The Capitol Hill Weekly News The Oklahoma Fairdealer (Capitol Hill, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 1, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 24, 1910 Page: 2 of 8
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v —law.
■ '■■.- •■ ■ .-■• - •
mmin ; * ' ii I'
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. jjkw:
(capital hill eusiness .
(& PBCFISSIOHAl DIRICTCRYJ
PHONH iwOi.
C<1Uet *ndl R#»»d«ne«,
C*>. PopUt »n<J H*rv«p St.
Dr. I. N. Cottle
FIGHTING
ICS
PHYSICIAN AND SURGEON.
AtlCslls Aaiurcrcd Piomptly.
C»pl»o! HI I, - OH».
DR. W. C. HOTTLE
r:iYSIC!Afl AfJD CURCECH
orric* Corner Robinson and Avenoa
C Over Etata Bank. All calls anawer~
ad promptly. Office Rhone 3491.
Aw Z244T
H..r. I ll ■. o. 1-1.. e.
DR. STANLEY H. DARLINGTON
PHYSICIAN aai SURGEON
>21-23 B*k4D*M>H'.
CAPITAL HILL
Fk«o« No. R«to 11, Biird-Duboia Block
DR. 0. P. COFFIN
Physician and Surf tta
Ckronlc Work
o Specialty
Capitol Hill tod
OklakooM City
111 Atmm I Yard Avo. I. A IoLiomo *.
M.F. ROWLETT
- CEMENT BLOCKS
Sidowolk and All Klndo of
Concroto Work
fUa STHMook C«a Mo Prkoo
CAPITOL HILL
OKUWOM till I091E5S
1PBIFE55WB11 0IIIEMB1
dent aupervlslon moat of the unnece*
8ary Urea can be prevented.
Aa part of thla aupervlslon by tha
forest aervice all the government for-
est reserves are posted with warn-
ings. These warnings are printed tn
English, Italian, French and Spanish.
They warn against carelessness and
describe the penalties. The four lan-
guages are used because many Italians
are at work on the railroads and more
Mexicans are adrift all over the west.
Watch for Incipient Fires.
--
PHONE 2233
Price & Perkins
attorneys at law
418 Lee Building
PHONS PCD 1812
Residence Phone 5932
G. P. WARD
Loans and Real Estate
115 1-2 W. Grand Oklahoma City, Okla
THE ENTERPRISE SEED CO.
WholflMto and Retail $rod Merchant*
Conkoy'a Chicken Remedial
rw«s7 Oklahoma City, Okla.
lit W. Cat.
J. J. NOVAK & CO.
REAL ESTATE BROKERS
farm Leant, City Loans, Invtstmsnta
Insurance
•JIT TOUt BAKOAINS WITH Ul
—Rhoao SOt—
• v (!*••4 Avo OUeh.-e Oft.*
ZOO 1-2 W. Mata rk... R.4 3JU
BAER PRINTING CO.
OKLAHOMA CITY
JOB PRINTING
Corcfnl ird prompt attooHoo.
“ r 'ki-liikt"
Rath order* aar
^ ^ DOWN
THAT’S ALL
$ 1 ^THAT’S EAST
Yaar Old State Takea la Exchange
Oklahoma City Stove Co.
BOS WEST MAIN STREET
All Kinds of Stoves
FISCHER PRINTING COMPANY
117 ta lit N. Bnidwiy
PW>m22*4 OKLAHOMA CITY
GRANT'S ROOkIS
25 CENTS TO $1.0*
IS' W. FIRST U. S. GRANT, PROF.
C. A. Rodfsney & Co.
Real Estate, City edJ Farm Loans
at lowest rate of interest. We make
a specialty of Capitol Hill property.
Pkou 904. 11$ 1-2 W. Grind. Riot* 2
KILL the COUCH
AND CURE THE lungs
WITH
Dr. King’s
New Discovery
rtti.it
FOR
Lbs Trial Bottli Free
AND ALL THROAT AND ll'NG TROUBLES.
GUARANTEED 8ATI8FA0XGBY
OR MONEY REFUNDED.
AN forest Ores such as
those whose devastation of
life and property in Idaho
and Montana is so fresh in
the public mind be pre-
vented? Cannot human Ingenuity,
caution, and wealth devise some means
of making such horrors Impossible?
These questions have been asked
by thouBands of persons throughout
the country In the last few weeks,
ever since the first bad fire began.
The Idaho disaster has given an add-
ed insistence to theso appeals for in-
formation, appeals that indicate a
hope that some preventive system
may bo discovered and put into op-
eration.
In response to these questions Gif-
ford Pinchot, former chief forester,
and Henry S. Graves, the present chief
forester, return the same unswer:
"No!"
