44 FOREST commissione;r's report. 



Hasey St. Francis and by his men boated to Big Black river. 

 The telephone lines need to be gone over carefully each spring 

 and put in good repair. 



"As in case of the past several years, this territory was for- 

 tunate in that there were no large fires. The several small 

 fires were extinguished by the patrolmen and duly reported on 

 regular blanks. 



"Upon notice that the state fund was practically exhausted 

 and for that reason all patrols would be dispensed with on 

 Aug. 15, 191 1 excepting the watchmen at the fire lookout sta- 

 tions, I called a meeting of the landowners interested in the 

 lands under my care. At that meeting I was authorized to 

 continue the patrols for the remainder of the season, and as- 

 sess the expense to each owner in the lands. The patrols were 

 continued as so arranged at an expense to the said owners of 

 $1,936. 



"In the spring of 191 1 I put the men on early to follow the 

 driving crews and T feel that many early fires were thus pre- 

 vented. In this territory, located so far from railroads, our 

 only hope is to keep fires from getting well started. When 

 once under way, with the vast amount of inflammable material 

 in the woods, I think it would be next to impossible to extin- 

 guish a fire, even with an unlimited number of men, until 

 rain came to aid in the work. Therefore, I would urge that 

 the funds available for this section be used for the prevention 

 of fires, rather than reserve any great part for the possible 

 extinguishment of fires once beyond the control of the fire 

 wardens. 



"In 191 2 the same territory was under my charge as during 

 the previous year. In this territory there are five lookout sta- 

 tions located as follows : One on Depot mountain Twp. No. 

 14' R 16; one on Rocky mountain Twp. No. 18 R 12; one on 

 Soper mountain, Twp. No. 8 R 12; one on Round mountain, 

 T\vp. II R. 8; one on Priestly mountain, Twp. No. 10 R 13. 

 The station on Rocky mountain was built by the lanrl owners 

 in 1907. The stations on Depot mountain, Soper mountain 

 and Round mountain were built by the state in 1909. The sta- 

 tion on Priestly mountain was built by the state in 19 10. The 

 state has living camps in connection with the above stations 

 and also a camp on the St. John river near the mouth of Big 



