44 AMERICAN FORESTRY 



in his anxiety to make a new record in the output of his camp became care- 

 less and neglected the necessary precautions to prevent fires. 



A. W. Laird, of the Potlatch Timber Protective Association, charged that 

 carelessness on the part of the foreman of the logging camp, the indiscriminate 

 smoking by workmen and inadequate spark arresters were the most serious 

 menaces to timber. Oil-burning equipment in the woods, he said, was desirable, 

 but he predicted that the demands of safety and economy eventually would 

 force the application of electrical power in all big logging enterprises. 



In the discussion of this subject, which was general, one speaker proposed 

 that all cigarette smokers be denied employment in logging camps. Although 

 the suggestion was admitted to have merit, the association took no formal 

 action. Another logger proposed that employers supply their operatives in 

 the woods with patented cigar-lighters, on the theory that many of the forest 

 fires result from discarded cigarette or cigar stumps or the careless throwing 

 of an unextinguished match into inflammable debris. 



Taking up the subject of railroad fires, F. A. Silcox, of the United States 

 Forest Service, made the assertion that 40 per cent of the forest fires in the 

 country could be charged to the railroads. Three means of combatting the 

 danger of fires from this source were recommended, as follows : Safeguarding 

 railroad engines by the use of adequate spark arresters and equipping fire- 

 boxes with a mechanical contrivance for preventing the scattering of cinders, 

 clearing right of way under supervision of forestry officials and patrolling 

 the tracks. 



Earnest co-operation of the railroad ofiicials in his district, reported 

 E. O. Hawksett, of the Pend d'Oreille Timber Protective Association, had 

 been supplied with the result that the number of fires resulting from railroad 

 engines had been reduced to a minimum. 



State Forester Elliott, of Oregon, made the announcement that only 5 

 per cent of the forest fires reported to his oflSce this year were charged to 

 the responsibility of the railroads. ''The other 95 per cent," said he, ''were 

 caused by the carelessness of logging camp operators." 



George A. Day, personal representative of Governor Hawley, of Idaho, a 

 state with 400,000 acres of timber lands, told of the interest the people of his 

 state had in the subject of forest conservation. The last Idaho Legislature, 

 explained Mr. Day, appropriated P0,000 for the protection of the forests of 

 the state, which for the year had been thoroughly and efficiently patrolled at 

 a cost of only 3 cents an acre. 



George S. Long, of Tacoma, president of the Washington Forest Fire 

 Association, discussed public and private co-operation as the only direct and 

 effective means of combatting forest fires and conserving the forest wealth 

 of the West. 



"The entire Pacific Northwest has every cause for felicitation as a result 

 •of the earnest, hearty co-oi)eration by the Government, state, forest fire asso- 

 ciations and railroads in safeguarding timber resources by providing protection 

 from forest fires," said Mr. Long. 



"West of the Rocky Mountains we have a priceless treasure. In that 

 area there are 800,000,000,000 feet of timber, amounting to 50 per cent of the 



