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mittee; we found one great trouble with regard to extinguishing 

 fires after they had gone on a little bit, that is, got headway, in this; 

 the fire warden would order out the people of the surrounding 

 country to help fight the v fires, and in several instances questions 

 have been raised by those fire wardens as to how they were going to 

 feed those people while they were fighting the fires; I have in my 

 mind an instance on the east side of the woods where a large fire 

 had occurred, covering a hundred acres or so, and the fire warden 

 had warned out the neighbors to fight this fire, and the fire warden 

 had procured a dinner for those people, as they couldn't leave the fire 

 to go and eat, and sent us in a bill which I think the commission 

 paid, although strictly saying we had no right to do it, and that 

 called our attention to a matter that we found a great deal of trouble 

 with regard to fires; in my immediate neighborhood, when we had 

 that large fire, I employed, of my own men, somewhere around sev- 

 enty-five, and I had to keep them, feed them, and get beds for them, 

 for about four days; we made a guerdon around the fire with shovels 

 and axes, and every way that we could fight it, and I then took care 

 of those out of my. own expenses, as it was on my own lands; that 

 called the attention to me that there should be some provision made 

 with regard to fires, by which the order of the fire warden to fight 

 fires should be as imperative as the order of the supervisor, 

 which now is the law, and that some arrangement should be 

 made by which those people could be taken care of, that is, food could 

 be given to them while they are fighting the fire, and thai there 

 should be some way by which, upon proper vouchers being furnished 

 and, bills presented, we could, in some way, pay those bills; I think it 

 would be a great step in the right direction. , 



Q. While speaking of this, I don't know but what it would be very 

 valuable to the committee, it certainly has been of some interest to 

 me, talking to Mr. Basselin in regard to it; I saw upon the map 

 furnished with your report here, certain marks upon there which are 

 denoted as burnt districts; what do you say with regard to fires in 

 the spring or in the fall of the year producing this burnt district, 

 where, in fact, the entire soil is burned off and it produces no growing 

 timber; what do you say in reference to the damage and injury it 

 does to forest lands by being burned over, either in the spring or late 

 in the season ? 



A. The greatest danger for fires in the woods is in the spring 

 of the year, between the period when the snows have gone 

 and the March winds have dried the soil and the time 

 when the trees put forth their foliage, the heaviest fires 



