Th* V.ilue of a Ranger's '..'ife 



by 

 Julia 9. Shinn 



A pretty important question this, on the Sierra There 

 all the permanent force, the short tern men and a oajorl 

 of the summer guards are married men and know "by this tire 

 that their wives oan make or break them, ao far as the For- 

 est Service is concerned. 



Perhaps under no other circumstances is a wife so im- 

 portant a factor in a man's success. In town, a mechanic, 

 a teacher, a clerk, ven a doctor or a minister oan de good 

 work and live his business or professional life out without 

 his associates knowing whether he has a wife or mot. But in 

 a Forest she is a part of the game, or if not the geme short- 

 ly innes to an end, far no woman can live happily awtvy from 

 all nther interests if the one vital interest in her hus- 

 band's life has no value for her. A discontented wife inev- 

 itably forces a ranger's resignation. 



Cn the ether hand, if she, too, realizes that the es- 

 tablishment of the Forest Service was one of the biggest 

 things ever done toward a fine socialism a work by the 

 Hation as a whole for the good of its future population -; 

 if she realizes that upon the smooth running of the many 

 sirall wheels in the organization depends the effectiveness 

 of the whole machine; if she remembers that even one woman's 

 attitude ttward the Service in which her husband has a part 

 counts, in the community where she lives, she oan be of im- 

 .surable help. If her attitude is right, she need net do 

 a thing, though of course we all know women who do. 



There was the ranger's wife who always let her husband 

 > to a fire as quickly as he could saddle his horse, while 

 she got previsions and a couple of feeds f barley on a pack 

 norse, to follow if he were not back within a few hours. 

 There was another one who kept run of the many free use per- 

 mits issued by her husb&nd, and when he was in another part 



his district marked the posts nr measured the cord-wood 

 so that the applicant need not lose time waiting. There 

 are the cany wives who answer telephones and wjtite down 

 memoranda of messages to be given their ranger men when they 

 return to the cabin; type writ* reports and copy maps; paper 

 a room and rut up shelves when the improvement funds for 

 the cabin have been exhausted; answer Forest iatters when 

 their men are in the "high country" and scne applicant for 

 a privilege wants information at cnoe. The Sierra _P full 



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