36 FORESTRY BULLETIN 



organized territories of the state and appoints competent fire wardens 

 therein. He investigates the extent of the forests, the amount and Tarie- 

 ties of timber, the damages done to them from time to time by forest 

 fires, the causes of such fires, the methods used to promote the regrowth 

 of timber and any other important facts relating to forest interests which 

 may be required by the forest commissioner. He makes an annual re- 

 port including the information so gathered and "his suggestions. 



It is made the duty of all fire wardens to post in conspicuous places 

 in their respective districts warning placards containing abstracts of 

 the forest law, rules and regulations that accord therewith as promul- 

 gated by the forest commissioner who furnishes the placards. 



During the dry season when fires are liable to occur, the chief fire 

 warden is authorized to use such means as he may deem necessary to 

 prevent or suppress such fires at the expense of the state, but his ex- 

 penditures in one year are not to exceed five thousand dollars. 



It is the duty of the fire warden to take precautions to prevent the 

 starting of forest or prairie fires and, when fire threatens, to go to the 

 place of danger, to call to his assistance able-bodied men, and if any such 

 person refuses to assist, or if the fire warden himself neglects to perform 

 the duties assigned him, such officer or person is deemed guilty of a mis- 

 demeanor and upon conviction is punished by a fine of not more than a 

 hundred dollars or by imprisonment for three months. 



The chief fire warden and the local fire wardens are given authority to 

 arrest without warrant any person violating the provisions of the act and 

 to take the offender before a magistrate and make complaint against him. 

 It is made the duty of the fire wardens to inquire into the cause of each 

 forest or prairie fire within their district and to report the same to the 

 chief fire warden, with the method used to control such fires, the amount 

 of property destroyed, the number of lives lost and such other facts as the 

 chief fire warden may require. 



The fire wardens receive for actual services two dollars per day, two- 

 thirds of which is paid by the county and one-third by the state. 

 The other employees receive one dollar and fifty cents per day. It is 

 provided, however, that no fire warden shall be paid in any one year for 

 more than ten days service in extinquishing or preventing forest or 

 prairie fires, nor for more than five days' services in posting notices and 

 making reports. No county shall expend more than five hundred dollars 

 of public money in any one year under this act. 



Any person who wilfully or carelessly causes to be set on fire any 

 woods or prairies by means whereof the property of another is injured, is 

 guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction is punished by a fine not 

 exceeding a hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceeding three 

 months. If the act is malicious, destroying property and endangering 

 life, the maximum fine is $500 and the imprisbnment ten years. Any per- 

 son who shall either kindle a fire dangerously near the forest or prairie 

 lands and leave it unquenched, or who shall use other than incombustible 

 wads for fire arms or who shall carry a naked torch or exposed light in or 

 dangerously near forest land, or who shall willfully or heedlessly deface 

 or remove any warning placard posted as required by the act, is liable 

 either to a fine not exceeding a hundred dollars or to three months' impris- 

 onment. 



The railroad companies are required to use efficient spark arresters on 

 all their engines and to keep their right of way, for flftv feet each aide 



