228 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION. 



June, 



The defeat of this bill, especially on 

 such a flimsy pretext as the appropriation 

 bugaboo, is unreasonable. However, it 

 merely delays action that is bound to 

 come. The best interests of the na- 

 tional forest reserves demand this trans- 

 fer, and all persons acquainted with the 

 merits of the question are of one opinion 

 in the matter. 



Enforcement Up in Pennsylvania they 

 of Forest object to people stealing 



Laws. timber from the state 



lands, and also to start- 

 ing forest fires. The vigorous action of 

 the Forest Commission seems to be 

 spreading to the courts, as the follow- 

 ing examples, reprinted from Forest 

 Leaves, will show : 



' ' In the March term of court in Pike 

 County, suit was brought by the state 

 against Hiram Miller and Jerry L,abar 

 for cutting timber on state lands. The 

 parties were not tried ; the district at- 

 torney was allowed to enter a nolle 

 J>roseq7u on payment of costs and a pen- 

 alty of $75 by the defendants. Mr. 

 Miller also gave written agreement to 

 keep off of and to protect, so far as pos- 

 sible, state lands for a period of two 

 years. It was also agreed that if he 

 failed in any part of this understanding 

 other suits would be brought against 

 him. Altogether, the failure to recog- 

 nize which side of the line the defend- 

 ants were on cost them about $170." 



The following is also quoted from 

 Forest Leaves : 



' ' The two parties indicted under act 

 of 1879, in Union County, for setting 

 fire to the woods, pleaded guilty and 

 asked for the mercy of the court. They 

 were sentenced to pay a fine of $50 each 

 and costs of prosecution, or stand com- 

 mitted. They complied with the sen- 

 tence. ' ' 



From the Jefferson City, Mo., Tribune 

 it is learned that ' ' on May 24 Deputy 

 U. S. Marshal Thos. McKenna arrived 

 from Camden County with four tie chop- 

 pers, charged with cutting timber on 

 government lands. They are Wm. 

 Peoples, Wm. Blaine, David J. Kelsey, 

 and Charles Kelsey. They waived a 

 preliminary hearing before U. S. Com- 



missioner Grisberg, and were held for 

 the federal grand jury in the sum of 

 $200 each." 



Even the business of persons who 

 steal timber from the federal or state 

 government lands is becoming risky. 

 In many sections of the country there 

 is a feeling that stealing from the gov- 

 ernment is not actually a crime. 

 Prompt enforcement of existing laws, 

 such as the cases cited above, will 

 rapidly dissipate this idea. Timber 

 stealing has been a big business for years 

 in many sections of the country, the 

 government generally being the victim, 

 but with the rapid increase of interest 

 in our forests there is a tendency to treat 

 it in its proper light as plain stealing. 

 The support of every good citizen should 

 be given the officers in their attempts to 

 break up this nefarious business. 



J' 



Appropriations The agricultural ap- 

 for Forestry propriation bill, which 



and Irrigation, was passed by Congress 

 the last week in May, 

 contains increased appropriations for 

 both forestry and irrigation. The ap- 

 propriation for the Bureau of Forestry 

 is $291 ,860. The amount last year was 

 $185,440. This bill also contains an 

 appropriation of $65,000 to continue the 

 irrigation investigations of the Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. The good roads 

 investigation comes in for an appropria- 

 tion of $30,000. 



Civil Service The result of the recent 

 Examination, civil service examina- 

 tion to fill the position 

 of computer in the Bureau of Forestry, 

 as announced by the Civil Service Com- 

 mission, shows that the successful can- 

 didates were John Foley, Carl G. Craw- 

 ford, and Harry D. Tieman. Crawford 

 and Tieman have received appointments 

 in the Bureau, while Foley has for some 

 time been a member of that organization. 



Working- Flan The application of the 

 for the Kirby Kirby lyumber Corn- 

 Tract, pany and Houston Oil 

 Compan}' to the Bureau 

 of Forestry for advice and assistance in 

 the handling of their forest lands has 



