HARDWOOD RECORD 



34c 



work, slight economics in different depart- 

 Mients will thus occur to him and if he is the 

 right sort of a man he wUl grasp them and 



prove his worth to the business. 



* « s 



It is just as foolish to try to make first- 

 ■lass handles out of low-grade or cull lumber 

 IS it would be for a broom-maker to try to 

 make good brooms out of blue grass hay. It 

 cannot be done, and the sooner the would-be 

 handle manufacturer learns this fact the bet- 

 ter it will be for everybody concerned in this 

 line. Of course, a few good handles can be 

 turned from even the worst of lumber, but 

 there will be few of them and they will cost 



twice as much to produce as they will bring 

 finished. A rather ambiguous moral to this 

 would be not to attempt to do something 

 about which you know nothing. 

 * * * 



The next time you have a lot of sand belts 

 to set up, or any other kind of flat glue work 

 to do try a four-inch flat brush instead of the 

 usual round style used in spreading glue. It 

 is surprising how much more rapidly the 

 work is accomplished by the use of this type 

 of brush, and it also has the added advantage 

 of doing a much better job, as it spreads 

 the glue more evenly and not so thick as the 

 round brush does. 



Fighting Forest Fires 



Ofiicials of the United States Department 

 ■ <i Agriculture are of the opinion that 1910 

 -.vil] hold the record among many years for 

 •he severity of the losses from forest fires. 

 rhe summer fires followed a spring season be- 

 lieved to have been the worst, certainly in 

 fhe lake states, known for a long time. Nor 

 ^ it wise to assume that the danger is over 

 when the fierce conflagrations which have 

 called forth in the mountain states the ef- 

 forts of three federal departments has been 

 conquered. The forests will not lie safe un- 

 til the fall rains and snows have once more 

 made a wet blanket of the dry forest floor. 

 That the total losses of the year will run up 

 to many millions of dollars is considered cer- 

 tain. 



How such losses may be prevented is a 

 matter of general public concern. To the 

 :itional forest timber burned must be added 

 ^reat amounts of state and private hold- 

 ings, besides the immense damage done to 

 town, farm and other property. Railroads 

 have suffered from the interruption of traf- 

 fic as well as from direct losses. A bulletin 

 by Forester Henry S. Graves discusses forest 

 tires and the proper methods of preventing 

 lid fighting them, as follows: 



"In some sections of the country forest 

 tires have always been of such common oc- 

 irence that there is a popular notion that 

 they can not be prevented. The risk from 

 fires can never be entirely eliminated, for in 

 the forest there is always inflammable ma- 

 terial which is very easily ignited. They may, 

 however, be largely prevented, and • under 

 efiBcient organization their damage may be 

 kept down to a very small amount. The prob- 

 lem is like that in cities, where fires can never 

 be entirely eliminated, but where the risk of 

 loss to property may be reduced almost to 

 insignificance. " 



The importance of systematic provision for 

 iio early discovery of fires and for getting 

 1 properly equipped force of fire fighters 

 ijuickly to the scene of an outbreak is in- 

 sisted upon by Forester Graves. "A care- 

 ful supervision or patrol during the dry sea- 

 son," he says, "is one of the most important 

 measures in organized forest protection. One 

 of the fundamental principles in fire protec- 

 tion is to detect and attack fires in their in- 

 cipieney. ' ' After pointing out the value of 



lookouts, telephone or signal communication 

 and various methods of patrol, the forester 

 tells how to fight fires, as follows: 



' ' The principles of fighting forest fires 

 are essentially the same as those recognized 

 in fighting fires in cities. The following are 

 of first importance: (1) Quick arrival at the 

 fire: (2) an adequate force; (3) proper 

 equipment; (4) a thorough organization of 

 the fighting crew, and (5) skill in attack- 

 ing and fighting fires. Quick access to fires 

 is accomplished through the work of super- 

 vision and patrol in discovering fires before 

 they have gained much headway, and by a 

 well-developed system of communication 

 through the forest by roads and traUs. 



