126 



Canadian Forestry Journal, December, 1914 



baggage and a sixteeu-foot Chestuut canoe, 

 were taken by train on a logging railway 

 running northwesterly from Prince Albert, 

 a distance of about eighty miles, to Crook- 

 ed Lake, the beginning of that wonder- 

 ful series of watercourses, which, after 

 three and a half months' hard travel, was 

 to land them in Dawson, Y.T. Though this 

 route, by way of a series of lakes, the 

 Clearwater River, Athabasca River and 

 Lake, and the Mackenzie River, to the 

 Arctic circle, is not much heard of nowa- 

 days, it was, for a hundred years, one of 

 the main highways of the Hudson's Bay 

 Comiiany. This part of the trip was ac- 

 complished without incident, the various 

 points where there are Forestry Branch 

 officers being visited and other duties per- 

 formed. 



This part of the journey was performed 

 without guides, the two foresters paddling, 

 portaging, camping and cooking along this 

 two thousand mile journey without mishap. 

 At Fort Macpherson, near the mouth of the 

 Mackenzie River, Indian guides were en- 

 gaged, as it was important to make good 

 time, and the passage of the divide be- 

 tween the valley of the Mackenzie and the 

 valley of the Yukon is somewhat intricate. 

 The party then ascended the Rat River, 

 which enters the Mackenzie near its mouth. 

 This route is known as Macdougall Pass. 

 After paddling through some small lakes 

 on the divide, they reached a tributary of 

 the Bell River, and then passed into the 

 Bell itself. Traversing the Bell through- 

 out, they entered the Porcupine and 

 paddled down it to the Yukon River, which 

 receives the Porcui)ine at Fort Yukon, in 

 Alaska, U.S.A. They then ascended the 

 Y^ukon River and reached Dawson on Aug. 

 24. From that time until they left to come 

 out over the White Pass, on Oct. 9, they 

 were engaged in exploring the different 

 valleys and taking note of the state of the 

 timber and the possibility of its protection 

 from fire. Timber is vital to the carrying 

 on of the industries of the Yukon, the dif- 

 ferent mining plants using thousands of 

 cords for fuel every year. Fires have done 

 great damage, and the need for protection 

 was evident, but just what will be recom- 

 mended will be made known in the report 

 to the Branch. It is interesting to know 

 that the trip was made without mishap, 

 and that although the route from Prince 

 Albert lay to the north and east of the 

 Peace River country, into which settlers 

 are now pouring, the travelers went over 

 a comparatively well traveled path, and 

 had no difficulty in securing supplies at 

 the Hudson's Bay Company posts, suffi- 

 cient to carry them over the next stage of 

 the journey. 



From the White Pass and Skagway they 

 returned down the coast to Vancouver and 

 returned east by railway. 



Mr. E. S. Davison, who is a native of 



Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, has enlisted 

 with the second Canadian contingent for 

 the war in Europe, and is now at the 

 training camp at Kingston, where he has 

 the rank of sergeant. 



BRITISH COLUMBIA FOREST PRO- 

 TECTION. 



In spite of hard conditions, the British 

 Columbia fire protection system rendered 

 a good account of itself this year. A re- 

 jiort of the work says: — 



'AH records indicate that the weather 

 has been drier during the present summer 

 than at any other time during the past 

 twenty years. Streams have run dry which 

 have not been seen dry before. In addi- 

 tion, it has been very hot and windy in the 

 southern portion of the province. Be- 

 tween 2,000 and 3,000 small fires have oc- 

 curred, and it has been necessary to in- 

 crease greatly the number of fire patrol- 

 men and guards and to employ numerous 

 fire-fighters. Fires have been fought re- 

 gardless of their size or location, whether 

 in settled country, range lands, scrub, re- 

 production or timber lands. The result 

 very few fires got beyond 

 those which had done so 

 under control before they 

 had destroyed much merchantable timber. 

 Thus the total fire loss for the province 

 has been extremely small, although the 

 cost of protection this year has been about 

 $350,000. These results prove the value 

 of elasticity of organization, since the 

 forces could be increased quickly wherever 

 weather conditions made such action ne- 

 cessary. Protection has not been restrict- 

 ed to merchantable timber alone, but has 



has been that 

 control, while 

 were brought 



covered the whole country, 

 not been able to gain a 

 where. ' 



and fires 

 foothold 



have 

 any- 



ANNUAL CONVENTION OF HOO-HOO. 



The twenty-third annual convention of 

 the lumbermen's fraternal organization, 

 known as the Order of Hoo-Hoo, held in 

 Winnipeg Sept. 8 to 11, was very success- 

 ful in spite of the outbreak of war, which 

 somewhat reduced the expected attendance. 

 Delegates were present from all parts of 

 Canada and the United States, the total 

 attendance, including delegates and their 

 wives, numbering 524. The business of the 

 Order was despatched at the morning ses- 

 sions, and the afternoons and evenings 

 were devoted to social features. Most of 

 the functions connected with the conven- 

 tion were held at the Fort Garry Hotel. 

 An interesting feature of the meeting was 

 the election of a Canadian, Mr. E. D. Ten- 

 nant, of Winnipeg, to the highest office in 

 the Order, Snark of the Universe. San 

 Francisco was selected as the place of 

 meeting in September, 1915. 