Such a Ore, they say, is to be classed
with the great Chicago conflagration,
the lire that set Baltimore back, the
San Francisco earthquake, the Gal-
veston flood. Disasters of this sort
can neither be foreseen nor dealt with
In line of ordinary human endeavor.
This Are, according to Mr. Pinchot,
Mr. Graves and the experts who have
spent years In the forest service, re-
sulted from an unusual combination
of circumstances. The main causes
were the exceptional drought nnd the
IP j, steady winds that prevailed for
« long period preceding the outbreak
of fire.
But ordinary forest fires can be pre-
vented. Thousands upon thousands
of them are prevented every year by
the forest rangers and forest guards.
But they are ordinary fires, which, if
caught early, can be promptly sup-
pressed before they attain serious pro-
portions.
"More forest rangers and forest
guards," Is the cry of the forest serv-
ice. It Is the cry that has been hurled
from the department of agriculture,
of which the forest service is a bu-
reau. to the capitol for several years.
But It has usually found congress
stone deaf.
“There Is not nearly enough men,'
said Mr. Pinchot, sadly, In talking of
the Idaho disaster. “Just how many
are really needed it Is difficult to say.
hut many more than the 2,000 now
engaged In fire prevention and fire
lighting."
Just as eternal vigilance Is the price
of peace, so eternal vigilance Is the
price of safety from forest fires. As
well as It Is possible with the number
of men It has, the forest service now
looks after this part of Its’business.
It hus fire fighting down to a system,
and, so far as ordinary cases go, its
force works effectively. The only
trouble lies in the size of the force.
Situation Becoming Acute.
But, with the recent disasters in
I mind, it is likely that congress will
j do something better in this line in the
near future. The loss of human life
| and the loss of property (not only to
the government, but to corporations
i and private individuals as well) are
almost Bure to arouse a keener and
greater Interest in the whole forest
j question.
Wood Is becoming scarce. Its de-
! pletlon Is being felt by the railroads
and other big corporations, and their
1 co-operation with the government in
the matter of fire protection Is almost
a certainty.
j Surprise has been expressed at the
extent of the probable loss of life In
the great fires that have swept cer-
tain sections of the west. To the un-
initiated, a government forest reserva-
tion means a great wilderness of
trees, uninhabited, Bave by Itinerant
hunters and the forest rangers and
guards.
It la true that soma of tha forest
ranges answer to this description,
but others are, for forests, densely
populated. Their population consists
of small landholders—"nesters" they
are called in the west. They are men
who, with their families, take up small
claims on government forest reserva-
tions and farm and raise stock on a
small scale under the limitations set
down by the government.
It Is nothing for a forest reserva-
tion to have a population of 10,000
persons, exclusive of the employes of
the forest service. Several o' the
forests in Maho and Montana are
with "nesters."
As for the loss In money from for
est fires In ordinary years, that tn lt-
self is enough lo warrant extraor
dlnary effort and expense in the pre-
vention of such disasters.
"Will It pay to support an adequate
fire protection system?"
This is the question practical lum-
bermen of the o. • chool ask. The
forest service men are confident it
will. They have had experience and
know that reasonable protection re-
quires no patented tools, no secret
method. Co-operation on the part of
the state governments and more
money from congress will bring about
the desired results.
“Does the maintenance of an expen-
sive fire-fighting force pay a city?” Is
the counter question of the forest
service experts. The affirmative an-
swer comes promptly.
The government methods of fight-
ing and controlling forest fires are
simple. They consist of nothing
more than extreme care to prevent as
many fires as possible and plain, bus-
inesslike methods of getting to work
on the flames as soon as they are dis-
covered and staying with the fire un-
til It Is out
An ax, a mattock, a pick, a shovel
and a wet gunny sack, if water Is ob-
tainable, are the forest ranger’s fire
fighting apparatus. In the more ac-
cessible regions, where water is abund-
nnt, wagons equipped with hose are
used. But these are impossible far
up In the mountains, where the most
sure-footed horses find progress dif-
ficult.
Get Quickly to Work.
There the work Is done by the cool,
nervy rangers. Trained woodmen they
are, who know their work and have
the heart to do it. They haunt the
high places and keep persistent watch
over the surrounding country for
miles.
When they see a fire they go to It.
If It looks too big for one or two men
to handle they hurry to the nearest
station for help. In some of the
ranges the telephone and telegraph
wires and the railroads are at their
disposal.
Gradually the forest service Is lay-
ing out a network of telephone lines
through the forest reserves. But such
a system as is contemplated in con-
nection with forest preservation is in
its infancy today, and, In the last an-
alysis, the average embryonic fire is
fought by small groups of men, some-
times by only two men, sometimes by
a single one.
