12 ANNUAL REPORT OF 



DUTIES OF RAILROAD COMPANIES AND THEIR EMPLOYES IN 



THE PREVENTION AND EXTINGUISHMENT OF FOREST 



AND PRAIRIE FIRES. 



( STATE OF MINNESOTA, 



Circular No. 30 J OFFICE OF FORESTRY COMMISSIONER, 



St. Paul, Minn., April g, 1908. 



The following section (2037) of the Revised Laws of Minnesota, 

 1905, relating to the duties of railroad companies and their em- 

 ployes in preventing and extinguishing forest and prairie fires, is 

 herewith quoted for the information and guidance of all parties 

 concerned: 



"Every company operating a railroad shall use upon each loco- 

 motive engine a good and efficient spark arrester, and shall keep 

 the ground for fifty feet on each side of the center of the main 

 track clear of combustible materials, except ties and other 

 material necessary for the maintenance and operation of the road, 

 from April 15 to December i. No company shall permit any of 

 its employes to leave a deposit of fire, live coals or ashes in the 

 immediate vicinity of woodland or lands liable to be overrun by 

 fire, and every engineer, conductor or trainman discovering fire 

 adjacent to the track shall report the same promptly at the first 

 telegraph station reached by him. In seasons of drought, every 

 such company shall give its employes particular instructions for 

 the prevention and extinguishment of fires, and shall cause warn- 

 ing placards furnished by the Forestry Commissioner to be con- 

 spicuously posted at every station in the vicinity of forests and 

 grass lands, and, when a fire occurs near the line of its road, 

 shall concentrate such help and adopt such measures as shall be 

 available for its extinguishment. Any company violating any 

 provision of this section shall forfeit to the state not more than 

 one hundred dollars for each offence, and any railroad employe 

 violating the same shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall 

 be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than 

 fifty dollars." 



The placards should be posted, one on the front part of the 

 outside, and one in the principal waiting room of the principal 



