L: AX ADI AN FOEESTRY ASSOCIATION. 37 



the railways in Pennsylvania had issued orders that every man in their 

 employ should be on the lookout for fire, and use every endeavor to pre- 

 vent its spread. If an engineer noticed a fire in a forest he would stop at 

 the next telegraph station and report it. A section gang would then be 

 quickly on the scene. 



Another thing in fire prevention was education. Pennsylvania forests 

 were mostly cut over, with settlements scattered through them. These set- 

 tlers have believed from time immemorial that it was necessary to have fires, 

 particularly to make pastures for cattle. Instead of antagonizing these 

 people, the foresters go to them and ask for their co-operation, showing 

 how the two objects might be combined. This plan was having good re- 

 sults, and the residents were becoming prompt in assisting in putting out 

 fires. 



The Chairman commended Mr. William's remarks and thought the 

 plan of getting the railways to co-operate should be tried in Canada. 



Mr. Woods said that on the section of the Canadian Pacific Railway 

 where he lived, between St. John and Vanceboro, the railway had issued 

 strict orders to the men to take active measures to combat fire as soon as 

 noticed. In one case, where a fire started on the line of the Canadian 

 Pacific Railway, that company was notified, and inside of two hours they 

 had twenty men on the spot. 



The Chairman said that while he had not one word to say against that 

 company he believed the officials were trying to do their duty to Canada 

 still, in his district, they were not taking the care Mr. Woods described. 

 Fires had been started dozens of times in timberlands with no effort to 

 put them out. In fact, limit owners had been deprived of a privilege they 

 formerly enjoyed of running hand cars over the track for the purpose of 

 patrolling the property. Senator Edwards also spoke of the need of regu- 

 lating the times and method of burning slash by settlers. 



Mr. F. C. Whitman pointed out that in Nova Scotia a settler was not 

 allowed to burn up his slash or fallow without a permit from the Chief 

 Ranger. If the latter thought the settler could not do it properly, he sent 

 a ranger to show him how to do it. In this way Nova Scotia had been 

 clear of settlers' fires in recent years. 



Mr. W. R. Brown said the Maine Central Railway had fitted up four 

 of its locomotives to burn oil for fuel at a cost of $450 each. This was an 

 absolute preventive of fire from locomotives. 



Mr. Knechtel instanced the case of New York State, where the Legis- 

 lature had passed a bill requiring the use of oil-burning locomotives in for- 

 est districts, but the railways were contesting it on account of the cost. 

 One little line to Raquette Lake was using oil successfully. The New York 

 Central had a "fire train," fitted with tanks and lines of hose to sprinkle 

 the right-of-way. He considered Mr. Williams' pack train worth bringing 

 to the attention of the Dominion authorities. At the present time the Do- 

 minion Forestry Branch were using water sacks, which a man on horseback 

 could fill at a stream and then gallop away to the fire. 