Of the thousands of fires that are
put out every year In the national re-
serves before they get well started
the general' public knows nothing.
They are part of the regular routine
of the forest guards and rangers.
The amount spent on forest fire
fighting by the forest service is ap-
proximately $50,000 a year in ordinary
yearB. Twice or three times that sum
would not seem large In view of the
amount of property saved, to say noth-
ing of loss of life prevented.
Aside from the loss of life and leav-
ing out indirect results of forest tires,
damage done by Buch conflagrations
include the death of standing trees, in-
jury to trees that are not killed, in-
jury to the soil, reduction of the
growth of the stand and the effect on
reproduction. Some of the resistant
species of trees are harmed but lit-
tle, while forest fires at times utterly
wipe out species of less vitality, so
that they never return to the terri-
tory which has been swept by the
flames.
In considering the causes of fires
the forest service has Teamed by ex-
perience that the principal ones are
sparks from locomotives, sparks from
sawmills, camp fires, burning brush,
careless smokers, Incendiarism and
lightning.
For the prevention of fires, or les-
sening their ravages, the following
are necessary:
Elimination, so far as possible, of
the causes of fires, a proper organ-
ization of the forest by the careful dis-
position of slash, by which Ib meant
chips nnd cut branches, the opening
of roads and trails, adequate super
vision, nnd sufficient men. armed with
the proper apparatus.
The forest service gives great im-
portance to the necessity of carefully
burning brush and of the establish-
ment of trails through the forest, so
the small fires may be the more easily
got at. The brush should be plied lu
small plies and each pile burned In-
dependently. This work Is best done
In the winter, when there Is snow on
the ground, or when the air Is moist
and less liable to spread the finzr
The careful watching - ■ <
makes it safer, because hunt -rs .up-
era and others cros’ing thr . .iact are
inora careful of their Urea By «ffl-
All over the forest reserves are
lookout stations. In the flat country
they consist of platforms in the tops
of high trees, approached by ladders.
If there-are no tall trees towers nre
erected. In the mountainous coun-
try any high peak or crag will do.
From these lookouts the keen eyed
rangers nnd guards, provided with the
best long distance glasses, keep a
constant watch over the territory as-
signed to them. From one to another
they signal In various ways. Where-
ever it is possible the telephone is
used. In the w’lder regions more
primitive methods must need he em-
ployed.
Among the ...ost effective is the old
fire system, the system used by the
Piets of Scotland, the system the
white men of Europe found the red ;
mei of America using when they first
struck the shores of the western hem-
isphere.
At a time when fire signals are not I
needed the rangers and guards build
little brush piles all over their terrl- |
tory. Placed about 100 feet apart,
they are ready to burn at a moment's j
notice. A regular code of signals pre-
vails. The number of brush fires burn-
ing at the same time conveys the sig-
nal. One fire means a forest fire on J
the west of a certain mountain. Two j
fires mean one to the east, and so on.
Where there are no brush fire sig-
nals the simple Indian svstem of a
small fire and a blanket serves the
purpose of Uncle Sam's forest guar-
dians. The small fire Is started. Then
wet grass or earth is used to deaden
It and make the smoke heavy. Over I
(he fire a blanket Is thrown to hold
the smoke down. When the blanket j
is released a solid puff of smoke goi* j
skyward. Again the blanket is ap-
plied and quickly removed. Up goes
another puff of smoke.
Other methods are the heliograph—
a windmill with small mirrors at-
tached to its wheels, which flash the
signal of a fire, and, In some cases,
the flag system of the army signal
corps.
Best of all, however, Is the tele-
phone. Since 1900 the forest service
has built 4,850 miles of telephone line, j
and Is extending them as rapidly as
congress appropriates the money.
In a report on the forest fire ques- j
tion Chief Forester Gravcz says It is
impossible to give a specific rule for
the number of men required to pro- j
tect tracts of different sizes, although
he supports Mr. Pinchot In saying that 1
the forest service i» undermanned.
In some cases a single man has to j
watch a tract of 1,000 acres. More |
men are required in fiat regions, as in
the mountain regions a single man
may, by climbing to a high peak, and
there pitching his camp, keep guard
over a vast territory.
The fire fighting crews of the for-
est service are well organized. One
man is always In charge. All know
their business. The first rule Is to
get there as quickly as possible. Then
organization counts. A well organized
small crew can do more work in an
hour than an ordinary gang of able
bodied men, well intentioned but lg- j
norant. could accomplish In twenty-
four.
Hand-to-Hand Conflict.
