Conservation Commission 167 



In the winter following the serions Adirondack fires of 1908, 

 the Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner requested the Public 

 Service Commission to issue an order compelling the use of oil as 

 fuel for locomotives operating during the daytime along certain 

 designated lines within the Forest Preserve. Such an order was 

 issued by the Public Service Commission in 1909, after hearings 

 had been held at which the whole question of the fire danger 

 along the lines of railroads passing through the more densely 

 forested regions of the State was carefully considered from ail 

 standpoints. The order is still in effect during the fire season of 

 each year. Coal burning locomotives equipped with suitable pro- 

 tective devices may be used on these lines during the night only, 

 viz., between 8 P. M. and 8 A. M. 



The law of 1909 altered materially the system of paying fire 

 bills. The State, as before, was to bear one-half the expense 

 of fighting forest fires within the " fire towns;" but under the 

 new law the State first advanced the whole amount of the fire bills, 

 and at the end of the season rendered a bill to the towns for their 

 share of the expense. This was a marked improvement over the 

 former system in that it ensured more prompt payment of all 

 accounts and enabled the Forest, Fish and Game Commissioner 

 to secure greater efficiency in the work of fire fighting. This 

 system has continued unchanged. 



The paid patrol force was supplemented by a force of " Special 

 Patrolmen." These men corresponded to the " Fire Wardens " 

 under the old law. They were to be paid at the rate of $2.50 per 

 day for time actually spent in fighting fires which were burning, 

 but were not authorized to incur expense in patroling for the 

 purpose of detecting fires. 



The 1909 Taw fixed the rate of compensation for persons who 

 might be called out to fight fire by the regular or special patrol- 

 men at fifteen cents an hour. This may seem like poor pay for 

 the arduous labor of fighting fire, but under the former law. when 

 the rate of compensation was twenty-five cents an hour, frequent 

 cases occurred wherein unscrupulous persons deliberately set fires 

 in order that they might secure employment in extinguishing 

 them. 



Probably the most radical feature of the law of 1909 was the 



