2 6S 



THE FORESTER. 



November, 



We quote the following from a letter 

 received from a gentleman who recently 

 visited the scene of this disastrous fire : 



" It is now a region of desolation, where 

 before was a dense forest cover not of 

 large timber, usually, but of small ever- 

 greens, and, on the slopes, heavy brush. 



THIS VIEW SHOWS EFFECT ON FOREST OF 

 REPEATED FIRES. 



Already the valuable streams flowing 

 down from the burned district show a sen- 

 sible diminution in volume, compared with 

 their flow of previous years at this season. 



" The other day, in talking with some 

 men who have been engaged largely in 

 lumbering here for thirty years, the factwas 

 brought out and emphasized 

 without a dissenting voice, 

 that the flow of all these 

 streams is reduced one-half 

 since the forest covering of 

 the watersheds has been so 

 largely destroyed. 



" More serious by far than 

 the diminishing of these 

 streams (which irrigate only 

 a comparatively small por- 

 tion of the great valley) is 

 the effect in reducing the 

 sub-moisture which make 

 great areas so famous for 



ever before throughout Westmoreland, 

 Fayette, and Somerset, as well as in adja- 

 cent counties. Hundreds of mountaineers 

 turned out to fight the flames and save 

 property, and miles of valuable timber, 

 together with farm houses, were burned. 

 A cloud of smoke hung over the Pennsyl- 

 vania Railroad for fifty miles from Greens- 

 burg to Johnstown, and by day the sun 

 was almost obscured. 



The fire did the greatest damage along 

 the Chestnut Ridge where the forest is 

 dry as tinder, as not a drop of rain had 

 fallen for more than sixty days. On the 

 southeast side of Uniontown the flames ap- 

 proached to within four miles of the town 

 and hundreds of people turned out to fight 

 the fire. Brush was burned away and 

 counter fires started to protect tracts of 

 timber and houses. 



The flames threatened the cultivated 

 areas of the three counties. The water 

 supply was low in all the burning area so 

 that there was little hope of saving prop- 

 erty when it was once reached by the fire. 



The water supply was scarcely enough 

 to afford drinking water for cattle. Wild 

 animals were seen fleeing before the 

 flames. In their fear they approached 

 farmhouses, seeking shelter. At Ridge- 

 view Park, near Millwood, 11S cottages 

 and a summer hotel were threatened with 

 destruction and a big force of men worked 



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productiveness, without irri- 

 gation. The sub-moisture 

 supplies a water-strata so 

 close to the surface that it 

 may be pumped for the irrigation of a 

 still greater area." 



Pennsylvania. During the last week of 

 October foi est fires raged more fiercely than 



:.- ;*J 



THE RESULT OF RECURRING FOREST FIRES, THE FOREST FLOOR 

 HAS DISAPPEARED. 



to surround the grounds by burning a 

 safety belt around them. 



The Pennsvlvania Railroad did all in 

 its power to look after its lines and there 

 was no interference with traffic. The 



