatively close to the
large centers of population that they
attract attention and set people ia
thinking. Hence the recent fires In
the four states mentioned may dc
some good TO offset the damage to a
slight extent.
Timber growing is recognized as
one of the really great questions
that confront the American people
and the growing OF timber depend.
largely upon the control of forest
fires which every year take such
heavy toll among young trees. Il
fires could be kept out OF much oil
the country's forest lands, the gov.
eminent experts say nature would
take care largely of the reforestra,
ton problem.
Some idea of the extent of the an.
nual devastation resulting from for
est CONGREGATIONS may be had WheI
attention is called to the official esti'
mate that before the SHOWS of mex
fall bring immunity from this men
ace an area comprising as many
acres as there are in the two stateI
Of Pennsylvania and Ohio combined
will be laid waste by fire. Tina
sounds even more impressive as {
forecast oil warning than as a state
ment Of what happened last year
and the year before, especially whei
the point is emphasized that thi
devastation is largely preventable-
unnecessary and almost crimina
waste.
In this wide empire, unless peopl'
in general are careful, moi only viii
a vast treasure in growing timber b
lost, but animal life will be destroy
ed, streams without their forest Gov
er will dry up, men will be deprive.
of their means of livelihood, humal
misery will follow in the path of tn
flames, virgin timber which has beel
growing for centuries will be lost t
civilization and r~eforested areas vii
again be made d~esolate.
Timber a Crop, Not a Mineral
Colonel Greeley insists that timbe
is, a crop, which should be planted
grown and harvested like othe
crops, and is not TO be looked upo