I'OREST COMMISSIONERS REPORT. 47 



ceedingly bad conditions that existed the results were not 

 wholly satisfactory and a large area was burned over before 

 the welcome rains which followed extinguished the fires and 

 for the time being removed the dangerous conditions. Later, 

 however, although the long drought brought a return of these 

 conditions, since the expense of fighting the numerous forest 

 fires throughout the state had more than exhausted the appro- 

 priation made for this purpose, by your orders the patrolmen 

 were taken off and for the rest of the season the only protec- 

 tion to the district was afforded by the lookout men on White 

 Cap mountain whose only means of reporting an outbreak of 

 fires was by a roundabout telephone route through Roach 

 River and Greenville, which proved rather unsatisfactory on 

 account of its poor condition and the large number of stations 

 connected with it. 



"On the whole, considering the unusually long period of dry 

 weather and the very bad conditions which existed during the 

 greater part of the summer, the district was exceedingly for- 

 tunate in escaping even more serious conflagrations than those 

 that occurred ; for while the men employed as patrolmen were 

 on the whole efficient and conscientious workers the abnormal 

 conditions obtaining throughout the season rendered their ef- 

 forts less satisfactory than would have otherwise been the 

 case. 



"The spring of 1912 opened up with much better promise 

 for the safety of the forests than that of the preceding year, 

 but the experience gained during the previous summer taught 

 that the means of protecting the forests were very inadequate 

 in a very dry time. Accordingly after receiving appointment 

 for the next year we immediately repaired the telephone line 

 from North Brownville to B. Pond, a distance of 25 miles, 

 which was owned by Messrs. McNulty and Whittier of Ban- 

 gor, with whom I had made arrangements whereby the use of 

 this valuable means of reporting fires was obtained in return 

 for the work laid out upon it. Later this line was extended 

 to the summit of White Cap mountain, a distance of about 

 eleven miles, thus establishing direct communication between 

 this point and the central office at Brownville. By means of 

 this line most of the patrolmen could have daily communica- 

 tion with the lookout man and the chief fire warden. 



