20 METHODS OF COMMUNICATION FOR FOREST PROTECTION 



An analysis of these requirements reveals the following facts: 



(1) Most of the messages which it is necessary to transmit are long and involved 

 in character. 



(2) The longer and more intricate messages generally have to be transmitted 

 over great distances but in a relatively few cases over v'ery short distances. 



(3) Where relatively short distances are involved there are generally two classes 

 of messages to be transmitted. 



(4) The longer distances vary on an average from 10 to 40 miles, with 100 miles 

 as a usual maximum.. 



(5) The shorter distances vary on an average from one-eighth of a mile to 5 

 miles, with 15 miles as a maximum. 



Section 21 Superiority of the Telephone Evident 



A study of the kind of messages that must be ser.t, the men who send them, and 

 the ranges over which the communication system must operate leads inevitably to 

 the conclusion that only the telephone comes near enough to meeting all requirements 

 to form the basis of the system. It is among the most rapid of the methods- of com- 

 munication and, therefore, well adapted to long intricate messages; it requires no 

 skill to operate, will give more service at less cost, considering installation, operation, 

 and maintenance, than any other system, operates efficiently within the range limits 

 desired, may be connected with at any place along the wires with easily portable 

 equipment and, as will be shown, may be quickly and cheaply extended within 

 adequate limits to nev* locations for temporary use during emergencies. 



Its advantage over the telegraph is largely iri requiring no training to operate. 

 Over wireless methods it has the same advantage while additional objections to wire- 

 less are the relative non -portability of the equipment for sending purposes, the com- 

 plexity of the apparatus, and the limitations on the establishment of sufficient 

 stations due to cost. The telephone, therefore, must form the basis of our entire 

 system of intercommunication, and as a result of this decision equipment and methods 

 of construction particularly adapted to forest-protection purposes have been specially 

 developed and employed until there are now more than 30,000 miles of such lines in 

 successful operation in the United States and nearly 2,000 miles in Canada. 



Section 22 Auxiliary Methods often Required 



The wide acceptance of the telephone for this class of work, however, does not 

 entirely obviate the necessity for givinlg some consideration to other methods of com- 

 munication. Several important conditions -must be recognized wherein the telephone 

 alone does not fully meet all requirements. In this we find another parallel to military 

 communication for, in spite of the perfection of telephonic communication by army 

 signal services, several other means of conveying information have been carefully 

 developed. In forest-protection work various other systems are of considerable value 

 under the circumstances that will now be explained. 



1 'COMMUNICATION IN ADVANCE OF TELEPHONE CONSTRUCTION 



In equipping a large area of timber-land with telephonic communication it will 

 nearly always be impracticable to install a complete system in a single season. In fact 

 for reasons of expediency a considerable period of years may elapse before such a 

 forest is fully equipped. There arises then an immediate need for some temporary 

 system of communication which will bridge over the period during which the permanent 

 system is in process of development. This is a consideration of very great importance 

 in Canada where specialization in fire protection, with its accompanying construction 



