Canadian Forestry Journal, April, 1919 157 



ONLY A WORD. "WOODLANDS" SUMMER MEETING. 



By Douglas Malloch, the Lumberman Poet. 



Sometimes, afoot afar in some new wild, 

 A clouded night without a star to burn, 



With all his wit, when man is but a child, 

 A wanderer who knows not where to turn. 



Sometime, when night encompasses about. 

 Without a trail to lead my feet aright, 



When every sound I fear and step I doubt. 

 My eyes have caught the glimmer of a light. 



Some little beacon from a cabin small 



Has thrown its beam across the darkest wood. 



And I have found a refuge, after all, 

 A waiting fire, a cup, and brotherhood. 



Sometimes, upon the trail of life alone. 

 Without a guide, without a star to steer. 



When all my feet encountered was the stone. 

 And only flying terrors in my ear. 



Then I have heard a word of kindness said. 

 When in the wilderness of living lost. 



And I have followed on with lifted head 

 Until the threshold of a heart I crossed. 



These are the signals in the wilderness. 



The lights we burn not knowing just for whom, 



Only that pilgrims through the forest press 



And need some word of kindness in the gloom, 



Only a candle when the night is dour. 



Only a kindness when the hope is dim. 



Burning the brightest in the darkest hour 

 To guide the wanderer and welcome him. 



SOLDIERS AT A "SHINGLE SCHOOL". 



Most Canadians will applaud the work of the 

 British Columbia Shingle Agency in opening a 

 "school" for the training of white men in 

 making and packing shingles. At present the 

 coast mills are at the mercy of Chinese labor. 

 Ten returned soldiers entered the "school" on 

 the first morning and made such remarkable pro- 

 gress that it is expected that a month will 

 suffice to equip them sufficiently to take a good 

 job in any shingle mill of the province. While 

 in training the men are paid $3 a day for saw- 

 yers and $2.50 a day for packers. Recently the 

 Orientals went on strike as a protest to a cut in 

 pay. British Columbia has 300 shingle making 

 machines. 



The Council of the Woodlands Section have 

 decided to hold the summer meeting at the end 

 of June at Berthier, taking advantage of the 

 offer of Mr. Piche to loan the large building at 

 the Berthier Nurseries for this purpose. A very 

 cordial invitation comes from the Laurentide 

 Company to visit their nurseries. 



DR. BATES RESIGNS. 



Dr. John L. Bates, superintendent of the For- 

 est Products Laboratories, Montreal, has re- 

 signed. Dr. Bates has rendered splendid service 

 and has materially strengthened the position of 

 the Laboratories in the eyes of the wood-using 

 industries and the general public. He joins the 

 staff of Price Bros. & Co., Quebec. 



ANNUAL _HAMMERFEST. 



The forestry students of University of New 

 Brunswick and their guests assembled on Satur- 

 day evening, March 15th, at Camp Idyle-a-wyle 

 on Woodstock road. This camp is owned by 

 Mr. Vavasour, whose son, 'Kenneth, is a gradu- 

 ate of the U.N.B. Forest School. Among the 

 guests were Mr. J. D. Tothill, of the Entomolo- 

 gical Branch, Mr. G. H. Prince, Provincial For- 

 ester, and the staff of the drafting department 

 of the Forest Survey. 



GOOD WORK FOR ALBERTA. 



"Another point which should be covered by 

 provincial legislation is the situation with re- 

 spect to some 350 miles of provincially-char- 

 tered railways in Northern Alberta. These lines 

 are not subject to the jurisdiction of the Doinin- 

 ion Railway Commission, nor is there adequate 

 provincial legislation imposing requirements re- 

 lative to the prevention and control of fires due 

 to railway agencies." — Annual Report, Com- 

 mission of Conservation. 



FROM NEW BRUNSWICK. 



"We certainly owe the Forestry .Association 

 a large debt in aiding this Department in so 

 valuable a manner with regard to our new forest 

 programme, but outside of that the .Association 

 is doing splendid work all over the Dominion 

 so that it should be strongly supported." From 

 Col. T. G. Loggie. Deputy Minister of Lands 

 and Mines, Fredencton. 



