incnts of this ordinance forthwith to arrest the offend- 

 er by the authority of this ordinance, and without fur- 

 ther warrant bring him before a judge, stipendiary 

 magistrate, or justice of the peace, to be dealt with 

 according to law. 



6. In prosecution upon information under this or- 

 dinance where by conviction is secured and a fine paid 

 or collected, the informer shall be entitled to receive 

 one half of the said fine. 



7. This ordinance shall come into operation on the 

 first day of July, in the year one thousand, eight hun- 

 dred and seventy-seven ; and on and from the said first 

 day of July, one thousand eight hundred and seventy- 

 seven, the act passed by late Council of the North 

 West Territories, instituted, "An Act for the Preven- 

 tion of Prairie and Forest Fires in the North West 

 Territories of the Dominion of Canada," shall have no 

 force or effect within the limits of the North West Ter- 

 ritories as now by law defined." 



These laws were amended and made more stringent 

 in 1879 and 1885. It will be noticed that all of these 

 enactments provided for prosecution in a summary 

 manner, and the informant was to receive one-half of 

 all fines imposed, no warrant being necessary in mak- 

 ing an arrest. In so far as the police were concerned, 

 these laws were strictly and impartially enforced and 

 the way of the transgressor was indeed very had as few 

 offenders escaped arrest while the guilty were never 

 known to evade punishment commensurate with the 

 offense. 



Numerous fires started from the camp fires of trad- 

 ers and freighters crossing the prairies during dry sea- 



27 