In most cases the battle between
the rangers and the f. *e is a hand-to- i
hand conflict. Using coats, slickers,
gunny-sacks, or whatever they have, I
Uncle Sam's guardians go after the
fire as though It were a den of snakes,
and beat It out. Dirt, if it is loose,
may be dug up and thrown on the
fire.
Sometimes water is absolutely nec-
essary. Often it has to be brought
from a distance, nnd must be used
economically. A little water Is thrown
on the ground to deaden the fire, and
then beating - begins. The forest
guards know that the most effective
way to use water is by means of
hand sprays. These little pumps throw
water from twenty to thirty feet, and
by them the water can be placed
where It will do the most good.
Where it is possible chemicals are
used but they are not feasible in the
remote places. If the fire cannot be
checked quickly light trenches are
dug ahead of It in its direct line of
march and the fight is made over
these trenches.
So much for the ordinary surface
fires. They are handled with com-
parative ease if caught in time. The
great danger lies in what are known
a3 crown fires. They are the fires
which move along the tops of tho
trees.
Naturally they move more rapidly
because of the air that fans them.
Also they jump distances, while a sur-
face fire creeps slowly and steadily
along. Backfiring is usually required
to head off a crown fire. This sys-
tem is effective on level ground, but
a crown fire running through the
mountains is almost impossible to
check, even by the most skilful back-
firlng.
The crown fires were responsible
for the great damage recently done in
Idaho. They got ahead of the guards
and rangers, passed beyond all human
control and took their tribute in life
and property.
After all. the handling of ordinary
forest fires Is a Blmpie question. It
is one of an organized force sufficient-
ly large. The increase of the present
fire-fighting force Is apt to receive at-
tention at the hands of congress in
th« future.
Schwarze System of
Barber Colleges
Schwartze System of Barber CoL
egt-s Teaches the Barber Trae In all
of its branches. Extra good Instrae-
tions, plenty of practice. The best
In quality and largest outfit of Tools
given by any School.
Write for Catalogue to either
branch:
I
Oklahoma City, Okla., Wichita. Kans-
Amarillo Texas, El, l’aso, Tex., Spring-
field. Mo.
ENGINEERS
FOUNDERS
MACHINISTS
AU tyjM EB<J IIHS
•f p«wer McfciBEry
Mat binary a»4 tcy-
pliet avary 4t-
script ion. :: t:
N. S. SHERMAN
MACHINE & IRON WORKS
18 35 East Main St
OKLAHOMA CITT
WE PRI1NT:
BUSINESS CARDS
SCORE CARDS
WINDOW CARDS
MENU CARDS
INVITATIONS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
ENVELOPES '
LETTER HEADS
NOTE HEADS
BILL HEADS
STATEMENTS. ETC.
TELEPHONE JI52
PROMPT SERVICE REASONABLE PRICES
TOUR BUSINESS SOLICITED
MarkwellPrinting Co.
NFAT COMMERCIAL JOB PRINTING
OUR SPECIALTY
P. V. MARKWEIL
129 1-2 Wot Mils
OKLAHOMA CUT
THERE ARE PUMPS AND PUMPS
BUT NO PUMPS LIKE
THE RED JACKET P0SPS
THE PICTURE SHOWS THE DIFFERENCE.
■U-T. RED JACKET PUP/IPS
ARE BETTER,
J Red
Jacket
And then they' art
“SO EASY TO FIX.”
“FIX ’EM YOURSELF.*
They pump easier and last longest C
child can pump them, and When
they need fixing, it's easy,
A MONKEY WRENCH DOES IT4
SOME in and let us tell YOU MORE ABOUT them
H. G. Chamberlain & Co
422 West Second St,
diamonds!
* ♦
Large and complete line of Am-
erican and Swiss watches. ^
♦ Everything in Jewelry and Novelties, cut glass, hand
▼
* painted china, sterling and plated silverware.
pcUiiieu ciiiim, sterling tutu yiaucu cuivciholc. ^
Special attedtion given to watch and jewelry repair- ®
ing. Inspectors for “Katy,” “Frisco” and Rock *
Island Railroads.
Boasen Brothers
N
4{) 133 Weat Main Street ... Oklahoma City, Otcia ^
JEWELERS
Oklahoma City, Otcia
ft
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The Capitol Hill Weekly News The Oklahoma Fairdealer (Capitol Hill, Okla.), Vol. 6, No. 1, Ed. 1 Saturday, September 24, 1910, newspaper, September 24, 1910; Capitol Hill, Oklahoma. (https://gateway.okhistory.org/ark:/67531/metadc937032/m1/2/: accessed April 23, 2024), The Gateway to Oklahoma History, https://gateway.okhistory.org; crediting Oklahoma Historical Society.