176 REPORT OF THE No. 3 



(8) Improvements 



The past season was anything but favourable for improvement work, the 

 fire situation keeping all men busy until well into late summer. In spite of 

 this however, considerable was accomplished, most of the work being done by 

 the regular ranging staff. 



A certain amount of work is necessary each spring on all portages and trails 

 totalling several hundred miles, to clear them of windfalls and debris accumu- 

 lated during the winter months. In addition to the accomplishment of this, 

 over 100 miles of new trails were cut during the season. 



A total of 55 ranger cabins were erected, most of these having log walls 

 and a pole roof covered with paroid roofing. Nine storehouses were built and 

 three others enlarged, two canoe sheds, seven garages and two boat houses. 



The largest building was the combined boat and storehouse at Parry Sound, 

 this being a galvanized iron L-shaped building with a plank frame. The boat- 

 house is 36 feet square with three boat slips, and is equipped with a two-ton 

 combined chain hoist and trolley. The storehouse is 22 feet wide and 50 feet 

 long, with skylights throughout. The whole building is set on piling driven to 

 an average depth of 10 feet. The construction of the building was under the 

 direct supervision of the District Forester. 



The number pf lookout towers was increased by the addition of six 80-foot 

 steel towers and 23 wooden towers, the latter all being put up by the rangers 

 themselves. 



Several telephone lines were built with a total of 299.5 miles. Principal 

 among these were the following: 



French Lake to Sturgeon Narrows and north end of Agnes 



Lake, Rainy River District, ground circuit 50 miles 



Larder Lake to Mt. Chiminiss, Matheson District, ground 

 circuit 11 



Kenney to Red Cedar Lake, North Bay District, ground 

 circuit 28 



Parry Sound to Go-Home Bay, Georgian Bay West District, 

 ground circuit 30 



Killaloe to south-east corner Niven Township, Algonquin 



South District, ground circuit 463^ 



Pembroke to Brent, Algonquin North District, metallic 

 circuit 78 



Gilmour to lookout tower in Cashel Township, Trent Dis- 

 trict, ground circuit 13 



A light field telephone cable similar to that used for military purposes has 

 been found very satisfactory for temporary telephone lines. Eighty-two miles 

 of this type of line were in use during the season. 



The total permanent improvements now consist of 253 cabins, 32 store- 

 houses, 18 garages, 7 boat-houses, 2 canoe sheds, 17 steel lookout towers, 100 

 wooden lookout towers, and 636 miles of telephone line. 



