11 



taxation while the same are owned by the Commonwealth. It shall 

 be the duty of the Secretary of Agriculture to keep a record in a 

 book, to be especially provided for that purpose, of all the lands so 

 acquired by the Commonwealth, with full description of each tract, 

 the character of the same, the date of purchase, the price paid, when 

 the title became absolute, or if redeemed, the date of redemption. 



Section 5. The lands so acquired by the Commonwealth shall be 

 under the control and management of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture, but assigned to the care of the Division of Forestry, and >shall 

 become part of a forestry reservation system, having in view the 

 preservation of the water supply at the sources of the rivers of the 

 State, and for the protection of the people of the Commonwealth 

 and their property from destructive floods. 



'Section 6. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent herewith are 

 hereby repealed. 



Approved The 30th day of March, A. D. 1897. 



DANIEL H. HASTINGS. 



AN ACT 



Making constables of townships ex-officio fire wardens for the ex- 

 tinction of forest fires, and for reporting to the court of quarter 

 sessions violations of the laws for the protection of forests from 

 fire, prescribing the duties of such fire wardens and their punish- 

 ment for failure to perform the same, and empowering them to re- 

 quire, under penalty, the assistance of other persons in the ex- 

 tinction of such fires. 



Section 1. Be it enacted, &c., That on and after the first day of 

 Janaury, A. D. 1898, the constables of the various townships of the 

 Commonwealth shall be ex-officio fire wardens, whose duty it shall 

 be, when fire is discovered in the forests within their respective 

 townships, immediately to take such measures as are necessary for 

 its extinction, and to this end to have authority to call upon any 

 person or persons within their respective townships for assistance; 

 the said fire wardens to receive fifteen (15) cents per hour, and the 

 persons so assisting twelve (12) cents per hour, as compensation for 

 their services; the expense thereof shall be paid, one-half out of the 

 treasury of the respective county, and the remaining half of said 

 expense shall be paid by the State Treasurer into the treasury of 

 said county, out of moneys not otherwise appropriated, upon war- 

 rant from the Auditor General, but no such warrant shall be drawn 



