Canadian Forestry Journal, April, 1918 



1651 



Fire Rangers Want Your Aid This Year! 



The danger season for forest fires 

 is at hand. Rapidly drying soil 

 has left the old grass, brush, leaves, 

 etc. in most perilous condition for 

 starting fires. 



An effort is being made by the 

 fire rangers in this province to keep 

 down the forest losses this year to 

 a minimum. They will succeed only 

 if every camper carefully extinguishes 

 his camp-fire before leaving it, if 

 every smoker refrains from tossing 

 away burnt matches or tobacco in 

 or near a wood, and if settlers in 

 the newly-opened districts guard their 

 land-clearing fires with the utmost 

 care. Settlers' fires continue to be 



the very worst source of forest con~ 

 flagration, although campers and care- 

 less smokers are close competitors. 

 "The fire rangers," says the Can- 

 adian Forestry Association, "want 

 every good citizen to regard himself 

 as a deputy ranger from now until 

 November first. 



"A Canadian forest was never 

 worth so much as to-day, never gave 

 so many jobs as to-day, never put 

 money into circulation as it does 

 this year." 



Sample of Bulletin used by hun- 

 dreds of English and French ne\^'S- 

 papers in Canada during April. 



''Passing the Buck'' on a Wood Supply 



Instigated, no doubt, by the U.S. 

 Fuel Controller, the order has gone 

 forth through Canadian Fuel Con- 

 troller Magrath that those ordering 

 their next winter's anthracite coal 

 are to receive seventy per cent, of 

 actual requirements, the stock on 

 hand being taken into consideration. 

 In other words, consumers are to 

 have in their cellars, when stocked 

 up, only seventy per cent, of next 

 winter's probable consumption. It 

 is also intimated that this order 

 may be abrogated later on, but 

 it will hold until further notice. 

 Which may be taken to mean says 

 » Toronto "Saturday Night," that it 

 will terminate only when the situation 

 clears up, if it does. This policy 

 is, no doubt, adopted in order that 

 there shall be a more equal dis- 

 tribution throughout the continent; 

 and it may be stated in this con- 

 nection that the United States Fuel 

 Controller is treating our various 

 Provinces in respect to coal exactly 

 as if we were just so many States 

 in the American Union. There is 

 absolutely no discrimination against 



us, as with other foreign countries 

 and as applied by the United States 

 not only on coal but various other 

 necessary commodities. 



The very fact that a cut of thirty 

 per cent, in our probable coal re- 

 quirements for next winter is deemed 

 necessary by the American Govern- 

 ment, should awake us to the neces- 

 sity of doing what we can to aid 

 ourselves through our own resources. 

 As it stands, however, we appear 

 to have done little or nothing, prefer- 

 ring to pass the buck on to Uncle 

 Sam, letting him become responsible 

 for keeping us from freezing to 

 death next winter. As the Pro- 

 vincial and the Ottawa Governments 

 appear to have passed up the entire 

 question, it seems necessary that 

 our various municipalities in Ontario 

 and Quebec take up the question 

 of providing a certain proportion 

 of firewood for emergencies. These 

 organizations should be getting to- 

 gether now, and a couple of months 

 hence the wood should begin to 

 arrive, else it will be too late." 



