29 



can follow back of him and prevent any fire from escaping 

 to other property. Special care must be taken to keep the 

 right-of-way cleared on up grades where the locomotives throw 

 out more sparks on account of the forced draft, and also in 

 deep cuts where debris on the high banks is Yery liable to 

 catch fire. In New Hampshire there is a law which requires 

 that timber operators must do their part by removing slash 

 at least twenty-five feet from a railroad right-of-way. 



Ryder (1912) says, "The people who do not clear their 

 land next to the right-of-way can be divided into three 

 classes: 



1. Those who are indifferent. 



Z. Those whose intentions are good but who neglect. 



3. Those who hope a fire will happen and the rail- 

 road be obliged to pay damages.'' 



In the Black Forest in Germany maple and locust trees 

 are planted on the right-of-way of the railroads to prevent 

 sparks from setting fires. The leaves and brush from these 

 trees are cleared out twice a year. 



The railroads rightly claim that they do not start 

 all the fires that occur on their right-of-way. Tramps 

 and people walking along the tracks probably start some fires. 

 A remedy for this is to stop track walking as far as possible, 

 liatciies, cigarettes, cigars, and contents of pipes thrown 

 from smoking car windows are also responsible for some fires. 

 Some of the railroads have stopped this by putting screens 

 on the smoking car windows. Other railroads have put up 

 signs in the cars requesting the passengers not to throw 



lighted materials from the trail* 



