of 



est an organized force of men who are eternally 

 vigilant to prevent or to fight forest fires. Fires 

 should be fought while young and small, before 

 they are beyond control. 



There should be crows' -nests on commanding 

 crags and in each of these should be a lookout 

 to watch constantly for starting fires or suspi- 

 cious smoke in the surrounding sea of forest. 

 The lookout should have telephonic connection 

 with rangers down the slopes. In our national 

 forests incidents like the following are beginning 

 to occur: Upon a summit is stationed a ranger 

 who has two hundred thousand acres of forest 

 to patrol with his eyes. One morning a smudgy 

 spot appears upon the purple forest sea about 

 fifteen miles to the northwest. The lookout 

 gazes for a moment through his glass and, 

 although not certain as to what it is, decides to 

 get the distance with the range-finder. At that 

 instant, however, the wind acts upon the 

 smudge and shows that a fire exists and reveals 

 its position. A ranger, through a telephone at 

 the forks of the trail below, hears from the 

 heights, "Small fire one mile south of Mirror 



164 



