Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 91.djvu/215

 Popular Science Monthly

��199

��Teaching the Proper Care of Forests by Object Lesson Models

THE right and the wrong way to cut timber is shown by realistic models which the Forest Service has had prepared for exhibition purposes throughout the country. Three models are included in the series. The first shows a stand of one acre of virgin timber, an actual scene in one of the national forests that has been repro- duced on a small scale with great accuracy both as to proportion and coloring.

The second of the series shows the same stand after a timber sale conducted in accordance with the regulations, of the Forest Service. The matured trees have been felled and cut into lengths which have been arranged in systematic piles to facili- tate their removal from the forest. All of the brush and small limbs, which, if left on the ground would constitute a fire hazard, have been arranged in compact piles in readiness to be burned under the watchful eyes of foresters.

The third of the series shows an example of the wrong way to cut timber. Logs of various lengths are seen scattered about, no attempt having been made to arrange them in piles. Some of the trees felled have not been cut into lengths; many have been cut down without regard to size or maturity. All of the cut timber and the trunks of the standing trees are charted and the condition of the ground indicates that the forest has been burnt over, the inference being that careless methods on the part of those engaged in cutting out the timber have resulted in the spreading of a forest fire which might otherwise have been checked.

The Forest Service has two sets of these models. One which shows a stand of Western yellow pine, is utilized for the western section of the country; the other, depicting a typical forest scene in the southern Appa- lachian region, for the eastern section.

The three mod- els are exhibited in connection with lectures on forest preservation.

����One of a series of models used by the United States Forest Service to show how timber should be cut

��The helmet keeps the wearer alive by draw- ing its supply of fresh air from next to the floor

A New Helmet for Use in Smoke or Gas-Filled Chambers

THIS is not a gas mask such as is used in European trenches. It is a new helmet which the British Government has installed on five hundred battleships to be used below the decks when entering gas or smoke-filled compartments. It is also being introduced in America, in city fire departments.

When used in smoke or gas-filled rooms this new helmet draws its supply of fresh air from next to the floor, taking advantage of the well known natural law that heat, smoke, fumes, etc., rise, leaving a cer- tain amount of ox- ygen close to the floor. The trailing hose of the new helmet seeks that cushion of fresh air next to the floor. The helmet weighs only four pounds. One size is adjustable to fit a man, woman or child.

�� �