144 THE COMMISSION OF INQUIRY, 



of way between the fifteenth day of April and the first day of December. 

 No railroad company shall permit its employes to leave a deposit of 

 fire or live coals, or hot ashes, in the immediate vicinity of woodland, or 

 lands liable to be overrun by fires, and where engineers, conductors or 

 trainmen discover forest or other fires or that fences or other materials 

 along the right of way, or woodland adjacent to the railroad, are burn- 

 ing or in danger from fire, they shall report the same promptly at the 

 next telegraph station that they pass, and the operator shall by wire 

 or telephone immediately notify the nearest fire warden or the deputy 

 in charge of the district, or the State Forest Warden. In seasons of 

 drouth, railroad companies shall give particular instructions to their 

 employes for the prevention and prompt extinguishment of fires, and 

 they shall cause warning placards, furnished by the Forest Commis- 

 sioner, to be posted at their stations in the vicinity of forest and grass 

 lands, and where a fire occurs along the line of their road they shall 

 concentrate such help and adopt such measures as shall be available 

 to effectively extinguish it. Any railroad company wilfully violating 

 the requirements of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor 

 and be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each 

 such offense, and railroad employes wilfully violating the requirements 

 of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and be punished by a 

 fine of not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. But this 

 section shall not be construed to prohibit or prevent any railroad com- 

 pany from piling or keeping upon the right of way cross ties or other 

 material necessary in the operation or maintenance of such railroad. 



Section 13. It shall be the duty of each and every ownet of thresh- 

 ing or other portable steam engine to have eflScient spark arresters on 

 such engine at all times when in use; and no person in charge of such 

 engine shall deposit live coals or hot ashes from his engine in ' any 

 place without putting them out or covering them with at least three 

 inches of earth before leaving them. All persons violating the provisions 

 of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon con- 

 viction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars 

 nor more than fifty dollars. 



Section 14. Nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting any 

 right of action for damages existing independently of this act. In addi- 

 tion to any penalties provided by the United States or the State, 

 any person whose property is injured or destroyed by such fires, may 

 recover, in a civil action, double the amount or damages suffered, if 

 the fires occurred through wilfulness, malice or negligence. Persons 

 or corporations causing fires in violation of this act shall be liable to 

 the State in an action of assumpsit to the full amount of all damages 

 done to State land and for all expenses incurred by the State fighting 

 such fires. 



Section 15. Woodland territory within the terms of this act shall be 

 construed to mean forest, swamp, marsh, cut-over and brush land, and 

 the term forest fire shall be deemed to extend to and include fires thereon. 



Section 16. All monies received as penalties for violating the provi- 

 sions of this act shall be paid into the State treasury and be credited to 

 the general fund. 



Section 17. The State Forest Warden shall annually, on or before 



