910 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



The warden does not only believe in education of the public, but is 

 assisting in it by attending meetings, preparing articles for magazines, 

 and giving special addresses throughout the State. It is perfectly 

 legitimate to enumerate these exhibitions of his activity. 



It can only be to the advantage of the fire wardens of each district 

 to arrange for their meeting in order to get acquainted, exchange 

 views, secure cooperation and instruction, the attendance being obli- 

 gatory; and it is also good policy of educational value to print, as is 

 done in this report, brief accounts of these meetings. 



The organization, when completed, will comprise 1,500 to 1,600 

 men. The State is divided into 21 fire districts, with a district fire 

 warden, who is to have 70 to 80 local wardens under his supervision 

 and 5 to 10 patrolmen or tower observers. The district wardens are 

 to have $1,500 per year; for patrolmen only $200 are allowed, and 

 the local wardens are paid by time. We do not know whether the 

 reduced appropriations will retard and hamper the full organization. 



Besides the organization of the official forest fire-fighting force, 

 cooperation with Other organizations is diligently fostered, as with the 

 game commission and its game protectors ; with the department of 

 fisheries and its fish wardens ; with the State police bringing violators 

 to account ; with the State highway department in avoiding incen- 

 diaries due to carelessness of employees ; with the boy scouts and 

 sportsmen's associations ; with local protective associations, the Pocono 

 Protective Fire Association, which is claimed to be the oldest of its 

 kind in the United States, and the Central Pennsylvania Fire Protect- 

 ive Association. 



The railroads are more and more realizing their obligations by 

 patrolling more assiduously and helping in reporting and fire extinc- 

 tion, in keeping their engines safe, and by settling damages and charges 

 more promptly. 



The chapter on legal affairs is particularly enlightening, showing 

 how difficult it is to secure convictions and enforcement of law, when 

 the Attorney General rules out cases in which the conviction is un- 

 certain. A number of cases is cited. 



In twenty-nine cases it was possible to secure out of court at least 

 payment for the cost of extinguishing fires from the delinquents by 

 appealing to their honor, and altogether 96 cases have been settled 

 thus since April i. There were some 50 cases still pending. Alto- 

 gether claims in 415 cases have been presented for this spring's fires, 

 226 of them to railroads, and it is expected that at least half of them 



