FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 339 



Mr. Charles O. Bartlett, town of Jay, Essex county, N. Y. : 



March 29, 1898. I saw the smoke from this fire and went there as soon as possible. If 

 was on the farms of David Torrance and Thomas Bartlett. No timber was destroyed, but about 

 twenty rods of rail fence were burned. It was started by some little boys who set fire to the dead 

 grass. On arriving I found David Torrance and his son Frank there, at work with water pails 

 and shovels. A strong east wind spread it on the pasture of Thomas Bartlett, but we succeeded 

 in stopping it there, as it struck a piece of low, wet land. 



April 11, 1898. This fire occurred on the farm owned by Wentworth Lewis. His son was 

 plowing, and he fired a brush pile from which the grass caught fire. A strong south wind was 

 blowing and he could not stop it. It ran into a piece of heavy hardwood timber, where it burned 

 over fifteen acres. I do not think it will kill much of the timber. About fifteen rods of board 

 fence were burned. I saw the smoke, and warned out men with shovels and pails, and proceeded 

 immediately to the fire. Number of men called out to fight fire, sixteen ; total number of days' 

 labor by men called out, eight. 



April 12, 1898. Number of acres burned over, one hundred; on Lots 25 and 26, Maul's 

 Patent ; none of it belonged to the State. Cause of fire — Andrew Sheldon set fire to some brush 

 piles in his meadow. The west wind blew quite hard ; it ran through the grass to the woods 

 on both sides of the field. I was notified by telephone, and I proceeded to the fire with all the 

 help I could get. It burned about seventy- five acres of timber, mostly poplar and white birch; 

 also some Norway pine. Most of the poplar and birch will die. It also burned about eighty 

 rods of rail fence belonging to Herman Boynton, and fifteen rods of board fence belonging to 

 Edward Boynton. Number of men called out to fight fire, twenty. Total number of days' 

 labor by men called out, twenty-five and a half. 



Mr. R. H. Wilson, town of Minerva, Essex county, X. Y. : 



June 12, 1898. About one hundred acres on Lot 113, Township 26, were burned over. 

 No part of it is State land. Cause unknown. This fire was under the charge of Deputy Fire- 

 warden William Kayes. It covered quite a large territory, but when I looked it over yesterday 

 I did not find any timber destroyed — just merely scorched. The leaves and trees are all green 

 and nice where the fire burned. 



July 14, 1898. Number of acres burned, about twenty-five, Lot 24, Township 30; not on 

 State lands. This fire was in the district belonging to William Kayes, the Deputy Firewarden. 

 It happened in a very dry time and in a place where the small bushes were very thick. It did 

 not run over much ground, but it burned quite deep, burning everything out by the roots. If 

 it had happened on my land I should say it had done me a favor, as it just about cleared the 

 land. About ten rods of fence were destroyed. Cause of fire unknown, but I think it was 

 caused by somebody smoking. As it was a very dry time and dry land, the only means of 

 fighting it was by drawing water. 



Mr. Sylvester A. Reid, town of St. Armand, Essex county, N. Y. : 



April 13, 1898. Number of acres burned, about twenty, Lot 85, Township 11, Old Military 

 Tract, Richards' Survey. I do not know the cause, but it started in an old intervale or meadow, 

 in the dry grass, on land owned by Wesley Walton. I took one man and kept it from getting 

 in fences that afternoon. The next afternoon we stopped it on Lot 64 by carrying water and 

 wetting the ground in front of it. On the 17th it started again on Lot 85, and I called out four 

 men. By back-firing we stopped it from getting on State land. I did not estimate the damage 



