444 
traditions these services have a link and 
esprit de corps that it will be impossible to 
duplicate in the civilian Federal service for 
a long time; but that this feeling is slowly 
but surely developing in Washington there 
is every hope. 
The popular idea of the civil service has 
undergone a wonderful change in the last 
two years. An entirely new class of men 
are being attracted by the opportunities of- 
fered by the various Federal departments. 
The very fact that political pull and influ- 
ence has well nigh been completely elimin- 
ated from appointments and advancement 
has changed the type of the Government 
men and fostered the good opinion of the 
public. Heretofore the only Government 
service open to the ambitious young man 
was in the army and navy, and we found 
the other services full of ward politicians 
and bewhiskered grangers from the Middle 
West. To-day we find the best type of 
young college men going into what might 
be well called the professional Federal de- 
partments, such as the Geological Survey, 
the Bureau of Forestry, the Reclamation 
Service, the Bureau of Soils, the Bureau 
of Animal Industry, the Bureau of Plant In- 
dustry, and the various bureaus in the new 
colonial service. 
The Bureau of Forestry particularly has 
attracted a class of men that never before 
thought of the Government service as a 
career. Probably the attractive nature of 
the work and the great attention which has 
been attracted to forestry as a profession 
accounts for this. The out of door life and 
the independence of action strongly appeals 
to the typical young American, especially 
if he is fond of hunting and fishing. The 
general opinion abroad may be that the 
typical American is a slave to trade and is 
imbued only with money getting instincts, 
but the facts do not bear this opinion out. 
The typical American is just as good a 
sportsman as the Englishman, when oppor- 
tunity permits. It would undoubtedly be 
vigorously denied that the sporting instinct 
has any considerable influence on a young 
man in choosing such a profession as For- 
estry, but it would not be denied by any 
one that other qualifications being equal the 
sportsman will make very much the best 
forester. 
Within the various Federal bureaus there 
has arisen a pretty good spirit of sympathy 
and comradeship, but there has never been 
an opportunity for the members of the dif- 
ferent branches to get together. The Cos- 
mos Club in Washington, to be sure, is 
largely composed of the scientific men in the 
Government service, but it does not offer 
the tone required, and but very few of the 
younger men engaged in active field ser- 
vice belong. 
The new club proposed would be unique 
RECREATION. . 
in this country, and should receive the en- 
thusiastic support of the entire civilian Fed- 
eral service. 
A committee consisting of Capt. J. B. 
Adams, Mr. 
George Woodruff and Mr. Coert Du Bois, 
all of the U. S. Bureau of Forestry, are now 
engaged in looking up a suitable house and 
making arrangements for the organization 
of the club. 

FOREST FIRES. 
Every summer and autumn large areas 
of public and private forests are devastated 
by fire. This destruction is a universal in- 
jury. It not only destroys a valuable asset 
of the country, but it is productive of 
floods. The forest is the most effective 
means of preventing floods and producing 
a more regular flow of water for irrigation 
and other useful purposes. 
To prevent the mischievous forest fires 
Congress has enacted a law which forbids 
setting fire to the woods, and forbids leav- 
Thomas A. Sherrard, Mr. 
ing camp or other fires without first ex-_ 
tinguishing them. 
The law provides a maximum fine of 
$5,000, or imprisonment for 2 years, or 
both, if the fire is set maliciously, and a 
fine of $1,000, or imprisonment for one 
year, if the fire is due to carelessness. It 
also provides that the money from these 
fines shall go to the school funds of the 
county in which the offense is committed. 
Hon. W. A. Richards, commissioner of 
the General Land Office, has issued circu- 
lars, warning the public against careless- 
ness, inasmuch as many fires start from 
neglected camp fires, and makes the fol- 
lowing suggestions: 
Do not build a larger fire than you 
need. 
Do not build your fires in dense masses 
of pine leaves, duff and other combustible 
material, where the fire is sure to spread. 
Do not build your fire against large logs, 
especially rotten logs, where it requires 
much more work and time to put the fire 
out than you are willing to expend, and 
where you are rarely certain that the fire 
is really and completely extinguished. 
In windy weather and in dangerous 
places dig a hole and clear off a place to 
secure your fire. You will save wood and 
trouble. 
Every camp fire should be completely 
put out before leaving the camp. 
Do not build fires to clear off land and 
for other similar purposes without inform- 
-ing the nearest ranger or the supervisor, 
so that he may assist you. 
As hunters, anglers and campers will 
soon haunt the woods and streams, it is 
hoped that newspapers everywhere will cir- 
culate this warning and information. 
