Show wnm E 3 4 5 thuu ja 7 UR LL alone feet above sea level on top of klamath peak in lyou county california a young woman tor for months at a time during the prevalence pre valenca of the forest fire season last year did her part and did it well in the effort the government Is alt malting making to preserve the forests crests ot of the country from destructive flames which have tor for 4 years past caused an annual property loss of and cost each year an average 0 of 76 human beings she Is miss halite M daggett and she Is the only woman lookout employed by the forest service As soon as the season of forest fires begins this year miss alias daggett will again be found aund at her post posted in her small cabin on top of the mountain peak it will be her duty as ae last year to scan the vast forest in every direction as tar far as she c can a n a see ee by naked eye and telescope by day for or smoke and for or the red glare of fire by night and report the result of 0 her observations by telephone to the main office of the forest patrol miles and miles away few women would care tor for such a job fewer still would seek it and still less would be able to stand the strain of the infinite loneliness or the roar 0 of the violent storms which sweep the peak or the menace of the wild beasts which roam the heavily wooded ridges miss daggett however not only eagerly longed for or the station atlon et but secured it after considerable exertion and now she de declares clarea that she enjoyed the itte and was intensely interested in the work she had to do perhaps the call of the wild la Is tn in her blood her parents are pioneers her father john daggett having crossed the isthmus in 1852 and her mother a mere baby being taken across the plains from kentucky the same year miss alias daggett was born at the klamath nine mine in the shadow of the peak on which the lookout station Is perched she spent most of her early years out of doors riding and tramping over the hills with her brother so that it was natural that with her inborn IW sai love of the forests she should be anxious to take part in the fight which the forest service men are making for the crotee tion alon of the forests debarred barred De by her sex however from the kind of work which most of the service men are doing she saw no opportunity until lookout stations were established and then after earnest solicitation secured the place she held so BO well some of the service men predicted that after a few days of life on the peak she would telephone that she was waa frightened by the loneliness and the danger but she was full of pluck and high spirit and day after day as her keen eres ees e es ranged the hills bills which constitute the salmon river watershed and as she made her dally daily reports by telephone she grew more and ana more in love with her work even when the telephone wires were broken and when for a long time she was cut ot off from communication with the world below she did not lose heart she not only filled the place with all the abill which a trained man could have shown but she was re appointed when the fire season opened a few weeks ago miss alias daggetts diggetts Dag getts earliest recollection she says bays abounds with smoke clouded summer days bud and fires that wandered over the country at their own sw sweet eat will unchecked unless they happened to interfere seriously with so claim or woodpile when they were usually turned off by backfiring back firing and headed in another direction to continue their mischief until they either died tor for lack of fuel or were quenched by the fall rains consequently shoe she grew up ui with a fierce hatred of the devastating fires and welcomed the force which arrived to combat them but not until the lookout stations were installed did there come an opportunity for her to join what had up to that time been a mans fight although she and her sister bister bad frequently been able to help on the small things such as extinguishing spreading camp fires or carrying supplies to the firing line then through the liberal mindedness and courtesy of the officials in her district she was given the the position of lookout at eddys gulch station in the fourth district of the klamath national forest and entered upon her work the first day of june 1913 with a firm determination to make good tor for she knew that the appointment of a woman was rather in the nature of an experiment and naturally felt that there was a great deal due the men who had been willing to give her the chance it was a swift change in three days from san francisco civilization and sea level to a solitary cabin nearly feet elevation and three hours hard climb from anywhere but in spite of the fact that almost the very first question asked by everyone Is it awfully lonesome up there miss daggett declares that never tor for a moment after the first halt half hour following her slaters sisters departure with the pack animals when she had a chance to look around did she feel the tightest slightest longing to retrace her steps while she had been on the peak before in her early rambles she had never thought of it as a home one ot of her pet dreams had always been of a log cabin and here was an ideal one brand new the summer before and as cozy indoors as could be wished while outdoors all outdoors was a grander dooryard door yard than any estate in the land could boast it was a prospect of glorious freedom from tour four walls and a time clock klamath peak is not really a peak in the conventional vent ional sense of the word but it Is rather the culmination of a long a series erles of ridges running up from the watersheds of the north and south forks of the salmon river its central location in the district makes it however an ideal sp t tor for a N W 4 r 0 11 V S 11 W 1 1 station miss bliss daggett describes it as the hub ot of a wheel with the lines of ridges as ll 11 spokes pokes and an unbroken rim ot of peaks encircling a around r aund its ome eternally snow capped and most all of the them higher than itself to the east there Is a shoulder of 0 snowy shasta and an unseen neighbor lookout on eagle peak to the south the high jagged edge ot of trinity county and just discernible with the