FISHERIES, GAME AND FORESTS. 329 



August 6, 1899. Number of acres burned, over 550 ; on the Hague tract, Ellis patent. 

 Value of standing timber destroyed, $1,050. Total number of days worked, 104^. This 

 fire was started by berry pickers. A good portion of the land had been burned over 

 before. It was so terribly dry that it was impossible to extinguish it completely until we 

 had rain. I hope this is the last fire we will have in a long time. Old inhabitants here 

 say that we have never had such a dry season as this. There have been several fires this 

 year, and, it being so dry, if they had not been promptly attended to we would not have 

 had any timber lands left, as we had a fire in all parts of the town. We had a very hard 

 job to prevent this large one from destroying all the forests in this vicinity. 



Mr. William Ormiston, town of Westport, Essex county, N. Y. : 



July 1, 1899. Number of acres burned, twenty-five ; no standing timber destroyed, as 

 it was all small second growth ; fences burned, $15. The fire was caused by a locomotive 

 on the D. & H. railroad. The section men from the railroad helped fight this fire. We 

 stopped it within a few rods of the timber. 



August 14, 1899. Number of acres burned, seventy-five ; damage to timber, $2=; ; bar- 

 rier fences destroyed, $50. Ordered out thirty-one men ; total number of days worked, 

 seventy-one and three-fourths. Fire was caused by locomotive. It did not do much dam- 

 age as the ground was covered with small second growth, and it was stopped before it 

 reached the timber. It is so dry here that it is hard to stop a fire. The only way we can 

 control it is to dig trenches. 



Mr. Henry Morgan, town of Wilmington, Essex county, N. Y. : 



August 20, 1899. Number of acres burned, 800; value of standing timber destroyed, 

 $200. Tn addition, 1,000 cords of pulpwood -were burned. I ordered out ninety-three 

 men, who worked in all 616 days. We worked night and day to keep it off from the other 

 lumber jobs. This fire started in a pulp job near the trail that goes up White Face moun- 

 tain. It started in an abandoned lumber camp that has not been occupied since last 

 March. Four houses and barns were burned. It was the worst fire ever seen in the town 

 by the oldest residents. Being on a steep mountain side it was difficult to control it. 

 Everything was very dry ; no water ; all the brooks dried up. The fire burned in the muck 

 until the 19th of September, when a rain came that lasted two days and nights. There 

 was not much timber on the land aside from the 1,000 cords of pulpwood which were 

 destroyed. The rest of the ground was covered by an old slash and dead timber, and 

 made a very hot fire, forcing us to keep on the outside, where we held it inside the ditches. 

 There was no moisture in the ground owning to the drought. Springs dried up that never 

 failed before, and there were trout brooks of a large size in which we could hardly find a 

 place to get a drink of water. I have been hampered and opposed by the taxpayers, who 

 charge me with putting on useless help and making unnecessary expense. I believe I have 

 done as much with the men I put on as any warden in the county. The whole row and 

 fuss is caused by the former firewarden. If you will write to Mr. Madison Baldwin, tim- 

 ber agent of the J. & J\ Rogers Co., you can find out the facts. 



On the night of August 27th a fire started from a spruce tree which was struck by light- 

 ning, but it was extinguished before any damage was done. 



