To follow the development of transportation, water and rail, and coal, oil, natural gas and the steel industries is not only instructive, but forms a most engaging romance.

The Ohio River, with its head tributaries, has always been of strategic importance to the Nation and has been a very large factor in its development and progress. The early settlers crossed the Alleghenies by pack-horse, later by Conestoga wagon and then by stage coach, upon reaching the tributaries of the Ohio descended the streams by flat boats, for the far west. Whole families, including provisions and live stock floated in a hull of very small size, encountering on the journey the danger of Indians and the navigation of almost unknown waters. The old rafting days were notable for adventure, sometimes a dozen or more large rafts, from the giants of the forest would be seen running the tortuous streams.

Pittsburgh, from the year 1790, has been prominent in boat building. The evolution of craft on the rivers was about as follows: first the pironque, then followed the batteaux, keel-boat, barge, house-boat, steam packet boat, and lastly the towboat. The keel-boat, having a capacity of about 30 tons, seems to have been the first boat of commercial importance. The first steamboat, "The New Orleans," to ply inland rivers was built in Pittsburgh by Nicholas Roosevelt in 1811. At one of the mooring places, en route to New Orleans, the people held the opinion that she could go down stream all right but not up, so the trip was delayed for sufficient time to prove that the idea was a mistake.

The capacity of the present towboat fleets for moving enormous bulk tonnage at low cost is remarkable. On the lower rivers 20,000 tons at a time has been quite common, and the greatest amount moved reached about 60,000 tons. The most economic movements, for industrial purposes, from coal mine to mill now occurs in our local rivers, round trips are made with great regularity and the distance covered about 100 miles per 24 hours. Coal, loads going only in one direction, of about 5,000 tons, is moved at very small cost, say 7 cents per ton. Freight train loads average in the neighborhood of about 2,500 tons. present local water-carried annual coal tonnage amounts to about 12,000,000 tons per year. This, with other river business, is now having a considerable increasing tendency, and many of the steel concerns are equiping with large orders for modern steel barges, and also towboats to handle the business.

The

The rail tonnage of the Pittsburgh district, while not recently totalled, may reach over 180.000,000 tons. To handle this business a vast net-work of tracks has of course been established. The progress of land travel was not particularly marked up to 1840. In 1830, Pittsburgh was reached by canal and railroad, but it was not until about 1852 that through or trunk line service obtained. To give some idea of conditions within the drainage basin, in 1860, the total mileage amounted to only about 640, and it was not until 1860 that there was any very great increase in extension of tracks. Today the total length of main road probably amounts to 4,500 miles, which is nearly double that of the State of New Jersey.

While the railroads, under most able management are doing the best possible to handle freight, it is of course now well known that the problem is becoming more and more serious, not only to the railroads, but to the public at large. Bacon wrote:

"There be three things which make a Nation
great and prosperous: a fertile soil, busy work-
shops, and easy conveyance for men and com-
modities from one place to another."

It might be added that without proper transportation, production has little value, and the greater the facilities for economical moving of commodities the more valuable they become.

A project planned to provide additional and adequate facilities for handling freight is the Lake Erie and Ohio River Canal, which is now receiving attention by a Board appointed by the Governor of Pennsylvania. The report will be sent to the Governor in a few days. This canal has been brought up for consideration upon several occasions, but like nearly all great projects of public nature the improvement has experienced detentions.

The route of the canal, which has a total length of 1011⁄2 miles, is from the mouth of the Beaver River, which stream it ascends 21 miles to near New Castle, thence via the Mahoning River to Niles, Ohio, 30 miles; thence by canal proper to Lake Erie, 50%1⁄2 miles, which it will enter 61⁄2 miles west of Ashtabula. Between the Mahoning

and Lake Erie, on the "Continental Divide,' the topography being favorable, there will be a summit level of 27 miles length and of elevation 900 feet above sea. Where the Beaver empties into the Ohio, the Government pool level is 668 feet and Lake Erie is 573, so that the rise to the summit will be 232 feet and the drop to the lake 327 feet.

