THE CANADIAN DEPARTMENT 73 



Railway, the worst fire being set by meeting, held in Victoria, B. C, and 

 these latter's section men burning old was so impressed by the need of con- 

 ties, servation that he iirged the Manitoba 



Government to issue the invitation to 



Mr. John Gillies, of the firm of the Association to hold the 1913 Con- 

 Gillies Brothers, and one of the best vention in Winnipeg, 

 known residents of the Ottawa Valley, 



died on Nov. 17th. _ He was m charge ^^ ^ Sorgius, Manager of the 



of the woods operations of his firm and g^^ Maurice Forest Protective Associa- 



was early distressed at the inadequate ^-^^^ ^^^^ married about three weeks 



care taken of her forests by Canada. ^^ g^ i^^ ^^^ ^^^^ ^-^^ ^^^ 



He It was who protested so strenuously Association since its inception and has 



at the time of the Cobalt boom, at the ^^^^ ^^^^ excellent work, 

 throwing open of his nrm s timber 

 limits to destruction by the prospectors. 



— ■ The Laurentide Co., Ltd., is finding 



After a long illness the Hon. Colin H. trouble in its plantations with the hares, 



Campbell, former Minister of Public which eat off the terminal shoots of 



Works and Attorney General of Mani- the young spruce and balsam trees, 



toba, died in Winnipeg. Mr. Campbell causing. them to grow bushy. They do 



represented the Manitoba Government this mostly in the fall and spring and 



at the Canadian Forestry Association are a great nuisance. 



IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 



THE Province of British Columbia of the British Columbia Forest Branch 



is divided into eleven adminis- supervise fire protection on the railways, 



trative districts, each one with On the railways as the C. N. P. and 



its force consisting of a District P. G. E., under Provincial Charter the 



Forester, under whom work rangers, forest officers, by virtue of the British 



scalers, forest assistants and guards. Columbia Forest Act, have even closer 



The guards are employed only during control of fire protection, and here the 



the fire season in summer, and their patrolmen are appointed and paid by the 



work is directly supervised by the Forest Branch, the cost being recovered 



rangers, one ranger overseeing a number from the railroad at the end of the 



of guards. season. 



The total force of the Forest Branch The Dominion Forestry Branch, 



during the height of the fire season in Crown Timber Branch, and Dominion 



August was over 500, of whom nearly Parks Branch employ 50 to 75 rangers 



350 were employed solely in fire protec- and guards in the Dominion Railway 



tion. In addition were about 25 officials Belt during the summer. Over 40 



as chiefs of police in municipalities, of the men were appointed acting forest 



construction foremen, etc., who were guards in the British Columbia Forest 



appointed and acted as forest guards Branch this year for the purpose of giving 



without pay for the Forest Branch. them authority to issue burning permits. 



On the railways under Dominion A number of private forest guards 



Charter, as the C. P. R., G. T. P., are employed in different parts of the 



G. N. R., about 50 special fire patrol- Province by owners of large bodies of 



men were employed by the railways be- valuable timber. 



sides the hundreds of section men, etc.. Altogether in midsummer the British 



a part of whose duties is fire protection. Columbia Forest Branch and other 



As officers of the Board of Railway forest protective organizations employed 



Commissioners for Canada, the officers over 500 men on special protection work. 



