672 



CamnUaii Forestry Journal, August, ipi6 



Government of the Province of 

 British Columbia, and it was there- 

 fore one of the most important 

 meetings ever held on the Pacific 

 coast. From England by cable Mr. 

 Hendry directed the work of pre- 

 paration in the early part of the 

 year, and at the Convention he pre- 

 sided and pushed things through to 

 a most successful conclusion. 



A Great Organiser. 



Mr. Hendry had that sure touch 

 of a great organizer and captain of 

 industry — he was always able to 

 pick out and surround himself with 



associates who had dropped the 

 word "fail"' from their vocabulary, 

 and the result was the great organi- 

 zations which they jointl}' built up 

 on the Pacific coast. 



He was a man of generous in- 

 stincts, and was never happier than 

 when surrounded b\' his friends at 

 his stately home in Vancouver or on 

 his steam yacht among the beauty 

 spots of the Gulf of Georgia. He 

 is survived by his widow and one 

 daughter, Mrs. Eric Hamber, who, 

 with his other relatives, have the 

 sympathy of many friends both in 

 this country and in Europe. 



Fire Protection on the Railway Lines 



Satisfactory progress was made 

 during 1915 in the railway fire 

 protection work, which has been 

 handled during the past four sea- 

 sons under the regulations of the 

 Board of Railway Commissioners. 

 The co-operation of the various 

 federal and provincial fire-protec- 

 tive organizations has been given 

 freely, and, with very few excep- 

 tions, the railways have also co-oper- 

 ated heartily and effectively. 



A total of 686 fires in forest sec- 

 tions is reported as having orig- 

 inated within 300 feet of the lines 

 of railways subject to the Railway 

 Commission's jurisdiction. Of these, 

 43.4 per cent are definitely attributed 

 to railway ag-encies, 27.8 per cent to 

 known causes other than railways, 

 and 28.8 per cent to unknown causes. 

 Of the total area burned over, 

 amounting to about 37,263 acres, 

 33.1 per cent is chargeable against 

 the railways, 20.9 per cent to known 

 causes other than railways, and 46 

 per cent to unknowiv causes. The 

 total damage done is estimated at 

 $74,256. Of this, the railways are 

 definitelv charged with only 11.2 per 

 cent, while 24.2 per cent of the dam- 

 aee is due to known causes other 

 than railways, and 64.6 per cent to 



unknown causes. Ihus the rail- 

 ways, exclusive of government lines 

 and a few railways having provincial 

 charters, are directly charged with 

 less than half of the rotal number of 

 fires reported as having originated 

 within 300 feet of tiie track ; these 

 burned over less than one-third of 

 the total area reported, and did only 

 one-tenth of the total estimated dam- 

 age. This showing is distinctly 

 favourable to the railways, especial- 

 ly when it is consideied that this 10 

 per cent of damage totals less than 

 $8,400. These figures show that the 

 railways have been remarkabl}^ efifi- 

 cient in extinguishing their own 

 fires, as well as those due to out- 

 side causes. 



Of all fires reported, the causes 

 are as follows : Locomotives, 33.9 

 per cent ; railway employees, 9.5 per 

 cent; tramps, etc., 11.4 per cent; set- 

 tlers. 12.5 per cent; other known 

 causes. 3.9 per cent ; unknown 

 causes, 28.8 per cent. It will thus 

 be seen that the carelessness of 

 tramps and settlers constitutes a 

 very serious source of fire danger 

 along railways, these two elements 

 combined accounting ror nearly one- 

 fourth of the total number of fires 

 reported. — C. L. in Conservation. 



