Conservation Commission 173 



paid a salary of $50 or $60 per month, plus $12 a month where 

 they live on their mountains. They are employed during the 

 whole of the fire season, namely, from May to November. 



Plantation Watchmen 



Nearly 4,000 acres of land in different parts of the Adirondack 

 Forest Preserve have been reforested by the State within the past 

 decade. On account of the great value of these forest plantations, 

 it has been considered advisable to appoint watchmen to protect 

 them from fire during the dangerous season. Three of these 

 watchmen have been employed during the past year, with the 

 result that hardly an acre of reforested land has been damaged by 

 fire. 



Railroad Fire Inspectors 



The Conservation Law provides for the appointment of two 

 chief railroad inspectors and four railroad inspectors. The chief 

 inspectors receive a salary of $1,200 a year, the other inspectors 

 $900. 



The State is divided into two districts, one including the main 

 line of the New York Central P. P. from Albany west, and all 

 territory north of that line, and the other district including the 

 southern portion of the State. A chief inspector and two inspec- 

 tors are assigned to each district. The work of enforcing the laws 

 relating to railroads is assigned to these men under the direction 

 of the Commission. The chiefs hold conferences with representa- 

 times of the railroad in order that there may be no misunderstand- 

 ing as to the requirements of the law as regards the clearing of 

 rights of way and the proper equipment of locomotives with fire 

 protective devices. Frequent inspections are made, both of rights 

 of way and of locomotives, and reports of these inspections are 

 submitted to the Albany office. Copies of the requirements 

 issued by the Public Service Commission at the request of the 

 Conservation Commission are given to all inspectors and they are 

 expected to see that these requirements are complied with. 



Efficiency of the Present System 

 Since the inauguration of the present fire protective system 

 there has been ample opportunity to test its value. The summer 



