164 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



tricts it was possible to discontinue some patrols the last of August which reduced 

 the number on duty the first of September to 1,115. Men were taken off duty 

 from then on as conditions permitted, the total number on duty on September 

 15th being 968, and on the 1st of October, 291. A short period of dry weather 

 the first few days of October necessitated the continuance of some patrols longer 

 than usual, keeping the total number on the pay roll up to 111 on the 15th of 

 the month. Men kept on duty after that date were largely engaged on improve- 

 ments or repairing equipment. 



The need of a permanent skeleton staff composed of the Chief and Deputy 

 Chief Rangers has become more apparent each season. The number of rangers 

 in a Chief Ranger District varied this past season from fourteen to fifty-eight. 

 Both Chief and Deputy Chief Rangers should be on duty earlier in the spring 

 than is now possible in order that they may arrange their organization of, on the 

 average, thirty rangers before the early fire season. They should also be on 

 duty longer in the fall to overhaul equipment and work on permanent improve- 

 ments. 



To successfully fill the position of a Chief Ranger, or of a Deputy Chief 

 Ranger, for so far as possible only men who may eventually become Chief 

 Rangers are appointed to the positions of Deputies, a man should be an experi- 

 enced woodsman, have organizing and executive ability, be able to handle men, 

 be able to deal with the public, be energetic, and above all, be loyal to the 

 organization of which he is a part. Men having these requirements, and who 

 seek the positions, are not plentiful. If a permanent system of appointment 

 could be adopted the efficiency of the organization would be greatly increased 

 at a small additional increase in the total pay roll, which without doubt would be 

 more than offset by the reduction in the extra fire-fighting costs. There is 

 sufificient work to keep a skeleton staff composed of these men employed through- 

 out the winter months, and in addition, it would afford an opportunity for 

 organizing some system of instruction of these men. 



(3) Expenditure. 

 The expenditure for the fiscal year was $1,062, 956.24, classified as below, 

 with the figures for -the preceding years given for comparison. Against this 

 expenditure, protection accounts for the year totalled $196,888.44. 



(4) Fires 



There was little precipitation in the late summer and fall of 1922, resulting 

 in a small amount of moisture in the ground when cold weather set in. The 

 snowfall during the following winter was heavier than usual, but when the 

 break-up came towards the end of May the exceptionally warm weather and 

 prevalent strong winds carried off the snow so quickly that little of it was 

 absorbed by the deeply frozen ground. The surface of the ground and the 

 covering litter rapidly dried out, and instances occurred of fires starting in areas 

 which three days previous had been covered with snow. 



The last week of May and the first week of June was the worst fire period 

 of the season, fires being reported from all parts of the Province. The peak was 

 reached on the 1st of June when there were over 900 extra fire-fighters on duty, 

 in addition to the regular staff of 1,104 on that date. Scattered light showers 

 occurred on the 2nd of June and intermittently from then until the middle 

 of the month when the number of extra men had been reduced to slightly over 

 400. A second seriously dry period then set in and on the 21st the 

 number of extra fire-fighters had increased to 800. This period was followed 

 by heavy showers and conditions were normal until the middle of July, when 



