328 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



Mr. John W. Shandrow, town of North Hudson, Essex county, N. Y. : 

 August 13, 1899. Number of acres, 250; Lots 170, 171 and 172 Paradox tract. Tim- 

 ber destroyed or damaged, $75; value of fences burned, $10. Number of days attendance 

 by myself, seven; number of men called out, twenty-five; total number of days worked, 

 seventy-seven and one-half. This fire was mostly on a small mountain, and we dug a ditch, 

 which prevented it from spreading. It was so dry that it was impossible to get water, and 

 the ground burned to the rock. The land was covered mostly with a growth of small 

 hardwood. Lot 171, State land; Lots 170 and 172 are owned in undivided interests by 

 the State and the Crown Point Iron Company. 



Mr. Baron Ling, town of St. Armand, Essex county, N. Y. : 



August 13, 1899. About one acre burned over. AVarned out eight men. This fire, 

 which was on the bank of the river, was started, I think, by some hunter. The reason 

 why I did not report before was because the fire was in the duff and we could not put it 

 out. So I kept watch of it for seven days, until the rain came. We stopped it before it 

 did any damage. 



September 1, 1899. Number of acres, 125 ; only two acres of standing timber, the 

 damage to which is estimated at $5. Called out two men ; they extinguished it by whip- 

 ping the flames with brush and throwing water on the ground ; plowed a furrow around 

 it also. This fire was caused by carelessness in leaving a camp fire burning. This fire 

 had been smoldering a long time before I was notified about it. I went there immediately 

 and found it running to the east, with a west wind. We could not work in front of it on 

 account of the smoke ; but we stopped it on the west side. It burned as far as the green 

 timber on the east, which checked it. It still smoldered in an old slashing, and in the 

 rotten logs, until rain came and extinguished it. 



September 1, 1899. Another separate fire on the same day occurred in Township n, 

 which ran over 150 acres. I left it in charge of E. M. White, telling him to call out what 

 help he needed. I told some men who were cutting hay on the meadows near by to back- 

 fire around their stacks in order to save them from being burned. They said the fire could 

 not reach the hay, and paid no attention to my suggestion. As a result, the fire burned 

 about twenty tons of wild hay that was stacked, worth $5 per ton, and a large amount of 

 standing hay. The fire was caused by a locomotive on the Chateaugay railroad. 



September 20, 1899. Number of acres, fifty ; timber destroyed, $15 ; number of men 

 called out, nine ; total number of days worked, thirty-five and one-half. It started from 

 a camp fire on Lot 90 ; and another started at the same time on Lot 68, the two running 

 together so that we had to fight it as one fire. Some timber was killed on Lot 68 ; but this 

 is not a complete loss, as it can be cut this coming winter. 



Mr. E. C. D. Wiley, town of Ticonderoga, Essex county, N. Y. : 



April 29, 1899. Number of acres burned, seventy-five ; timber destroyed, $75 ; warned 

 out fourteen men, who worked nineteen days in all. Fire caused by a party clearing a 

 garden spot near the shore of Lake George. Sparks caught at the edge of the mountain 

 and spread so rapidly that it was necessary to call out the people. We saved about fifteen 

 cords of stove wood and half a mile or more of line fence. The fire was extinguished just 

 in time to save a large tract of timber ; also two summer cottages and a large hen house. 



