NEWS AND NOTES 



377 



he was born near Glenwood in 1878. He 

 spent his boyhood on a farm, attended a 

 district school ana graduated from the 

 Glenwood High bchool. He studied telegra- 

 phy and for a year and a half was em- 

 ployed as agent and operator on the "Soo 

 Line." Subsequently he taught school for 

 three terms. In the summer of 1901 he 

 entered the Bureau of Forestry as student 

 assistant, being assigned to duty on the 

 Big Horn Forest Reserve, Wyoming. In 

 the fall of 1901 he resigned to enter the 

 University of Minnesota, but in 1902 he 

 assisted, as a member of a Bureau party, 

 in the study of drifting sands along the 

 (jolumbia River, to determine their source 

 and to devise methods of controlling them. 

 That autumn he investigated the extent 

 and damage of the big forest fires which 

 occurred during that season in western 

 Washington and Oregon, preparing maps 

 of the burned areas. His report was pub- 

 lished in "Forestry and Irrigation" and 

 the estimates given of timber destroyed 

 have been verified since by later figures of 

 lumbermen in that region. After spending 

 a portion of the winter of 1902-3 in the 

 oftice at Washington, he was assigned to 

 the study of forest fires in the South. In 

 the summer of 1903 he examined lands for 

 proposed forest reserves in Oregon and 

 Washington, continuing this work in 1904 

 in Idaho. During the winter of 1904 he 

 resumed his studies in the University of 

 Minnesota, completing the technical train- 

 ing offered in forestry. In the spring of 

 1905 Mr. Cox passed the Civil Service ex- 

 amination for forest assistant, a position 

 to which he was appointed the following 

 July. On August 1 he was assigned to as- 

 sist in the office of the Forester, giving 

 special attention to reserve boundary work 

 and miscellaneous correspondence. Mr. 

 Cox has been regarded as one of the most 

 proficient men in the Service and will be 

 a most competent administrator of the ex- 

 cellent new forest law which Minnesota 

 has adopted to protect one of its largest 

 interests. He has already taken up his 

 new position. 



General C. C. Andrews, formerly State 

 Forestry Commissioner, to whom forestry 

 in Minnesota and in the United States owes 

 so much, is the secretary of the new for- 

 estry board. 



Oregon's New Forest Law 



The state forester has issued a digest of 

 the new forest law of the state as follows: 



Any and all inadequately protected for- 

 est or cut-over land adjoining, lying 

 near or intermingling with other forest 

 land and covered wholly or in part by in- 

 flammable debris or otherwise likely to 

 further the spread of fire, which, by rea- 

 son of such location or condition or lack 

 of protection, endangers life or property, 

 is declared a public nuisance, and when- 

 ever the state forester shall learn thereof 



he shall notify the owners or persons in 

 control or possession of said land, request- 

 ing them to take proper steps for its pro- 

 tection and advising them of means and 

 methods to that end. 



Fire Wardens to Enforce Law 



All fire wardens, under instructions 

 from the state forester, shall take 

 proper steps for the prevention and 

 extinguishment of fires within their locali- 

 ties, assist in apprehending and convict- 

 ing offenders against fire laws, control the 

 use of fire for clearing land in the closed 

 season, and make such reports as may be 

 requested by the state forester. They have 

 power to make arrests for violation of for- 

 est laws and to enter upon the lands of any 

 person or owner in the discharge of their 

 duties; provided, that in so entering they 

 exercise due care to avoid doing damage. 

 Any fire warden who has information 

 which would show with reasonable cer- 

 tainty that any person has violated the 

 forest laws, shall immediately take action 

 against the offender by arresting or mak- 

 ing complaint to the proper magistrate or 

 by filing information with the district at- 

 torney, and shall obtain all possible evi- 

 dence. Wardens are punishable by both 

 fine and imprisonment for failure to com- 

 ply with their duties. 



Closed Season for Burning 



Burning of slashing, chopping, woodland 

 or brushland is unlawful between June 1 

 and October 1, without written or printed 

 permission from a fire warden and strict 

 compliancce with terms of the permit 

 which shall give condition to be observed. 

 This restriction does not apply to burn- 

 ing of log piles, stumps or brush heaps in 

 small quantities, under ample precaution 

 and personal control, and in accordance 

 with any regulations of the state board of 

 forestry. If any burning without permis- 

 sion results in the escape of fire or injury 

 to another, such escape and injury shall be 

 proof that the burning was in violation of 

 the law. Violations of this provision are 

 punishable by $25 to $500 fine or ten days 

 to three months' imprisonment. Any fire 

 warden may revoke or postpone permits 

 when necessary to prevent danger to life 

 and property. Any permit obtained through 

 wilful misrepresentation is invalid and 

 no defense from penalties of the law. 



Governor May Suspend Permits 



In times and localities of unusual fire 

 danger the governor, with the advice of 

 the state forester, may suspend any or all 

 permits or privileges and prohibit abso- 

 lutely the use of fire herein mentioned. 

 He may, in certain emergencies, suspend 

 the open season for shooting game, by 

 proclamation, and for such time as he may 

 designate, during which all laws of closed 

 season shall be in force. 



