WHEN the United States Government put its forest-reserve policy into effect it brought into existence an interesting and unique body of men,-the forest rangers.

There are now 149 forest reserves under Government control, 146 of which are in "the States," two in Alaska, and one in Porto Rico. In Colorado, whose forests crown the watershed of the nation, there are eight great reserves, covering nearly 7,000,000 acres. Every forest reserve is in charge of a body of trained foresters, or rangers, who patrol the wilderness, guarding against forest fires, timber thieves, and poachers, and seeing that the Government is not cheated in the sales of timber that are made.

HOW UNCLE SAM PICKS HIS HELPERS.

The duties of the forest ranger are so manifold that schools of instruction are carried on, under the direction of technical experts who have studied the forestry systems of Europe, and who have had a long course of practical work in this country. The examinations, which are conducted under civil

service rules, are most rigorous, and the unfit and incompetent are excluded at the beginning. These examinations are held at stated periods during the summer, and they show what care the Government is exercising in the selection of the men to guard its forest reserves. Not only must the successful candidate prove that he is versed in the lore of the wilderness, and that he can ride, shoot, and pack, but he must also show that he has a good education. His fitness for the rougher part of the work is passed upon by the technical forestry expert in charge of the examination, and his answers to questions testing his education are scanned by the Civil-Service Commission. Each year it is becoming more difficult to get a position as forest ranger. More qualifications are demanded as the importance of first-class forestry work becomes manifest. It seems highly probable that before long only those who have had the advantage of instruction in forestry schools will be eligible for the positions which have heretofore gone to cowboys and others who are better versed in the outdoor part of

amination put them through their paces in felling timber and other practical forestry work. The men had to show their skill, also, in following blazed and blind trails and in reading the signs of the forest. The more observant ones showed surprising cleverness, and all averaged very well at this kind of work.

On the third and last day the examination wound up in a variety of tests. The ranger candidates were put through their paces on horseback, the expert making notes of each man's skill in the saddle. Much hilarity was caused when the cowboys, most of whom could ride bucking horses "straight up," were asked to come in at a slow trot while the expert took notes.

"I know it looks ridiculous, boys," he said, "but it's in the regulations, and it's got to be done."

Camp was made, and the men proved how deftly they could set up and strike a tent, how well they could build a fire, and perform other necessary feats that make life in the open worth living. In order to test the ability of each man in estimating distances the expert paced off a huge triangle, and then

the candidates filed after him, in solemn line. Each man then wrote out his estimate of the number of feet in the triangle which had been traversed.

A greater part of the day was given over to packing and unpacking a horse. This was one of the most important of the tests, as a ranger must live alone in the open, and much of the time his bed and "grub" and cooking utensils must be carried on the back of a packhorse. A man who does not know the trick of packing will be in trouble all the time. Every article must be packed in exactly the right place, and the hitch must be cunningly thrown or the entire load will soon jar loose on a rough trail.

Most of the candidates showed their familiarity with that piece of rope magic known as the diamond hitch, by which it is possible to secure a pack so that it will not slip on the roughest trail. At the same time, a correctly thrown diamond hitch can be loosened with one pull at the end of the rope. Every process of packing and throwing the hitch was gone through with, the expert standing close at hand and making mental note of each candidate's proficiency. The ideas of

he has to do is to drop a spoon hook from the stern of his canoe, and a huge trout leaps at the lure. Or, with his rifle, he can shoot a bear as it comes to the brink of the lake to drink. At night he camps alone, in the silence of the vast wilderness, and daybreak finds him afloat in his canoe once more.

Such absolute solitude is hardly the part of the average forest ranger, but even loneliness has its compensations, no matter if a man may be assigned to patrol one of the great reserves of Alaska. A ranger always has his horses, and what does the absence of mere man count when one has plenty to eat and a new camp each night in some delightful nook in the wilderness, beside a brawling trout stream or on the shore of some great lake, in the hollow of a mountain valley?

FIGHTING FIRE ON THE RESERVES.

The life of the ranger is not all "beer and skittles," however. There is work to do in plenty. One must always be on his guard against forest fires. The tenderfeet who are always coming into the reservations on camping and hunting trips are forever starting fires where they will spread to the pines. Signs are posted along all trails through the forest reserves warning people against the

the candidates varied somewhat, but all succeeded in making good-looking packs, that would stand the test of a rough trip.

A few minor field tests completed the examination, and the candidates swung into the saddle and rode away, the successful ones to be notified of their eligibility to the first vacancies occurring in the forest-ranger ranks.

SOLITUDE OF THE LIFE.

Once he has entered upon his duties, the young forest ranger finds himself in an employment that offers endless possibilities, to the man of the right temperament. For it must be understood that few men are constituted with the forest-ranger temperament. A forest ranger's berth would never do for a man who cannot be alone for days, or even weeks or months, at a time. Some rangers, in the reserves farthest removed from civilization, see few faces from one year's end to the other. One ranger in Idaho lives almost altogether in a canoe. It is his duty to patrol a great lake, abounding with giant trout. About the shores of this lake he paddles his silent way during the long months of summer and fall. When he wants a meal, all

be sure to extinguish all campfires when through with them. But campers are proverbially careless, and are always going away leaving their fires burning merrily behind them. A spark flies up into a dead pine and instantly there is a tower of flame shooting into the sky. If the wind happens to be blowing strong, a roaring wall of flame is soon rushing through the forest.

At the first sign of smoke in the sky the ranger is busy. If it is a great fire he gallops for aid to the nearest forest supervisor, and all the available men are pressed into service. The Government provides for such impressment, allowing wages to those who aid the rangers in fighting fires. Trees are felled in the path of the flames, and the side lines of flame are beaten in, thus constantly narrowing the front of the fire wall. Sometimes fires are fought for days before they are overcome. Then it will be just the luck of the tired, blistered ranger if another fire breaks out in another part of the reserve, and he has to spend more days and nights in the killing work.

Campers do not start all the forest fires, however. Lightning starts many of the most destructive fires. A bolt of lightning in a

dry carpet of dead branches of trees and underbrush will soon set a blaze going. For this reason the sawmill men who operate in the forest reserves are made to clean up all débris as they go along. After a tree is felled for timber the branches are not allowed to lie on the ground, but must be gathered up and burned or carted off the reserve. As the process of weeding out the superfluous timber goes on, the inflammable carpet is removed. Much of the down timber is carted away by neighboring ranchers, as any one is permitted to gather all the dead timber he wishes for firewood; so the reserves are constantly being "cleaned up." In a few years some of the reserves that a short time ago were only tangled, primeval forests will be ideal groves, carpeted with green grass, instead of being choked with superfluous trees and piled high with an impassable breastwork of fallen trunks and dead branches.

ENFORCING THE GAME LAWS.

and, in short, act as a mounted policeman. He does not always go without opposition, and for this reason a ranger who is not accustomed to handling firearms would make a sorry showing. Down in Lincoln County, N. M., a forest ranger had a busy two days, in which he battled with five men, one being killed, two jailed, and two getting away. The ranger discovered four cattle rustlers on the reserve, killing a cow. They refused to surrender and opened fire, the ranger returning the fire and killing one of the desperadoes. The following morning the ranger followed the men who escaped and caught two of them, turning them over to the authorities. That night the ranger guarded a store at a little town, having heard that an outlaw, who had broken jail a short time before, had threatened to come in and rob the place. True to his threat, the outlaw appeared, and a duel followed, the ranger killing his man at the first fire.