654 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



the switch board only to hear : ' ' Do I 

 bring sandwiches or cream puffs?" 



"Puffs," she answers, feeling her 

 ears get hot as she senses the impatience 

 of the Supervisor. 



"Have you got a good recipe?" 



"I'll call you up at noon." 



Later, the dictation finished, she 

 begins her typewriting. Again the 

 telephone. This time it is: "Is there 

 a doctor book in your Forest Library? 

 Can you find out what's good for 

 croup? 1 I'm afraid Betty is going to 

 have it, and I'm all alone here, you 

 know; Jack's gone to the Chowchilla 

 fire." 



She works fast to make up for time 

 lost looking up croup remedies, but 

 before the letters are ready for the 

 Supervisor, a district ranger calls in: 

 "Can you tell me what was paid per 

 foot last spring for those eaves troughs 

 put up on the office ? ' ' 



Fortunately she remembers the name 

 of the firm from whom the troughs 

 were bought and can run through the 

 accounts for last year and dig out the 

 desired information. 



'That much? Gee! Too rich for a 

 ranger's blood. Thanks just the same." 



Back to the typewriter, when a 

 knock comes at the office back door. 

 The Supervisor can see that door from 

 his windows, and calls out: "It's old 

 Piutey ; I haven't time to waste on him. 

 Will you interview him?" 



Old Piutey proves to have a basket 

 to sell. "Four dolla you. Dat Susie 

 woman she say 'Nother woman, fi' 

 dolla. Jane, she my fren' four dolla 

 he." Down falls the clerk before such 

 subtle flattery, and four of her hard- 

 earned dollars are transferred to the 

 corner of Piutey 's red bandanna, though 

 she has a sneaking feeling that a good 

 business woman would not have given 

 more than three dollars for the basket. 

 "Never mind," she says to herself, 

 poor old Sue needs the money and this 

 will make a good wedding gift for the 

 Massachusetts cousin, anyhow." 



Once more she tackles the letters, 

 and this time they are finished, though 

 not till noon. 



After noon come accounts; for a 

 field clerk, like the clerk of the country 

 store or the country school teacher, 



must be familiar with all phases of the 

 work. Here is a voucher signed in the 

 wrong space. A new one must be 

 prepared and sent to the creditor of 

 the Forest with more careful instruc- 

 tions. Here is a voucher amounting 

 to over $50 and no bids. Will the men 

 never learn to heed that restriction! 

 She goes to the telephone to call up the 

 offending ranger. 



"Air. Smith, is this your forage 

 voucher for two tons of hay delivered 

 at the Mount Bullion Station?" 



"Yes, marm." 



"It's for sixty dollars!" 



"Yes, marm." 



"But there are no bids." 



"No, marm. You can't get bids on 

 hay, Miss Brown; no two lots of hay 

 are alike and that there's the only 

 first-class hay in this neighborhood." 

 'You might have bought it a ton at 

 a time sent it in on two vouchers of 

 different dates." 



"No marm you sec I got it cheaper 

 all on one load," replies honest Smith. 



Rebuked, the clerk says faintly "All 

 right goodbye." Then she racks her 

 brain for an "exigency statement" 

 that will obviate the necessity of bids. 

 Finally on the ground that "no two 

 lots of hay are alike" she types in 

 "Only dealer within a reasonable dis- 

 tance from whom the article could be 

 obtained," and prays her guardian 

 angel that the voucher may pass the 

 scrutiny of the Fiscal Agent safely. 



Having worked through the vouchers 

 and prepared them for signature, she 

 turns to a bunch of "special use" 

 reports. A number of them have been 

 approved by the Supervisor and the 

 permits are easily made out, the letters 

 of transmittal quickly prepared. But 

 here is one in which Ranger Grayson 

 recommends the granting of a five-acre 

 residence permit. 



'The old man has a sick girl," writes 

 Grayson, "and they like to camp there. 

 He thinks he needs five acres. It's a 

 cold canyon, anyhow, and no one else 

 would want it, so I recommend that 

 the use be granted. He is a poor man 

 and can't really afford the five dollars, 

 so I hope you can put it lower." 



Now Grayson knows, as well as the 

 clerk does, that regulations are regula- 



