XVlll 



EEPORT OF THE Xo. 3 



The store-houses and office of the Northern Development Branch were com- 

 pletely destroyed at Matheson, also part of the plant; the same at Cochrane with 

 the exception of the office. Fortunately most of the plant was in use at the different 

 outside camps and was not destroyed. The l)uildings were insured and the loss is 

 not very great. 



It will take some time, however, to put these roads in as good condition as 

 they were before the fire. The fire, while it has destroyed many miles of corduroy 

 road, will greatly assist in drainage in the future, having burnt off the moss on tha 

 surface which held the frost in the early spring. In this respect it will great;y 

 improve the climatic conditions of the country besides clearing the land. 



The intense heat and strong winds the last few days of July made it almost 

 impossible to extinguish the settlers' fires, which had been burning for several days 

 previous. Large sections of country in places have been almost completely denuded 

 of timber and made ready for the plow. The total area burned over has, however, 

 been much exaggerated. 



This fire, had it not been for the tremendous loss of life, would not compare 

 in magnitude with many fires that have taken place in the Province within the last 

 fifty years. The fire of 1864, and later in '71, along the north shore of Lakes 

 Superior and Huron, and that of '77 in the Parry Sound district, and that of '91 

 and *96 in he pine country west and north-west of Sudbury, were far more des- 

 tructive from a financial standpoint than the recent fire at Matheson and Cochrane. 

 Each covered a much greater area and destroyed greater values in timber. A much 

 later fire, that of 1894, which swept over a large section of Northern Minnesota and 

 crossed the Rainy river into the Rainy river Valley at Boudet, in which fire 140 

 lives were lost, six of them in the Rainy River Valley, it swept over several town- 

 ships in the valley. This fire was in many respects similar to the Matheson and 

 Cochrane fire; the country swept over was low and swampy, and at that time con- 

 sidered unfit for settlement. Much of it is now under cultivation and is considered 

 one of the best agricultural sections in Northern Ontario. 



Previous to and during the fire every assistance was given by the employees of 

 the Northern Development Branch and other officials of the Department in putting 

 out fires along the newly constructed roads. No further action on the part of the 

 Government could have saved the situation. Owing to Avet weather in previous 

 seasons the settlers had been unable to clear off their land and were anxious to take 

 advantage of every possible opportunity of clearing their lands when the weather 

 was dry, as very little could be accomplished in clearing land of a character similar 

 to that in the Clay Belt except in the dry season. 



COLONIZATIOX. 



One of the many important changes made by the Government was the transfer 

 of the Colonization Branch from the Department of Agriculture to this Department. 



The work of the Branch is largely that of promoting and dii'ecting settlement, 

 although it has been successful, in recent years, in bringing a large number of 

 domestic servants and farm labourers to Ontario. 



Settlement in Northern Ontario has been almost completely arrested by tlie 

 war, and the drain of men from farms and industries has rendered an acute: 

 labour situation. 



