76 CANADIAN FORE STKY ASSOCIATION . 



with a mass of inflammable debris on each side ? We, in the Province of 

 Quebec, know what happened to the wooded lands on either side of the 

 Quebec and Lake St. John Railway. We are trying to prbfit by this bitter 

 experience and maintain a patrol along the National Transcontinental Rail- 

 way now, under construction. New Brunswick is alive to the danger, and 

 proposes that this railway, running through its timber lands, be operated by 

 means of electricity, to be generated at the Grand Falls. It is claimed that 

 this water power is capable of supplying sufficient electrical energy to oper- 

 ate the line from the seaboard to Quebec City. If the River St. John has 

 a minimum volume of water (and we must figure only on the minimum), 

 capable of doing this, then it behooves the Province to set aside, in perpe- 

 tuity, enough forest reserve to maintain that minimum volume, otherwise 

 the outlay for the generating plant will be of little avail. This system, if it 

 proved practicable, will eliminate a large percentage of the danger, but not 

 all. Careless people walking along the track may set fire in various ways. 

 Unless smoking cars have the windows wire-screened, glowing cigar butts 

 and pipe ashes, etc., thrown out, may start a fire. Thus it is obvious that 

 even if electricity be the motive power and locomotive sparks be not a factor 

 for spreading fire in the forests, there is still a necessity for patrolling the 

 line. In Quebec, south of the St. Lawrence, the National Transcontinental 

 Railway runs through a district where water power is rather a scarce 

 article, owing to the fact that the distance from the river to the boundary 

 line is so narrow. Three streams, viz. : The River du Loup, River du Sud, 

 and the River Chaudiere are large enough to warrant developing, but the 

 du Loup and the Chaudiere are already harnessed up and power plants are 

 making use of all the current they can generate. Thus we will have to de- 

 pend solely on the Grand Falls to operate the whole length of line to Que- 

 bec City, practically speaking. Quebec is heartily in sympathy with the 

 project, if it can be proved to be practicable, and I am positive that the 

 Province of Quebec will aid to the utmost in maintaining the forests on all 

 tributaries of the River St. John which radiate towards the north and into 

 the Province of Quebec. On the north shore of the River St. Lawrence we 

 have water power in abundance to operate the line from Quebec City to the 

 Ontario boundary line. 



The patrolling of the Transcontinental Railway is a serious problem 

 for all the Provinces. In Quebec we will have about 600 miles of it run- 

 ning through forest lands. Until electricity or some other motive force 

 can be used to operate it, a very thorough and efficient patrol is required. 

 If two men, at $50 per month,, say, on railway velocipedes, can attend to 

 ten miles of track, it would mean our employing 60 men for six months in 

 each year, a total outlay of $20,000, including equipment. It would take a 

 forest fire of no large dimensions to destroy that amount of value in timber, 

 in one, two or three days, according to conditions. Would not this be a 

 very moderate premium of insurance for the Government to pay on this 

 extremely valuable asset? 



The forests are essential to profitable agriculture, the lumber trade, in- 

 dustrial establishments, for sanitation and many other things. They are 

 also an extremely valuable asset in the way of affording sport, i. e., fishing 

 and shooting. We are all familiar with the results obtained by fostering 



