640 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



came to help. With this large force the fire was promptly extinguished and 

 a man left for the night to see that it did not break out afresh. 



A forester inspects the patrols at intervals during the season to suggest 

 methods of gradually increasing their efficiency. It was on one of these trips 

 of inspection that the writer remarked to the patrol, "Say, Jim, didn't you 

 ever got lost in these mountains? Of coui'se, I know that you understand 

 them mighty well, following up the fishers and hunters, but it seems to me 

 that even the best of men would get lost once in a while in this tangle of hills 

 and valleys." He paused for a second, "No," he said at last, "I ain't never 

 been what you might call lost, but wonst about five year ago, up thar on the 

 headwaters of Cranberry, I was plumb confounded for as much as three days." 



THE RAILROADS. 



Coming to the second division, that of the railroads, we should first state 

 that the company has over 75 miles of standard gauge railway lines upon the 

 property and operates sixteen engines to haul its log, bark and pulp trains. 

 The division of railroads is in charge of the railroad boss. It is his duty to 

 see that the fire protection equipment is provided and operating, to inform the 

 fire chief of any fires reported to the central office, and to send out special 

 crews to fight fire whenever necessary. Under the railroad boss are the en- 

 gineers and trainmen whose duties require them to stop and extinguish any 

 small fires along the right of way, or to cut off and go to the nearest company 

 camp to bring men to fight fire, at the same time notifying the fire chief 

 through the central office. 



Beyond the operating department is the track department, or section 

 crews. They keep the track clear of inflammable material for twenty feet on 

 either side of the right of way. They fight fire wherever found in their sec- 

 tion, and in very dry weather patrol the track after every train, one man go- 

 ing to the end of his section and relaying another man from the section crew 

 beyond. 



As to equipment, every engine has a spark arrester which is regularly 

 inspected and kept in good condition. Also fifty feet of hose with a nozzle 

 is kept in a box on the tender. Hoes and pails are located in the section 

 houses, and every patrol carries a pail. This fall a hand pump will be added 

 to the equipment to make fighting fire with buckets more effective. 



Along the right of way, wherever it departs from streams that have a 

 constant flow through dry weather, water barrels are placed. The intei'vals 

 between these barrels vary with the grade, and they are kept constantly full 

 for use in emergency. There are also tank cars, which can be hauled to a fire 

 to supply the hose line on the engine. 



It is undoubtedly a fact that the railroad engines are the greatest fire 

 menace. First, because they are constantly in every part of the timber oper- 

 ation, and second, because of the difficulty of preventing the throwing of 

 sparks when on heavy grades. The spark arresters frequently get out of or- 

 der and an engine will often travel a whole day before a broken arrester is 

 discovered. 



On a steep grade with a heavy load a fireman can easily imagine that the 

 engine groans piteously to be released from its muzzle, and occasionally upon 

 inspecting a bad break in the wire mesh of the arrester a clean hole will be 

 found very similar to one which might be made by a vigorous thrust of the 

 fireman's poker handle. 



The organization has been in effect on the railroad during the last nine 

 months, and in that time one large fire, covering almost a thousand acres, was 

 set by an engine with a defective arrester. Fortunately the area burned had 