A portion of the summit level will consist of an artificial lake, nearly 9 miles long, at the southern end.

The locks, 26 in number, will have lifts rang

ing from 10 to 30 feet and all of uniform dimensions, 400' x 56′ and 12' depth over the sills. Estimates were made for a channel 140' wide at bottom and 12 feet deep.

From Pittsburgh the canal will be reached by 25 miles of the Ohio River through five Government locks.,

The water supply will be taken chiefly from the French Creek tributary of the Allegheny River, conserved in ample reservoirs and fed to the canal during the season of operation. From French Creek, alone, the drainage area available is 694 square miles, and the total from all sources considered, nearly 900 square miles. The main reservoir, on the Pymatuning Swamp, at the Pennsylvania Ohio State line and 20 miles south of Lake Erie will be located on the direct line of the feeder canal. The capacity of this reservoir site is 18,000,000,000 cubic feet, and together with the other two sites, one of them on upper French Creek, the total available storage desired amounts to 20,500,000,000 cubic feet. These reservoirs under proper control will fill, annually. Additional reservoir sites are feasible.

For single locks the operation of the canal, including losses, etc., only requires 8,000,000,000 cubic feet. The Shenango River is to be provided, from Pymatuning reservoir, with water sufficient to meet demands of the large interests along that stream, and the plans for this have been made by the State. Water of the higher stages will be impounded for canal use-water now wasted and frequently causing destruction. In no case will water be taken from the streams to the extent of interfering with present or future needs of those having interests along the streams.

While the project is a very large one, it can be rightly said that there are no serious engineering difficulties. Nature favors the project. The preliminary plans have been examined by several of the most eminent engineers of this country.

Transportation modes and costs have received considerable study, and it has been found that steel barge fleets, of three barges, carrying 6,600 tons at capacity, can make a round trip in 53%1⁄2 hours, including lockings and other detentions. The cost per ton single trip is computed at about 14 cents. While the lake season, about eight months, will largely control the time the canal will be open for through traffic, the canalized river divisions, from the great Youngstown steel district, is likely to be open much longer-sometimes nearly the entire year.

As transportation is of much vital necessity to the public at large, the crying need for this canal as an economic proposition is self-evident, as it will connect the two most important bodies of

internal waters, forming in some respects the industrial heart of the country. Furthermore, the connecting link will pass through the already largest tonnage producing belt of bulky commodities in this country, and for water transport no more ideal situation could be imagined.

There are comparatively few places in the world where great canals can be built and where the cost will be in keeping with the returns, but here where Nature favors and there is an enormous growing tonnage, in the currents of commerce, there an be no doubt as to the benefits to all interests which would be derived. It is a National requirement, emphasized by the present war needs and the cost of living.

This canal will not be an injurious competitor of the railroads, instead it should be regarded as co-operative and beneficial to the railroads, caring for a considerable part of the bulky freight, and the railroads conducting the high class freight business, with of course some of the low class, and the passenger service.

The annual capacity of the canal, when considering through and local movement, will not be less than 38,000,000 tons, for single locks.

In conclusion the liberty is taken of expressing the immediate necessity of scientific handling of the forest areas; the building of the canal, and the works for flood control and water conservation.

GEORGE M. LEHMAN.

During the two-year period ending June 1, 1917, the State Forests paid into the State Treasury $36,900.72. sury $36,900.72. If the Department of Forestry had been willing to sacrifice future benefits for the sake of making a big showing now, says the Commissioner, this sum could have been increased fourfold.

Practically all of the revenue is derived from the sale of mineral and dead or over-mature timber. Very little growing timber has been cut, and the Forests are really in better condition because of the removal of this material. So far the greatest obstacle to the removal of marketable timber has been the absence of good roads in the forests. If an adequate appropriation is granted, the Department should use a large part of it in road building. Most of the trails and fire lanes have been planned so that they may be made into roads, and because of work already done the cost of covering them will be low.

