The \'ictorui, li.i . ( oiuttttiun. 



127 



cessary to rediKc this an-a to Moiiiethin;.' 

 like 30,(i(>i) airi'.s |u'r man. To iiropcrlv 

 cover tlie |>roviiice there shoulil he 2,30(J 

 fire wardens per season, ami this Htajje 

 must be reached. The numlier niiylit 

 seem lar},'e, the chief forester said, liut in 

 Ontario there were over 1,000 wardens in 

 service during; the season. 



Speaking after Mr. Benedict's pa]*er, .Mr. 

 Maurice (^uinn, of Saj^'inaw, Midi., U.S.A., 

 referred to the lack of fire protection in 

 the Alherni district, where he saiil in the 

 ease of a recent fire on Cameron Lake 

 mountain tliere was no one present to 

 send word of the dan^rer and no one ap 

 peared to be interesteil. lie spoke «if an 

 urgent necessity for the eilucation of the 

 peo{)le in the vicinity in re;,'ard to the 

 danger of forest fires. He asserted the 

 work should be the combined care of luin 

 bermen, farmers and railways. On Al 

 berni Canal the 8i)eaker instanced the 

 special difliculties met with. Alberni 

 Canal, he said, was fifty five miles in 

 length with high mountains on the shore 

 line. Men found it impossible to climb 

 the mountains, and to obtain assistance 

 boats are necessary. In the event of a 

 fire occurring at Oreat Central lake, he 

 said, ten million feet of lumber would bo 

 destroyed before a lire-fighting force could 

 be assembled to cope with it, and prevent 

 its spread. The only remedy, said the 

 speaker, was the expenditure of money in 

 the provision of conveniences for trans 

 mission of inform;ition ami the maintcn 

 anoe of an efiicienf fire fightinir force. Mix 

 fdea for efliciencv in fire-fighting forc»*n 

 was supported by the other speakers. 



KaILW AV KlHK SlTlTATInN. 



Mr. Clyde Leavitt, chief fire inspector 

 for the Hoard of Railway Commissionerit 

 and Forester of the Commission of Conser 

 \ntion, read a paper c»n 'The Kailway 

 Fire Situation in Canada.' In part he 

 said: 



' While many fires have been attributed 

 to the railways, for which thev were not. 

 as a matter of fact, res; •■ ln»4 



from this s«)nrce has im Uvn 



far more than the country could afford. 

 Forest fires are priictically preventable, 

 but to accomplish this it is nore^snrr to 

 spend Mxmey for jirevi-ntivr 



'The Hoard of Kailway <■ r« 



for Canada has had the matter of lore't 

 fires under consiileration for several year* 

 and has issued reifulations front time I" 

 time. The hi' ^•r of ' r,\ on 



this subject w:. i May -'. and 



provides for the use of spark iirr.'stcr*. 

 the non-use o' lignite coal, the . -» •' ' -h 

 ment and maintenance of Pre-Kt i* 



ri>gulation of the burning of in' '<• 



material along ri-.'ht-. of way. t >n- 



ization of special ratrols by the r.-iilway 

 companii»s and other measure* bv Boch 



companies ner.>««Mry to the di^ruverv and 

 extinguishing of tireH along riKbts of way. 

 The two latter ar.- the nuMt • ,nt 



new features of the new order, ml 



of the other provisiooH wore provtuiuU ia 

 effect. 



' For the administration of thea« provi- 

 sions of the onler and th -• '-rion of 



the work of the railway « -, undi>r 



it. a cooperative |.|iii I 

 with the fore.-t bran, h oi 

 lands of Hritish Columbia, and with the 

 fori'stry and park» branchm, Itominion 

 department of the interior. Certain offi 

 cials of thi-sc dejiartiiMTif " havr bvf-n ap 

 pointed olliciTs of tin- bo.ifl with author 

 ity to deal direct with the railway com 

 panics and to vary the requirements U|> 

 or down, as local conditions at any time 

 or place may re<iiiiri- or . In thio 



way a perfectly elasti. is provid 



cd, so that efficient prote«tion is assarrd 

 at a minimum cost to the railway com- 

 panies and with a minimum of r^ tape 

 and loss of time. 



' I'atrols under this plan are now in 

 effect at the cost of the railwa\ rompan 

 ies on the Canadian i'acifii-, Canadtao 

 Northern, Grand Trunk I'acifir and (irrat 

 Northern railway line>» in tlir forected 

 sections of Hritish <'"b!'»it(ia, AU»rrta. 

 Saskatchewan and " i. The plan 



is working very sati ... : .;ly so far. It 

 is expected that a similar system of rail 

 way patrols will be establi.of ' tor the 

 new order in the i'a»tcrn [ ' next 



spring. The railways are : inter 



eated in preventing forwt fir .. great 



or extent than any other tingle iDterr«i 

 in the country. 



'The patrols specified by th*> ••hi*'f Hr» 

 inspector have in every on 

 discu.ssed in ailvance at coi.: 

 railway oflfieiala. so there is no ■ Me 



ground for » charge that arbitrnry artion 

 has been taken. 



'The gradual • 

 electricity and 



power may be especte*! to materially d» 

 crease fori^st fire dan.'-" 



'In order to l>o ' .-oi»«i«leBl 



and lo «««eure the fi; 

 outlined for the pr 

 Area, step* should n 

 p.. . .., 



th. 



• lilting frotii the ■• 

 road*, and also for ' 



burning or by h- •' 



all brush resultin,,- '■ 



lions Old .J.<»>fi» » r..- ie» 



•hould be - 

 Only in ti 



tion he seeured at a rr 

 •The »!- 



gulatinns 



,v • ■•. cot'.on il ra;.way nree 