"A small fire may be put out by one man, 

 but in extensive forests several hours may 

 pass before the fire can be reached. It is im- 

 portant to secure an adequate force of men 

 and to get them to the fire quickly. In a 

 well-organized system of patrol the guard who 

 discovers a fire comunicates quickly to other 

 guards and to headquarters by telephone, sig- 

 nal, or other means, and indicates the number 

 of men he needs. 



' ' The efliciency of the fire-fighting crew de- 

 pends very largely on their skill and experi- 

 ence and particularly on the skUl and experi- 

 ence of the man directing the work. It is not 

 only a question of knowledge of how to assign 

 each man where his work will be most ef- 

 fective, but there must be judgment exer- 

 cised in determining the general method of 

 attack. The character of the fire, the charac- 

 ter of the forest, the condition of the atmos- 

 phere, the strength and direction of the wind, 

 the rapidity with which the fire is running, 

 and many other points have to be taken into 

 consideration. " 



After describing how surface fires may be 

 I'Ut out by beating, by throwing sand or loose 

 earth, and by other methods, the account 

 goes on : 



' ' Sometimes the front of the fire is so 

 fierce that it is impossible to meet it directly. 

 One method under such circumstances is to 

 direct the course of the fire. The attack is 

 made on the sides near the front, separat- 

 ing the forward portion of the fire from the 

 main wings. A part of the crew attacks 

 the forward part and others run down and 

 extinguish the wings. The front of the fire. 



attacked from the sides, is forced gradually 

 and constantly into a narrower path. Usually 

 the front can be directed toward some cleared 

 space, road, pond, stream, swamp or fire line, 

 when it will be checked enough to admit of a 

 direct front attack. Sometimes by this plan 

 the front may be rapidly narrow'ed by work- 

 ing from the sides, until it is at last entirely 

 extinguished. The plan of giving direction 

 to the course of the fire has often been suc- 

 cessfully carried out when the fighting crew- 

 is too small for a direct attack. 



' ' When fires gain such headway that it is 

 impossible to stop them by direct attack, no 

 matter how numerous and efiicient the crew 

 or complete the equipment for fighting, back 

 firing becomes the only means of stopping the 

 fire. It should, however, be used only when 

 it is absolutely necessary. One of the com- 

 monest mistakes in fighting fires is to over- 

 estimate the rapidity of the fire and the dif- 

 ficulty of putting it out. A forest fire is al- 

 ways a frightening spectacle, particularly 

 if it is sweeping in the direction of one's 

 own property. Men often become excited and 

 start back fires when it is entirely unneces- 

 sary. Back firing necessarily involves de- 

 liberately burning over property. When this 

 belongs to another person and one's own 

 forest seeins in danger, th^re is a great temp- 

 tation to sacrifice it. 



■'If it is found that a back fire is neces- 

 sary, a favorable point is selected directly 

 in front of the fire, from which to set the 

 new fire. This must be a point where it is 

 safe to start a back fire, such as a road, fire 

 line, stream or swamp. The leaves are ignited 

 at points five feet to a rod apart for a dis- 

 tance not greater than the estimated width 

 of the head of the fii-e. These small fires 

 gradually meet and form a continuous line, 

 eating back against the wind. A part of the 

 crew is stationed across the road or other 

 break from which the back fire is started and 

 put out at once the small fires which may re- 

 sult from the sparks blown over from the 

 back fire. 



' ' The meeting of the two fires stops at once 

 the head of the main fire. It is usually pos- 

 sible then to attack the wings with the ordi- 

 nary methods of fighting. It is necessary 

 to attack the wings at once, particularly if 

 there is a strong wind, for otherwise each 

 wing of the old fire would soon form an in- 

 dependent fire with a well-developed head. 

 It is necessary, also, that a number of men 

 be stationed where the original fire and the 

 back fire meet in order to extinguish smolder- 

 ing fires in tops, logs and other debris. ' ' 



"A fire is never out," the bulletin cop- 

 eludes, "until the last spark is extinguished. 

 Often a log or snag will smolder unnoticed 

 after the flames have apparently been con- 

 quered, only to break out afresh with a rising 

 wind. After the fire-fighting crew has left 

 the ground it is always well to assign at least 

 one man to patrol the edges of the burned 

 area until it is certain that the fire is en- 

 tirely out. This may not be for several 

 (lavs. ' ' 



