Canadian Forestry Journal, July, 1915 



125 



The result of this work is that to-day 

 in a most critical situation, the fires 

 reported on railways are incipient 

 and of a negligible character as re- 

 gards amount of damage. I empha- 

 size the word incipient, as it shows 

 that the men are on the spot at the 

 beginning and snufiP out what might, 

 if neglected, be serious fires. The Na- 

 tional Transcontinental is the most 

 dangerous problem in this line which 

 we have to contend with, the eon- 

 tractors have completed their work, 

 the G.T.P. has not taken over the 

 road, and it is not under the control 

 of the Board of Railway Commission- 

 ers of Canada. Nevertheless the Hon. 

 ^Minister of Railways is giving the 

 matter attention and precautions are 

 being taken, but it takes time to con- 

 fer and organize a thorough patrol 

 on several hundreds of miles of rail- 

 way. Some large bodies of pulpwood 

 along this line have ju.st been burned, 

 and some other fires are reported, but 



T am meeting with co-operation from 

 the superintendents and hope to avert 

 any disaster to the forests. 



Knowing as I do that the staff of 

 officers under me and the fire-rangers 

 have been doing yeoman service dur- 

 ing these trying times and with very 

 good success, it is my plain duty to 

 defend them and make it clear to the 

 public that forest protection in this 

 Province is very far from being 

 "pitifully weak.'' notwithstanding 

 the fact that there are some fires in 

 the settled townships to the north of 

 ^Montreal. The Canadian Forestry 

 Association is very likely the best 

 posted organization as regards forest 

 protection in the Dominion. I would 

 therefore ask the Editor of the Ga- 

 zette to consult that body and get 

 from it an opinion as to whether the 



Province of Quebec is up to date or 

 not. 



W. C. J. HALL. 



The Columbia River at Parsaw, B.C., showing overflow in high water season. 