Enough roads, trails, fire lanes, and boundary lines have been opened on Pennsylvania's State Forests to reach from Philadelphia to San Francisco and half way back.

The Camp and the Camp Fire.

WITH

ITH the increase in the number of those who camp on the State Forests, the proper care of camp fires is becoming of more and more importance in forest protection. In 1915, one hundred and thirty-six forest fires were directly traceable to the carelessness of hunters and campers, and the resulting damage was over $100,000. If these men had taken proper care of their camp fires, this damage would have been lessened and probably eliminated, and the campers would have had their reward in being more comfortable, and in being able to return to a camp site not rendered unrecognizable by fire.

To the seasoned camper, this article will be merely the rehashing of the A B C's of woodcraft, but it will be strictly news to many of the more recent additions to the outdoor army.

In choosing a camp site, there are only two prime requisites for the experienced woodsman :-wood and water. Given a good supply of these, your old hunter will undertake to pass a restful night almost anywhere. Look to these things first when you are in a strange woods. If you cannot get both together, choose water first in summer, and wood in fall and winter.

Three points should be given due consideration: (1) A site on a hilltop is exposed to the wind. (2) Frost settles first and heaviest into the streams bottoms.

(3) As a rule, the best springs and firewood are not found in the main creek bottoms, or "draws," as they are colloquially called, but in the smaller hollows which branch off from these main hollows. Hence the best camp site is usually neither on a hill nor along a creek, but between the two.

Supposing that you have found a camp site which has the natural advantages in a combination to your liking, your first care is to start your fire and pitch your shelter, the fire first, because it can be burning down to a bed of coals while you are driving tent pegs.

Mark it down as an established fact that no good woodsman builds a fire anywhere without taking precautions against its spreading. Get a forked Get a forked stick, and scrape away all the leaves and other inflammable material for a distance of ten feet all around the place where the fire is to be, and do this before you build the fire.

Of course, you need some sort of a fireplace. If you have a tool for digging, make a long, narrow trench in the ground, and bank up around the edges the earth you remove. Cover over a foot at the rear, and leave a small opening for a chimney, so that the smoke may be at least partly carried away. Keep your eye on the wind, and build the

fire so that the smoke will be carried away from the camp. If you have nothing with which to make a trench, build up a fireplace with flat stones. If you can find no suitable stones, build your fire in the center of the piece of ground you have cleared of rubbish. Cut two stout forked sticks, and drive them, forks up, one on each side of the fire. Lay another strong stick across the forks. Now cut several smaller forks, the weaker side of the fork three or four inches long, and the stronger side from one to two feet long, Drive nails every two or three inches in the stronger fork at a sharp upward angle, and hang the forks on the crossstick by these nails. Hang your pot on the weak fork, and regulate the distance above the fire by hanging the fork by a higher or lower nail. If you have no nails drive the heavy forked sticks a little deeper, and hang your kettle directly on the cross-stick.

For the actual building of the fire, you should have (1) a small amount of quick burning, easily ignited wood for kindling; (2) a larger amount of wood which will burn quickly to coals for cooking; and (3) a still larger amount of slow burning wood for heating. Following is a list of woods. classified under these headings in the order of their excellence :

Kindling:-Pitch pine knots, split.
White pine.

Thoroughly dry inside chestnut
bark.

Birch bark.

Cooking wood:-Bark of dead hemlock, pine, hickory, or maple.

Dry aspen.

Hickory.

Black birch.

Hardwood branches, not too large.

Heating wood:-Hickory.

White oak. Hard maple. Beech.

The last named woods, although they make excellent heating fires, should be watched after the the fire is well started. They are "spitters," or "snappers," that is, discharge glowing coals to a considerable distance, and if not watched may start a forest fire which will cover a township. Scrape the dead leaves and litter away for at least ten feet, and keep a watch in addition. Most of the light tents burn easily, and a glowing coal may destroy your shelter at a most inopportune time.

