330 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS OF 



Mr. E. H. Severance, town of Willsboro, Essex county, N. Y. : 



June 17, 1899. Number of acres, twelve ; damage to timber, nothing. It being a very 

 dry time with us we were fearful of a very extensive fire ; but we soon got it under con- 

 trol. I then kept two or three men on the ground for several days — and nights as well — 

 until rain came and helped us out. 



Evreste Le Boeuf, town of Altamont, Franklin county, N. Y. : 



August 1, 1899. Number of acres burned over, 800 ; timber destroyed, $200 ; logs, 

 bark and cordwood, estimated, $75 ; fences, $50. Total number of days labor, 1,194^ 

 This fire started in two places ; in the swamp, near the road, from a locomotive, and 

 also from the great fire which destroyed Tupper Lake village on the night of July 31st. 

 We were obliged to keep a large force of men at work or on watch for several days around 

 the border of the burned territory, as the muck and duff held fire, and it was impossible 

 to put it out. It smoked and smoldered there until the rains came. 



Mr. Benjamin A. Muncil, town of Brighton, Franklin county, N. Y. : 



August 15, 1899. Number of acres, 200 ; value of timber destroyed, $50 ; location, on 

 Lots 87 and 23, Township 18, Macomb's Purchase. This fire was started by sparks from the 

 M. & M. railroad. We fought it by shoveling dirt, and drawing water, where it could be 

 had. I ordered out eighty-two men and was present myself eight and one-half days. 

 Total number of days worked, 154. On August 21st a heavy shower checked the flames 

 and assisted us materially. The fire in the muck broke out again on the 25th, and was 

 not finally extinguished until September 2d. Very little good timber was destroyed in 

 this town, the fires being confined to old burns and swamps. 



Mr. James W. Sabin, town of Dickinson, Franklin county, N. Y. : 



August 17, 1899. I could not stop this fire until it came near the river. We then car- 

 ried water and saved a sawmill. I did not order out any men, as the work was done by saw- 

 mill hands. I do not know how many days these men worked as it was all volunteer help. 



Mr. Henry N. Paye, town of Franklin, Franklin county, N. Y. : 



August 17, 1899. Number of acres, 125 ; timber destroyed, $50. This fire was 

 attended to by Mr. Skiff, the district firewarden, who was in charge. It was caused by 

 berry pickers. It burned mostly in the marsh and muck. We went in at five o'clock in 

 the morning, and supposed we had it all out, but it broke out again in the duff, and on the 

 19th I sent some men with a team and plow, who ran furrows around it as far as they 

 could. They also hauled water in barrels, placing them along the plowed ground. On 

 the 20th the wind was from the north, and so the fire did not spread that day ; but on 

 the 2 1 st it blew from the south, driving the fire so hard that we called out forty men in 

 the afternoon to stop it. The change in the wind on the 20th helped us to save a number 

 of buildings that otherwise must have burned. 



On the same day the fire that started in the town of St. Armand, caused by a locomo- 

 tive on the Chateaugay railroad, crossed into our town. We hauled water along the high- 

 way which runs from Bloomingdale station to Brighton, and succeeded in preventing it 

 from crossing the road. I notified the firewarden of the town of St. Armand to attend to 

 it, but he paid no attention to the matter until the 19th. He then came up there and 



