NEW BRUNSWICK FORESTRY CONVENTION 137 



section ; and would say, in answer to the statement made by the 

 Surveyor-General, that the Intercolonial Railway look after the fires in 

 good shape, and also the Canadian Pacific Railway. Then if these roads are 

 not guilty of negligence, they will not come under the operation of the 

 section, supposing it was put into law. My experience of the Shore Line is 

 this the Canadian Pacific Railway and the N. B. Southern run through a 

 farm of mine the N. B. Southern through three - quarters of a mile of 

 wooded land. The Canadian Pacific has only burned us twice, once burning 

 our fields, and another time burning our farm over, and another time farm 



* O ' 



fences ; but those were grass fires, in both cases : but the N. B. Southern 

 road, in addition to the danger from sparks, the engines are old, their ash- 

 pans are all out of order, and Mr. McLean acknowledges himself that they do 

 not keep the ashes, but distribute them along the road. Well, they get on a 

 partially decayed sleeper, which is not unknown on that line, and the sparks 

 go to the side of the road ; they never cut last year's or any other year's 

 grass, do not cut out any refuse they make from replacing sleepers, and so 

 everything is ignitable, and year after year I have to engage men to fight 

 the fires of that road. 



I notice the C. P. R., and, as far as I know, the I. C. R., do things 

 better. They keep cleared up and cut out the distance required, 400 rods or 

 whatever it is. You have this difficulty, that you cannot prove that the 

 railways caused the fire, and that they were not caused by someone with a 

 cigarette. I feel that something ought to be done to prevent these fires. 

 Last year was a favorable one to the owners of property. We only had to 

 put out one small fire, when usually we have to fight quite a few during the 

 season. 



Now we go down and cut and burn for ourselves, but I do not think we 

 ought to be put to that expense, and when our fences are burned it is pretty 

 difficult to get the N. B. Southern to rebuild a fence. 



I think there is nothing in that report that will do any harm to the In- 

 tercolonial and Canadian Pacific Railways, but it will only reach the branch 

 roads. The N. B. Southern is not the only branch road, but a few others are 

 operating in the same way that it is. 



A STRANGER I came here to listen, but I might just say that I live 

 in a spot where we frequently have fires, and although it is generally said 

 that the Intercolonial Railway looks after their share of the fires, yet two 

 years ago my sons and I put out two fires which would have been danger- 



