2. 



such wrongful act or to damages at the rate of one dollar 

 for each tree so killed or destroyed. The state or a 

 person or municipality so injured, however distant from 

 the placie where such fire v/as set or started and notwith- 

 standing the same may have burned over and across several 

 separate and distinct tracts, parcels or ownerships of 

 land, may recover as aforesaid." 



In many cases it is hard to prove that the railroad 

 is responsible for fires which start on or near its right- 

 of-way so that states are beginning to place the burden of 

 proof on the company to show that it did not start the fire. 

 The Hew York courts hold that a fire that starts on or 

 spreads from the right-of-way of a railroad company is prima 

 facie evidence of willful negligence on the part of the 

 company. Except in a few states, the railroad is liable 

 for damages even though it uses protective devices. Oregon 

 and California give damages not only for the value of the 

 property injured or destroyed but also for the injury to 

 soil and vegetation. In Louisiana damages can be secured 

 for injury to young growth; this damage is the cost of 

 artificial planting and care of the trees to the age when 

 the fire occurred. 



Duties of Employees. 



The employees of a railroad must cooperate with 

 the company in the prevention and control of fires, rphey 

 must be alert and do all in their power to keep down the 

 number and size of fires. They should be made to realize 