glasses a shining new cabin on packers peak to the west vest behind orleans mountain lount aln with its ever watchful occupant a balne glimpse of the shining pacific shows with a favorable sunset and all in between la Is a seeming wilderness of ridges and gulches making up what Is said to be one of the tha finest continuous views in the whole of the west bird and animal life were also very plen plentiful tiM says miss alias daggett filling the air with songs and chatter coming to the doorstep tor for food and often invading the cabin itself I 1 positively declined owning a cat on account of its destructive intentions on small life a pair of owls proving satisfactory as mice catchers besides being amusing as neighbors as well frequently deer fed around the cabin in the evenings and there was a small bear down by the spring besides several larger ones whose tracks I 1 often saw on t the he trail in addition to these a couple of porcupines helped keep me from becoming lonesome by using various means to find a way into the cabin at night all AH these animals being harmless it had never been my custom to carry a gun in so called western fashion until one morning I 1 discovered a big panther track out on the trall trail and then in deference to my fam ilys united request I 1 buckled on the orthodox weapon which had been accumulating t dust on the cabin shelf and proceeded to be picturesque but to no avail as the beast did not again return at many of the stations the question of wood and water Is a serious one on account of the elevation but I 1 was especially favored a as a wood lies about in all shapes and quantities only waiting for an ax to convert it into suitable lengths while water unlimited could be melted from the snow banks which lingered until the last of july although it did seem a little odd to go tor for water with a shovel tn in addition to a bucket later the supply was packed in canvas sacks from a spring about a mile away in the timber this was always a job sought by anyone corning coming up on horseback and thanks to the kindly efforts of the guards who passed that way and my few visitors it was always easy to keep the pot boiling my sister brought up my supplies and mail from home every week a distance of nine miles the dally daily duties of life at miss bliss diggetts daggetts Dag getta getts lookout are small merely consisting of an early morning and late evening tramp of halt half a mile to the point of the ride where the trees obscure the north view of the cabin and a constant watch on all sides tor for a trace of smoke A watch of this nature soon becomes an instinct according to miss daggett for she found herself often awakening in the night tor for a look around in tact fact sho she Z k I 1 jj it A 41 4 soon became to feel as she expresses it that the lookout la Is an ounce of prevention then there are three dally daily reports to be sent to the district headquarters in town to prove that everything Is serene and extra reports it if they are not and lastly a little very little housework to do not a very busy day as judged by our modern standards of rush but a lookouts motto might v 11 he be also serve who only stand and wait and there la is always the great map spread out at ones teet feet to study by new lights and shadows while waiting and the ever busy phone with its numerous calls which must be kept within learing hearing so abai that one cannot wander far that phone miss alias daggett says with its gradually extending feelers made her feel exactly like a big spider in the center of a web with the fires tor for flies and those fires were certainly treated to exactly the speedy rate fate of the other unworthy pests through all the days up to the close of the term on november 6 when a light snow put an end to all danger of fires she felt an ever growing sense of responsibility which finally came to be almost a feeling of proprietorship r resulting e in the desire to punish anyone careless enough to set fires in her dooryard door doot yard the utter dependence on the telephone was brought vividly to miss daggetts diggetts Dag getts mind one afternoon soon after her arrival when an extra heavy electrical storm which broke close by caused one of the electrical arresters on the outside of the cabin to burn out quite contrary to precedent and she was cut ot off from the world next day when someone from the office came up in haste to find out the cause ol of the silence and set things aright they often joke now she says about expecting to find her hidden under a lot log for safety but it quite so funny at the time there seems however to be very little actual danger from these storms in spite ot of the fact that they are very heavy and numerous at that elevation one scon becomes accustomed to the racket or at least miss daggett did but in the damage these storms cause by starting fires lies their chief interest to the lookout for it requires a quick eye to detect in among the rage of fogs which arise in their wake the small puff of smoke which tells of some tree struck in a burnable spot generally it shows at once but in one instance there was a lapse of almost two weeks before the fall of the smoldering top fanned up enough smoke to be seen at night the new fires show up like tiny candle bandla flames and are easily spotted against the dark baclig background round of the ridges but are not so easy to exactly locate for an immediate report upon the speed and accuracy of this report however depends the efficiency of the service as was proved by the summers record of extra small acreage burned in spite of over forty fires reported to the electrical storms miss alias daggett adds are attributed most of our present day fires as traveler and citizen alike are dally daily feeling more responsible tor for the preservation of the riches bestowed by nature and although some still hold to the same views as one ol 01 old d timer who made the comment when lightning fires were being discussed that he guessed that was the way of clearing the forests the general trend of opinion seems to be that man mail in tho the form of forest service la Is doing an excellent in keeping a watchful eye on the limits of that hitherto wholes wholesale gle clearing |