—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 27,1968 12 More Woods Fires Already Protecting Penn's Woods from fire, particularly during the Spring and Fall fire seasons, is a tune consuming task for the Depaitmenl of Forests and Wa ters' Dmsion of Forest Protec tion. Already this year there have been more fires than during the entire year of 1967. When the danger of fire is ex tremely prevalent there are no "days off" for personnel involv ed in forest protection. They are on the alert 24 hours a day until the danger subsides. To cope with this state-wide problem, the Division of Forest Protection has at its disposal various modern pieces of equip ment designed for the suppres smn of forest fires This includes aircraft for surveillance and wa ter drops on going fires In addition to salaried person nel, there are about 3,000 volun teer fire wardens who are train ed and equipped to assist in fne fighting Not included are the lonely ones, both men and worn en. who operate the network of fire towers which span the Com monwealth It was in 1905 that the first fire tower, a wooden structure, was erected in Franklin Countj by what was then known as the Department of Forestry This replaced the old tree tower, one of which was erected by stu dents of the State Forest Acad emy at Mont Alto about 1903 As early as 1884. fire was a big problem and a Luzerne Countj man who owned 40,000 acres of woodland maintained a lookout -station on the roof of a I building overlooking his proper ty At the first sign of smoke the watchman using a mega phone, would call to a waiting I fire brigade in a nearby settle-, ment and the men would spring I into action Today there are 130 radio equipped towers in the state each manned by trained observ ers who are on duty from sun rise to sunset during the two fue seasons whenever the fire dan ger demands their obseirations During those early j eais when a fire tower was just a platfonn . Coil your local HOFFMAN SEED MAN FRANK H. BUCHER 2160 Main St., Rothsville, Pa. 626-6504 Litilz LESTER ERB 312 S. Mount Joy St. Elizabethtown, Pa 367-7112 JASON H. MELLINGER R D. 1 Strasburg, Pa, JONATHAN S. SHIRK 366 E. Main St., Bareville, Pa. 656-9302 EDGAR C. UMBLE Pequea Ave. Gap, Pa, SPECIALIZING IN ALFALFA, ■I -V CLOVER, J PASTURE, ■ iTyTrrra OATS, FORAGE A, H. HOFFMAN SEEDS, INC. ' Landisville (Lancaster Co.), Pa/ - - - i attached to the top of a tree, ob servers had no modern com munication systems as ' are in use today. .When they spotted smoke it was necessary to ride several miles on horseback to report the blaze to the forester. By then, if fanned by high winds or fed by dry underbrush, the fire had a good chance to spread out of control over thousands of acres. Years after the first telephone made its appearance, lines were built to the towers and tele phones were Installed to make the matter of reporting fires a matter of minutes. MEET— 687-6546 442-4525 D. E. HORN & Co., Inc. York, Pa. 717-854-7867 CHARLES E. BAIR OF WRIGHTSVILLE (YORK CO, PA) This outstanding poultryman, student and FFA member is holding the dozen eggs that won him “best of the show” honors at the 1968 PA. FARM SHOW for the Vo-Ag Divi sion. Charles is president of the Eastern High School FFA Chapter and a member of the National Honor Society. Re cently he was honored as one of the two outstanding FFA poultry boys in the state. CONGRATULATIONS. .. CHARLES for you’re outstanding record. Keep up the good work. The Agricultural Industry needs young men like yourself. FEED Unfortunately most of these • Meetings Set curly day towers provided no (Continued from Page 1) protection for the observor. They were open top structures, about individual farmers are expected 50 feet high, equipped with a to attend. ladder for climbing. , . Meetings and dates tentative- Although they are not desjgned ly scheduled are as follows: to provide all the comforts of May 1 - Knoxville, Tennessee: home, today's modern fire tow- Denver, Colorado: Amarillos, crs furnish the operator with a Texas; and Fargo, N. Dakota, roof over his or her head, an M ay 2-Lincoln. Nebraska and electric heater to take the chill out of the air. and a two-way er east f Jim Th in Carbon radio which is used in conjunc- £ 0 tion with the telephone. A far cry from those used dur- Four new towers, constructed j n g the early 1900 s, the new tow during 1967. are in use today at ers ' rise to a height of 82.5 feet, the following locations: There is a seven by seven foot Stoney Mountain, on State -crow’s nest perched on top, sur- Game lands northeast of Dau- hounded by a four foot wide cat phm; Kmton Knob, southwest of walk. The latter was installed Bedford; the Prospect tower, for the convenience of the ob east of Smethport in McKean server although it may be used Co ; and the Mauch Chunk tow- by visitors at their own risk. PERFORMANCE CONSCIOUS POULTRYMEN FEED KORNCO FEED Check with you’re neighbor who feeds HORNCO. Billings, Montana. May 3 - Harrisburg, Pennsyi. vania; Hutchinson, Kansas; Fort Wayne, Indiana: and Spokane, Washington. Informal hearings will begin at 10 a.m. at locations in respec tive cities to be announced by Slate ASC Committees responsi. ble for arrangement. The meeting scheduled for Har. risburg, Pennsylvania, will be held on Friday, May 3rd. at the Capitol Motel. This meeting w ill include representatives from the States of Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. The meet ing is open to the general pub he and all interested parties are welcome to attend. Persons at tending the meeting are invited to express their views on the size and direction of the 1969 national wheat allotment.
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