OCR Text |
Show II f AT 2 1 SHE TAKES THE LONELY I I POST IN FOREST FIRE PATROL I If I PATROL. LOOKOUT IiQOATTRRET) tbrongh the vast for- O e6ts of Northern Maine are the numeroDs watch towers of the fire patrol system, where men arc on doty fwith unrelaxkig vigilance to detect the jfirst sign of the dreaded forest fires which create, ench havoc in the valuable timber To bo an observer is considered a full sized man's tafk. He lives alone, some-times some-times in the tower itself, otherwise in n littler.bui near by. He Is miles from the Nearest neighbor. He has a telephone, Und a part of his duty is to Bee that the f pine is kept in -working order, which is no small matter, as it is run almost entirely od trees. Eut there is ono women in Maine -who Is confident that she- can do the work as well as a man She has succeeded in con- fvmciEg the forest Commission tnar. en' jb capable, has bctn duly uppolnted aDd (on May 1 began her duties as observer in ichargo of the station on Mount Klneo, tthe high "bluff which overlooks Moosehead ILake. A. million dollars' worth of choice timber lands arc, in her keeping I The new observer is MJss Alice Hen-Werson, Hen-Werson, of Gardiner, Mc, a eclf-rellant, bright young woman, who eays she is gwenty-ono years old and that she weighs 130 pounds, can ehoot any kind of fire-krmand fire-krmand is not afraid of bears I She doesn't mind staying alone- nights In the woods on top of a mountain, for b while the wild animals of Maine may ft Come around looking for eometliing to eat and be a trifle anDoyiDg, they are harmless harm-less if let alonr. The big, blundering toooso sometimes rub their backs against I bsse of Lhe tower und timid deer, who E Sri- always consumed with curiosity, may fwandcr into tho little clearing, but they Bneau no harm Porcupines are the most ft Hmoying, for taej are not afraid of any thing, eat everything they can find and' climb upon tho cabin roof and rattle and', grunt As for the black bear, they are the biggest cowards ever and a ebout or 6hot will send them scampering off at top speed. I As for wicked men well, Miss Henderson Hender-son is not afraid of them, that's all Her duties are to keep a watch in every direction direc-tion for the first signs of smoke that may mark tho start of a devastating forest fire. She has powerful glasses, range, finders and charts and is able to locate-the locate-the smoke almost to a rod. She can discriminate dis-criminate between the campflres of a fishing party or log driving crew and a Ore that's getting away. There arc: watch towers all around and information :.. .... i, , e...i orrr the felenhnne If tho fimoke grows tho district fir! warden is notified at once and he starts with his crew and fire fighting equips ment for the scene. In nine times out oC ten ho checks tho fire at the start. It is estimated that if the warden service and patrols prevent one big forest firo in a, aoason they save- much more than theyj cost. The work of tho observer varies from days and days of ceaseless vigilance, when the woods are as dry as tinder, to long; stretches of rain, fogs and mists. When! observation is impossible or there is little or no danger of f Iros In these times the observers tend thelr little garden spots, fix up the telephone Hues, do odd jobs or take a long trnmpl out to the nearest supply camp for pro- visions. The station of Mix.s Henderson; is the nean-.st to civilisation of any, being but two miles from the Kinco House and settlement She thinks she will be -able io do. s lot of knitting this summer. |