XKWS AND NOTES 



717 



Forestry Patrol Recommended 



Prof. C. H. Goetz, of the Washington State 

 College, states, from experience in the Cas- 

 cade Mountains last summer, that the best 

 way to protect a forest against fire or tres- 

 pass of any kind is to have a sufficient patrol 

 to keep out small fires, and to prevent fires 

 from starting. The moral effect of a good 

 fire patrol on the fishermen, lumbermen, 

 miners, prospectors, and even railroad em- 

 ployees is wonderful, a fact which accounts 

 for the small number of fires started in 

 Washington State last season. If every state 

 that has timber to protect had a state fire 

 association, as has the state of Washington, 

 there would be very little heard about large 

 fires destroying our woods. The Washing- 

 ton State Fire Association has spent from 

 $50,000 to $75,000 a year for keeping a good 

 fire patrol, and has found it a paying invest- 

 ment, the annual saving being now three 

 times the cost of fire protection. 



Professor Goetz writes enthusiastically of 

 the forestry work in the Washington State 

 College, the situation of which institution for 

 forestry work is highly favorable. 



State Cont ol of Maine Forests 



Mr. D. H. Darling, treasurer, Bradstreet 

 Lumber Company, writes from Richmond, 

 Me., correcting the news note found on 

 page 642 of CONSERVATION for October, and 

 says : 



"The facts are as follows : 



"The legislature of 1906-07 interpellated 

 the state supreme court to learn if the state 

 could regulate the cutting of forests without 

 compensating the owners thereof. 



"The court's answer, that they could, has 

 been widely circulated, but, so far, the state 

 has not availed itself of the right to enact 

 such a law. 



"Since this decision, but one attempt to 

 enact a cutting-regulation law has been made, 

 and this was embodied in the bill I drew 

 and had presented at the last session, but 

 which was referred to the next." 



Mr. Darling sends a copy of the bill. 



Governor Hughes on Forest Conservation 



In his address at the Hudson-Fulton cele- 

 bration, Governor Hughes said, in part : 



"This celebration should not only prove a 

 stimulus to endeavor by its commemoration of 

 distinguished achievements, but it should also 

 quicken our appreciation of the natural con- 

 ditions which made these achievements pos- 

 sible, and direct our attention to the con- 

 servation of this priceless gift of nature. At 

 the headwaters of the Hudson and its prin- 

 cipal tributaries we learn the necessity of 

 forest preservation. If we would preserve 

 the source of industrial power, if we would 

 secure and maintain proper regulation of the 



flow of our streams and make them agencies 

 of progress rather than devastating forces, 

 we must conserve the forests of the country. 

 It is only within a few years that we have 

 appreciated the importance of this policy. 

 The people have not awakened too soon. In 

 the state of New York during the past few 

 years large areas of forest tract have been 

 acquired by the state, and under the amend- 

 ment to the constitution adopted fifteen years 

 ago all lands so acquired are to be kept in- 

 violate. It is to be hoped that these pur- 

 chases will largely be extended and our 

 forest tracts put beyond danger of devasta- 

 tion. 



"The river should be kept, so far as pos- 

 sible, free from pollution. We must main- 

 tain this noble stream as a wholesome river 

 and not permit it to become a mere sewer. 

 This is a problem of great difficulty because 

 of local exigencies and of the demands of 

 established industries upon which the pros- 

 perity of many of our communities depends. 

 There are diversities of conditions which 

 should have intelligent appreciation, but we 

 must not be indifferent to the necessity of 

 protecting the health of the people and to the 

 importance of keeping our streams pure." 



Governor Hughes also plead for the pres- 

 ervation of the scenery of the Hudson, and 

 expressed the earnest hope that the two 

 states interested would cooperate "to safe- 

 guard the highlands and waters in which they 

 are both deeply interested." 



Conserving Miners' Lives 



Lyman Beecher Stowe says in the October 

 Outlook that about 30,000 men have been 

 killed in the coal mines of the United States 

 since 1889. About 7,000 were killed and in- 

 jured in 1906 alone, and, in 1907, he states 

 that over 3,000 were killed and 6,000 injured. 

 Mr. Stowe's article, which is entitled "To 

 the Rescue," describes the work of the newly 

 organized Government Rescue Corps, started 

 as a result of the work of Dr. Joseph A. 

 Holmes, chief of the Technologic Branch of 

 the Geological Survey. In May, 1908, Con- 

 gress authorized the investigation of mine 

 explosions, and in July, 1909, a Federal ap- 

 propriation of $150,000 was made to start 

 mine-rescue work in connection with a sta- 

 tion which had been opened the previous 

 December in Pittsburg. Three foreign ex- 

 perts on mine disasters came to this country 

 with suggestions for the development of the 

 rescue corps. The Government has already 

 established two experimental stations, the one 

 already mentioned at Pittsburg and a sub- 

 station at Urbana, 111., in connection with the 

 University of Illinois. Government mining 

 engineers are assigned to these stations, and 

 aside from the rescue work the experts test 

 explosives. 



Reports on all mine accidents, both in the 

 United States and foreign countries, are there 

 collected. After each disaster mine experts 



