FIREWARDEN'S REPORT. 55 



FEDERAL CO-OPERATIVE FIRE PATROL. 



In one branch of fire control the past year has developed the 

 first effort made in the State on any general scale; this is a paid 

 fire patrol. A fund of $200,000 was made available by the last 

 Congress for "the protection from fire of the forested water- 

 sheds of navigable streams" in co-operation with the various 

 States. Under this act such help is offered only to those States 

 which have by law provided for forest fire protection, and in no 

 case can the amount furnished by the Federal Government in any 

 year exceed the amount appropriated by the State within the 

 same time for similar purposes. 



By an agreement made on July ist with the Secretary of Agri- 

 culture, in whose hands the disbursement of the fund is placed, 

 $i,ooo of this Federal appropriation was allotted to New Jersey, 

 and available during the balance of the calendar year for the 

 establishment of a forest fire patrol. Under the existing- interpre- 

 tation of the law, this expenditure was restricted to the watersheds 

 in the northern portion of the State, and, since the exposure of 

 this section is far less emphatic in the summer months, it was 

 determined to concentrate this year on the fall season. 



The general system fixed upon was a road patrol, with look- 

 out stations upon the few points available from which a suffi- 

 cient outlook and reasonably prompt communication to the terri- 

 tory under observation could be had. After a thorough investi- 

 gation of the area, 44 patrolmen were engaged, each assigned to 

 a specific rente. Their duty was to traverse these routes and 

 report to the proper firewarden, or to extinguish themselves all 

 fires seen, and to apprehend those responsible for them. Five 

 lookout stations were also established from which frequent obser- 

 vations were made each day. 



The fire watchers at these stations were on duty every day 

 in October and November, but the fund available was so limited 

 that it was necessary to authorize the patrol only on days when 

 the people in the woods were likely to' be most numerous, viz., 

 holidays and hunting days. The patrol was ordered for a period 

 of fifteen days in all, covering these dates so far as possible. 



