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Show LAYING GREAT AREAS OF NORTHERN COUNTRY IN WASTE . . - . 1 1 11 11 "- I Still Rescue Forces Unable to Get Into Communication Communi-cation With St. Regis; High Winds Prevail. Federal Service Exhausting Ex-hausting Every Effort to Combat Scourge With Little Success. SPOKANE, Wash., July 18. Forest service ser-vice headquarters were unable today to get into communication directly with tho forces fighting fires that are threatening the town of St. Regis, but it is known that the fires arc serious and that the fato of the town is still undecided. Every available man in western Mon tana, northern Idaho and eastern Wash-i Wash-i Ington is being employed by t.io federal forest service and the private forest pro tective associations to fight the fores: fires In Montana and Idaho that today were threatening two western Montana towns and millions of feet of standing white pine. High winds "and abnormally high temperatures, tem-peratures, combined with parched forests, are ail but rendering the efforts of 10OD men fighting the many forest f irea useless. use-less. The towns threatened with destrue tlon arc Atherton and St. Regis in Montana. Mon-tana. SHORTAGE OF FIGHTERS HAMPERING OFFICIALS. Between 700 and 1000 acres in the He-ena He-ena forest arc burning, ravaging some fine timber and threatening the old mining min-ing camp of Jimtown. one and one-hah miles from York. The blaze lias bco;t burning for weeks and most of the time under control, but Thursday's high winds spread it rapidly and meager reports indicated in-dicated the fight era are being beaten steadily backward. Firea at the head of Rock creek, on the Smith river slope, hitherto under control, con-trol, broko away from the fire fighters and are burning fiercely. Blazes at the head of Beaver creek and six small fires in different sec Lions o the forest that started Thursday a been put under control. Shortage of fire fighters is hampering the forest service officials, as wed private, forest protective associations, an-i ranchers and miners have turned out to assitft. in fighting the firea. To attempt to slop the Ra i. tlesnake creek fire in the Missoula, Mont., fori-pf, tho fire fighters have made a lire lini of more than twenty-( hree miles. The fire Itself lias a six -mile front. CROSS BOUNDARY TO COMBAT THE FLAMES. Eighty American fire f !gh !ers, under the direction of I "nited States forest service ser-vice officials, erossed the Canadian border bor-der today to fight a fire over approximately approxi-mately I0.UOO ft'TfS which Is threatening to enter a valuable, stand of limber cast of Porthlll, Idaho. Originating on tho American side. It burned over a consid-eraule consid-eraule area without doing any considerable considera-ble damagp, and crossing the border destroyed de-stroyed timber valued at $J00.0'"0. Tho flames now arc again moving south-wa south-wa rd. A fire on Pack rivr, covering unno (o SOOt) acres, was still beyond control in valuable green timber. Tim. fire on the Lost Fork of Jordan creek, in the Coeur J'Alcne forest out of Heron, Mont., wa reported as tjuiet, but not within control. con-trol. It lias spread to an approx iina to area of seven square miles, still burned over land. BOISE, Idaho, July IS. Determined efforts ef-forts to check the spread of the forest fires in the Thunder Mountain district in central Idaho have so far failed to gain control of the fire, which is reported constantly con-stantly growing In scope. A crew of thirty-six men was re, shed in automobile automo-bile trucks from Cascade last night to the fire sector and two army trucks with fire-fighting equipment will leave Hojsr or Hailey tins evening. Fifty ni'-n have n.-"n f'nt to New Meadows, where tho situation is reported threatening. State Senator K. J. Armstrong of (Continued on Pass 2, Column 2.) FATE OF TWO TOWNS IS STILL IffflDED (Continued from Page One.) TIailey has been appointed by Governor Davis as supervisor and has been empowered em-powered to commandeer needed equipment equip-ment to fight the fire. |