Popular Science MnnthJij 



(5:3 



Fighting Timber Fires 



BATTJ.ES ;ii;ainst timber fires in tlic. 

 great national forests of the West 

 are conducted with a degree of precision 

 and strategy rivaling that of the warring 

 armies of Europe, as the result of 

 systematic operations of the United 

 States Forest Service. A forest super- 

 visor who ma>' be many miles from the 

 scene of a 

 fire marshals 

 li i s forces 

 and f i r e - 

 f i R h ting 

 facilities and 

 directs the 

 attacks and 

 flank move- 

 ments of his 

 men . 



Lookouts 

 stationed f>n 

 m o u n t a i n 

 peaks and 

 other pro- 

 montories 

 that com- 

 mand a wide 

 range of 

 vision are 

 each sup- 

 plied with a plane table to which is 

 attached a map of the surrounding 

 country, its position being determined by 

 means of a compass. The map is enclosed 

 in a segmented circle and the location of 

 the station is indicated by a pin. A 



A timber fire in our western 

 chance as a spy who 



simple alidade (an alidade is the upper 

 part of a surveyor's theodolite) consisting; 

 of a ruler with uprights for sighting: 

 purposes at either end, or some similar 

 tlevicc, is included in the cc|uipment. 



When a lookout sees smoke issuing 

 from a portion of the forest over which 

 his station commands a view, he 

 immediately sights it with his alidade 



and notes 

 that it is 

 coming from 

 a point so 

 many de- 

 grees east 

 or west of a 

 north and 

 south line 

 extend irig 

 through his 

 station. Ke 

 notifies hia 

 supervisor 

 by t e 1 e - 

 phone, tell- 

 ing him of 

 the apparent 

 size of the 

 fire and its 

 location. 

 Lookouts in 

 other .sections of tlic forest also detect 

 the fire and make similar reports to the 

 supervisor's headquarters. Reports from 

 two or inore stations enable the super- 

 visor to locate the fire on a map by 

 means of intersecting lines. 



forests lias about as much 

 is being watched 



Conelike Flower-Holder 

 in a Brick Wall 



NOWHERE is novelty 

 more desirable than in 

 the flower-holder line. This 

 is what a resident of Los 

 Angeles, California, thought 

 when he constructed the 

 novel fence flower-holder 

 shown in the accompanying 

 illustration. In this fence 

 there are three sections, these 

 being connected by si.\-foot 

 "steps." In the center of 

 each of these sections one of 

 the flowiT-holders is located. 



Flower-holder in 

 a brick wall 



I-^acli of these containers is 

 about three and a half feet 

 in height and about a yard 

 in diameter at the top. Each 

 holder is in the form of a 

 cone, being large at the top 

 and becoming gradually 

 smaller as it continues dow n- 

 ward. While the fence with- 

 in which it is located is made 

 of pressed brick, the holder 

 is made of brick of a clinker 

 \ariety, being a trifle darker 

 than the fence brick and 

 harmonizing efTecti\ely with 

 it in both color ami design. 



Maybe you have special needs. Write to the editor about anything within the 

 scope of the magazine. He will be glad to help you. 



