PLANNING THE TELEPHONE SYSTEM 



25 



settlement comes well up to the border of the forest land and rural telephone lines 

 are well developed in the settlements, the most efficient system of telephone communi- 

 cation can generally be secured by extending these rural lines into the timber to 

 connect with the headquarters of the various district rangers. In deciding upon 

 this plan it is necessary to weigh the cost of tolls on the commercial and rural lines, 

 and the quality of service rendered, against the original cost of installation and the 

 annual cost of maintenance of an independent forest-protection system. In doing 

 this it must be remembered that only the main circuits can thus be provided for. 

 It still remains necessary to connect the district headquarters with strategic point* 

 in the districts. A further disadvantage in having the main circuits outside the 

 forest area lies in the fact that the interior mileage of line, to which connection can 

 be made by portable telephone, is thereby considerably reduced and the average 

 distance that it will be necessary for the patrol to go in order to establish connection 

 by telephone is likely to be materially increased. 



2 INTERNAL SYSTEMS 



Whenever, as frequently happens in Canada and in some parts of the United 

 States, there is little or no settlement along the greater part of the exterior border 

 of the timbered area it becomes necessary to plan the system wholly within the 

 forest. Certain general principles hold good for such plans regardless 1 of the size of 

 the area involved, providing it is not so large that circuits of impossible length would 

 be needed to reach the more remote districts. For purposes of illustration we may 

 assume an area of 4,000 square miles or approximately 2,500,000 acres. This would, 

 perhaps, be divided into ten ranger districts, each with a main headquarters. Eight 

 lookout stations and 20 to 28 patrolmen and " smoke chasers " would likely be 

 required. This, of course, would vary with the many factors that determine the 

 justifiable expenditure, and cannot be stated arbitrarily. 



. INTERNAL SYSTEM 



Supervisor 



1 Fig. 4. Internal telephone system on a forest reserve 



At some central point, preferably with good mail, telegraph, and railway service, 

 and with large supplies of men and materials, the chief ranger or supervisor will be 

 located. Obviously, a point as near as possible to the geographical centre of the tract 

 should be selected for the main headquarters, unless topography or established lines 

 of communication make some other choice more advantageous. The choice of this 



