464 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



October 



arranged every few miles along the 

 paths and fire lanes. He comes upon 

 a place where a party of campers or 

 prospectors have left their camp fire 

 without stamping it out. In the inter- 

 val between their departure and his 

 arrival a ground fire in the dry forest 

 carpet has become too large for him 

 to cope with alone, though his efforts 

 may be able to check it for a limited 

 time, particularly in its most danger- 

 ous direction. In such a case he can 

 remain to fight the fire to the best of 

 his ability and hold it in check until 

 help from the Supervisor, or other 

 rangers with a suitable force, can ar- 

 rive from a distance. 



The picture is not so pleasant if it 

 is drawn from an instance where the 

 telephone system is lacking. A fire 

 breaks out in a district remote from 

 any help. The ranger may discover 

 the blaze after it is beyond the control 

 of a single man, and assistance must 

 be secured before there can be any 

 hope of effectively stopping it. But 

 his district is a day's ride from a set- 

 tlement, maybe two or three days' ride 

 from the Supervisor's headquarters. 

 There is a choice between the two 

 courses of action, both of which are 

 almost hopeless. He may try to hold 

 his ground and work in utter futility 

 to stop flames that readily get beyond 

 his control. If he leaves at once for 

 help, some days may elapse before he 

 gets back with men and fire-fighting 

 tools. During his absence the wind 

 may have arisen and he returns with 

 his force to find thousands of acres 

 burned over, and the men at his com- 

 mand practically as powerless against 

 the larger fire as he was against the 

 incipient one. 



These two contrasting cases will 

 serve to show instances where the tele- 

 phone would be valuable. Even a fire 

 of some severity at the outset can be 

 held in check by one man, especially 

 if he is working, not with the idea of a 

 hopeless task to be grappled with 

 alone, but buoyed up with the certain- 

 ty that he is to do his best until he 

 gives way to a sure and effective re- 

 lief. The mental attitudes under the 



two conditions must be considered as 

 important factors, because a man will 

 work harder, longer, and with less fa- 

 tigue if he sees a relief or a reward 

 ahead. It has been stated that the boy 

 who held his hand in the dyke crevice 

 through a long night's vigil could not 

 have done so had he not been sure that 

 dawn would bring the Holland vil- 

 lagers and relief. Without reflection 

 on a ranger's courage and tenacity, it 

 is safe to assume that he would be less 

 likely to fight long and hard to combat 

 a fire if he felt that the struggle were 

 not only hopeless but endless. 



The use of telephones on forest re- 

 serves is not a suppositional nor a 

 merely contingent matter. They have 

 been tried and proved by time, and 

 although the Government has no tele- 

 phone service of its own in operation, 

 there is one under construction in the 

 Big Horn Forest Reserve in Wyom- 

 ing, where the first line will be 109 

 miles long, connecting the rangers' 

 cabins in the reserve with the Super- 

 visor's headquarters at Big Horn. 



The preliminary work was done by 

 an expert in telephone construction 

 detailed from the United States 

 Weather Bureau, and the material has 

 been purchased. Actual construction 

 was to have been begun in the spring, 

 in order that the line might be avail- 

 able for the protection of the forest 

 during the season when fires are most 

 prevalent. It was held up until later, 

 however, on account of the fact that 

 the appropriation did not become 

 available until the first of July. The 

 construction cost, it -is estimated, will 

 average $30 per mile, or about $3,300. 

 The total cost of supplies for the line, 

 exclusive of instruments, which are 

 to be leased from the Bell Telephone 

 Company, amounted to $2,400 laid 

 down at Big Horn, Wyo. The wire 

 was obtained from Du Perow, of 

 Washington, D. C, at a total cost of 

 $1,897.50, and the insulators, brack- 

 ets, and kindred equipment from the 

 Electric Appliance Company of Chi- 

 cago. The construction of still an- 

 other telephone system was authorized 

 under the Government, providing for 