Most camps are broken in the morning because distance to the settlement or railroad makes it advisable to take a whole day for moving. Transsients almost invariably break camp in the morning.

Remember this :-The morning is a period of comparative calm and dampness. In these still hours your camp fire may seem dead and cold. Don't trust it! A wind, springing up later in the day, may fan hidden coals into a blaze and start a forest fire which will transform your camp site from a natural beauty spot to a charred and desolate reminder of your carelessness.

As soon as breakfast is over, spread the coals out flat and pour water over them. Use all the water needed, and then carry an extra bucketful. Now break camp, keeping an eye on the fire for signs of life. When the packing is done, turn over the coals and put the extra bucketful of water on the fire.

Finally, be moderate. Do not build a bonfire. What is needed is a companionable blaze to sit or lie beside, not a huge conflagration which must be regarded with awe and approached with respect. Besides you may want to come back to the same site next season, and you'll wish then that you had left some dry wood within a mile.

Forest Fire Prevention: the Old Way and the New.

Ņ

(Read at the Pittsburgh Forestry Conference.) OTWITHSTANDING the fact that there is nothing new under the sun, I have been assigned a subject under which there are to be discussed new methods of forest fire prevention. But as there has also been included the subject of old methods, we may consider for a few minutes at least what some of the old methods were, and then briefly discuss some new ideas with respect to the application or modification of old methods.

It may be paradoxical to start with the statement that there have been no old methods, and yet that has been about the condition of affairs. It seems to be the most difficult thing in the world to get the people through their government to grasp the idea of the value of preventive measures as compared to the value of remedial measures. We may go back in Pennsylvania history to the beginning of the Province and even antedating that, and find upon the statute books, laws against the firing of woods, and providing penalties therefor; and from time to time up to the present moment old laws have been revised and new ones have been approved. Yet the force of these laws in the prevention of forest fires is practically nil for the laws were seldom if ever enforced, and forest fires have been constantly on the increase.

Education with respect to the necessity for pre

vention of forest fires has not been lacking in Pennsylvania. Back in 1877, at one of the earliest meetings held within the State to discuss the care of forests, it is interesting to note that a great deal of time was spent by the farmers and others in attendance discussing the value of fencing material. The value of a panel of fence was thoroughly appreciated, and it has been constantly on the increase ever since that time. But it has always seemed strange that from earliest times to the present the farmers would recognize the value of posts and rails in the fence, but could never appreciate the worth of those posts and rails as they were standing in trees. When fires have occurred and fences were burned, even though thousands of acres of good fence material were destroyed, no damage is reported except the loss of the fence. So we may apply the same proposition to other phases of the subject, and may almost say that the force of education along forestry lines from 1877 to the present time with respect to forest fire prevention is really just now coming into effect, if indeed we may be absolutely sure of this.

For a long time in Pennsylvania we have understood what factors must be used for the efficient control of fires after they once start, such as the establishment of an organization of fire wardens, a patrol system, a chain of observation towers, etc., even yet after seventeen years experience in the establishment of State Forests, the Commonwealth as a whole has not accepted these ideas as necessary, and every handicap is placed in our way to prevent a rapid development of the means for efficient fire control. In the forest fire fighting methods commonly found over the State there is the same indifference and lack of practical application of common sense. Instead of it being a rule of the people who are interested in forests to attack the fire where it is doing the most damage, it is customary to fight at the easiest possible place, and it is usually the result of more luck than good judgment that fires have been controlled before they have reached large size.

The spirit of the past with respect to forest fires and their prevention may be summed up in one word, namely - indifference. Notwithstanding the fact that a spasmodic education along this line has been conducted over a long period of years, yet it is an absolute fact that today the people of the Commonwealth are both ignorant and careless concerning forest fires.

Now as to the development of this work under the present Bureau of Forest Protection, we do not claim the instituting of any new methods, but rather call attention to a definition of the conservation movement given by Hon. Gifford Pinchot