362 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



July 



of the field parties now looking into the 

 matter will be shown invaluable sug- 

 gestions when the collected material is 

 made available. 



As in May, so in June, the fires did 

 most damage in the New England 

 States and in New York and Pennsyl- 

 vania. In fact, the most serious of the 

 fires of the past month were but contin- 

 uations of the month before, and ex- 

 ceeding them in extent and damage 

 done, until they were providentially 

 quenched by rains just after the first 

 week of June had passed. So pro 

 nounced did these fires become that 

 they cast a veil of smoke along the 

 northern Atlantic seaboard, and the 

 cities of Boston, New York, Philadel- 

 phia, Baltimore, and Washington were 

 shrouded in partial darkness for several 

 days. This effect was most noticeable 

 in the vicinity of New York city, and 

 the smoke haze was partly responsible 

 for the running aground of the trans- 

 Atlantic liner Deutschland in New York 

 harbor. 



Maine. A writer in the American 

 Lumberman places the Maine forest fire 

 losses in the past two months as high as 

 $10,000,000, and other estimates range 

 from that figure down to $2,000,000. 

 It is probable that an average between 

 these two sums will more nearly ap- 

 proximate total of losses, though it is 

 hard to make close calculations at this 

 time. It is certain, however, that the 

 devastation has been widespread and in 

 many localities complete. These fires 

 were at their height about June 6, and 

 were at that time general over a large 

 portion of the state. The 35 fires re- 

 ported by Forest Commissioner Ring on 

 May 20 had increased to at least 100, 

 most of them in the northern and east- 

 ern sections. They were general along 

 the New Brunswick border from Eagle 

 Lakes south toSchoodic Lake, destroy- 

 ing several settlements and many lum- 

 ber camps. Moosehead Lake has been 

 practically surrounded by flames, and 

 the country between Machias and Ban- 

 gor, especially in the neighborhood of 

 Cherry field, has suffered severely. 

 Fourteen miles of the Bangor and 

 Aroostook Railway have been de- 

 stroyed, and at least 30 sets of farm 



buildings. In fact, it is hard to name 

 a single river valley in the whole state 

 which has not been fire-swept in a 

 greater or less degree. Two lives are 

 known to have been lost, one at Naple- 

 ton and one at Haynesville. On June 

 8 heavy rains effectually quenched most 

 of the New England fires, including 

 those of Maine, especially near the 

 coast. This rain was practically the 

 first to break a fifty days' drouth, which 

 had reduced the country to a state of 

 tinder. 



New Hampshire. -The White Moun- 

 tain region in the neighborhood of Ber- 

 lin and Berlins Falls was swept by forest 

 fires on June 4, and the two places were 

 practically surrounded by the flames. 

 Groveton, to the north, was also threat- 

 ened, and at one time all the inhabitants 

 had prepared to leave. From Milan, 

 near the Maine border, southwest to 

 Littleton and Bethlehem, near the Ver- 

 mont state line, the fires were general. 

 In addition, there were fires in the neigh- 

 borhood of Ashland, near Lake Winne- 

 pesaukee. Ashes from these fires in the 

 northern part of the state fell in the 

 streets of Nashua, in the extreme south- 

 ern part. New fires were reported from 

 the southern part on June 6, and the 

 state's losses were at that time estimated 

 at $3,000,000. One-third of this figure 

 is probably nearer correct. Some of the 

 New r Hampshire fires, as well as those 

 in Maine, are known to have been started 

 from sparks from locomotives. 



Vermont. Fires were general through 

 Vermont in the early part of June, rang- 

 ing from Island Pond, on the north, as 

 far south as Wallingford, below Rut- 

 land. Two tracts of 2,000 acres of fine 

 timber were completely devastated, one 

 at Wallingford and one at Danby. Res- 

 ervoirs of city water supplies were nearly 

 empty, until the rains of June 8 partly 

 refilled them and quenched the fires. 



Massachusetts. Eastern and central 

 Massachusetts were visited by fires in 

 the early part of June. The loss in the 

 Connecticut Valley is said to amount to 

 $200,000. Fires have been reported as 

 extending from Granville, Mass., and 

 Coleridge, Conn., as well as from Con- 

 way, Goshen, and West Hampton, Mass. 

 In the southeastern part of the state 250 



