THE patrolmen have completed their work. Following a 

 vigil which has extended over a period of nearly six 

 months among the pine,, spruce, cedar and tamarack 

 forests, they are being retired and by the first of October, 

 unless it becomes excessively dry, not more than nine or ten 

 will remain. These will work on during the winter. 



Up in the lonely reaches of the Minnesota woods, these 

 guardians have kept watch for fires, cut trails through tim- 

 bered land and underbrush, built lookout towers and in some 

 instances, put up cabins for permanent use. They have put 

 in a busy summer. Fifty were employed, and these 50 dis- 

 covered and extinguished approximately 350 fires. Only one 

 of any consequence occurred. That was in the vicinity of 

 Margie in Koochiching county, the first week in July. There 

 a hard fight occurred to prevent a devastating conflagration. 

 It was a successful fight but one which had a cost. 



Forests Saved During July By Vigilance of Patrolmen. 



Extinguishing the 350 small blazes, however, is what saved 

 the state of Minnesota from serious fires during the summer 

 of 1912. All big fires have their inception in small fires, of 

 course, and along during the dry spell that was experienced 

 the last of June and the first of July, there probably would 

 have been the same old story of big losses to tell, had not 

 the patrolmen been alert and watching. 



"We had an unusually good class of men," said W. T. Cox, 

 state forester. "It will be difficult to get so good a lot again, 

 considering that we employ them such a short time. There 

 is still plenty of work for them to do and we would keep them 

 longer if we had enough funds to make their employment 

 possible." 



15 



