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Canadian Forestry Journal, October, igrj. 



235 



is no river or lake. The fighters get 

 on both sides and endeavor to nar- 

 row in the front. Then away in ad- 

 vance a place is selected where the 

 fire will go slow, such as the crest of 

 a hill, and here a trench is made. 

 Unlike an army a forest fire is ir- 

 resistible in charging up hill while 

 it is at its weakest in charging down 

 hill. The trench is therefore dug 

 just over the crest of the hill, where 

 the fire will pause before it starts to 

 go down. In addition to the trench- 

 ing the men sometimes make a 

 *'back-fire." That is they go a little 

 way on the windward side of the 

 trench and start a fire in the grass 

 twigs and leaves which fire they 

 stop when it reaches the trench. If 

 there is time they go still farther 

 back and start another fire which 

 dies out when it reaches the burned 

 ground. Then when the main fire 

 reaches the burned space it will 

 have so little to live on that it can 

 be stopped by the fighters at the 

 trench. As in Diagram No. 1 ran- 

 gers, as far as they can be spared, 

 are placed through the woods to put 

 out sparks and embers blown from 

 the main fire. 



In Battle Order. 



This is a general description of 

 how fires are fought. But fire- 

 fighting is a war. and, as in military 

 warfare, each battle must be fought 

 on its own merits. The successful 

 general is he who best selects his 

 position, who posts his forces in the 

 most strategic positions and who 

 gets the assistance of natural obsta- 

 cles to stop the rush of the enemy. 



This is work that requires train- 

 ing, sagacity, endurance and cour- 

 age. Our Canadian fire-fighters are 

 exhibiting these qualities more and 

 more every year, and as good citi- 

 zens we should strive to learn more 

 about them and to back them up in 

 every way we can in this patriotic 

 work. 



THE ORIGIN OF FIRES. 



{Montreal Herald) 



"The Canadian Forestry Associa- 

 tion is making a determined effort to 

 awaken public feeling in regard to 

 the numerous fires with which the 

 forest regions of Canada are devas- 

 tated every year. While a good 

 many preventive measures are al- 

 ready in effect, it is evident that the 

 Association believes the authorities 

 are still far from doing their full 

 duty in the matter of supervising the 

 settlement of forest areas and ot 

 preventing the numerous fires con- 

 sequent on settlement. There can be 

 no doubt that a very large propor- 

 tion of the fire ravages caused every 

 year are the direct result of the care- 

 lessness of settlers and prospectors 

 and the Association is doing an ex- 

 cellent work in impressing this upon 

 the authorities." 



ALBERT GRIGG CHOSEN. 



Mr. Albert Grigg, M.P.P., for Al- 

 goma, was appointed Deputy Min- 

 ister of Lands and Forests, succeed- 

 ing the late Mr. Aubrey White. Mr. 

 Grigg was born on May 9, 1873, in 

 the county of Huron. He was edu- 

 cated at Bruce Mines, of which place 

 he later became Mayor. He is a 

 pioneer of the Algoma district, hav- 

 ing filled many public positions 

 there. For three years he was li- 

 cense inspector, for one year Reeve 

 of Plummer township, and for two 

 years the Mayor of Bruce Mines. 

 He was first elected to the Ontario 

 Legislature as member for Algoma 

 at a bye-election in 1908, and subse- 

 quently re-elected at the general 

 elections of 1911 and 1914. He 

 quickly gained a reputation as a 

 forceful and interesting speaker and 

 was regarded as one of the most 

 promising members of his party. Mr. 

 Grigg is progressive in spirit and 

 has a thorough acquaintance with 

 the conditions in the forest districts 

 of his province. 



