Canadian Forestr]! Journal, September, 1919 



361 



QUEBEC SUFFERS SOME FIRE DAMAGE 



Quebec. July 16, 1919. 



We have had a good deal of trouble in regard 

 to forest fires as the extreme drought that pre- 

 vailed during the whole month of June has 

 caused such a serious situation that the re- 

 ports of fire are coming in from every direction. 

 Besides several settlers took great risks in light- 

 ing, without permit, their clearances, so that 

 the staffs of the associations and of the Forest 

 Service had a hard time to control the situation. 



On the south shore of the St. Lawrence, there 

 were practically no bad fires though outbreaks 

 were frequent, but the good organization check- 

 ed them rapidly. 



In the Ottawa district the fires have not 

 caused any great damage. 



On the St. Maurice two bad fires were caused 

 by the railway at Vandry and Timbress, causing 



the loss of a large tract of forest. There are 

 provincial officers on the ground to investigate 

 the damage done. 



In the Lake St. John district great fires oc- 

 curred at the head waters of Riviere-aux-Ecor- 

 ces. Riviere Chicoutimi and Riviere-a-Mars. 

 There the difficulty of bringing men allowed the 

 fire to extend rapidly, but most of it ran through 

 cut-over lands, reducing the damage to some ex- 

 tent. Here again there is no positive data for 

 the present. 



In the Abitibi, there were at least 30,000 

 acres of slash to be burnt and the situation was 

 grave; fortunately the rangers succeeded in 

 holding the fires in check and in saving the pro- 

 perties and lives from the threatening danger. 



From the information gathered, the damages 

 ought to prove small. Yet there will be a few 

 miles of green forest destroyed. 



MEMORIAL TREES 



B^ Dr. Franl( Crane. 



They are threatening to put up Memorial 

 Arches. A Memorial Arch or statue or some 

 other such ornament doubtless can be made very 

 pretty .although most of such things that I have 

 seen in cities are about as useful and as com- 

 forting as the parlor clocks they have in the 

 hotels all over Europe, clocks that never run and 

 are not very valuable toward elevating the soul. 



Patriotism is beautiful, and the sentiment is 

 beautiful which wishes to commemorate in some 

 abiding way the heroism of the men who went 

 to die in France. But why must all sentiment 

 run in ruts of convention? 



They have been building monuments, tombs, 

 mausoleums, from the days of the pyramids. Man 

 is a tomb builder. How much better it would be 

 if we could get away from this idea entirely 

 and put up Memorials for the dead that should 

 keep their memory green in the much surer way, 

 by ministering unto the living. 



I have already written upon the project of 

 erecting community buildings to be dedicated 

 to our heroes, and this plan, I am glad to note 

 is being adopted in many towns. 



Another idea has been advanced which is 

 equally sensible and beautiful. It is to plant 

 memorial trees. 



In one city they are planning an "Avenue 

 of the Allies," to be lined with trees in honor 

 of the allied nations. The Lincoln Highway 

 Association is considering the proposal to plant 

 memorial trees along portions of its transcon- 

 tinental route. In Louisiana memorial trees are 

 to be planted, one every forty feet , along the 

 Jefferson Highway. This is the road that leads 

 to Winnipeg, and the slogan is "from pine to 

 palm." 



AN ECHO OF THE WAR. 



The managing editors of La Papcterie, the 

 office of which is in Paris, announce the re- 

 appearance, after an interval of fifty-eight 

 months, of that publication. "We would have 

 resumed publication earlier." they add, sadly 

 and significantly, "but all the cuts, type and 

 stocks of paper which were at Cliauny have 

 been stolen by the Germans and the printing 

 office sacked." 



