ire losses was
kept, but that the loss ran into the millions, no one who has seen the
miles of burned over tracts can doubt.

The following table shows the fire losses in the national forests for
the past three years:

Year Area of Acres Value of
Forests Burned Over Timber Burned

1905 85,627,000 279,592 $101,282
1906 106,999,000 115,416 76,183
1907 164,154,000 212,850 31,589

That is, in 1905 the loss from fire was more than three times as great
as in the year 1907, with an area of forests almost twice as great to
protect and control.

_$1,000,000 Saved by the Forest Hunters_

Another important feature of Mr. Pinchot's work is the employment of
experienced hunters for killing wild animals which destroy stock. In the
year 1907, according to records kept of all predatory animals killed
upon the various national forests, or on lands adjoining them, no fewer
than 1600 wolves, 19,469 coyotes, 265 mountain lions, 368 bears, and
2285 wild cats and lynxes were killed by the various hunters and
settlers. Of these, it is probably fair to credit the rangers and the
hunters employed by the Forest Service with at least one-fourth.

Now, any well-posted stockman will tell you that, on an average, a
full-grown wolf will destroy one thousand dollars' worth of stock every
year of its life. Mountain lions prefer horses to any other food, but
still they will put up with calves and sheep. They, too, are easily
chargeable with a thousand dollars' worth of damage each year. The
coyotes, bob-cats, and lynxes do less harm, and that mostly to sheep.
Yet I think it is a very conservative estimate to say that each coyote
or lynx annually destroys stock to the value of fully one hundred
dollars.

Taking these figures as a basis for comparison, it is very easily seen
that the value of the animals killed by the Forest Service men is more
than $1,000,000. Hence, so far as return for their $836,920 in grazing
fees is concerned, the stockmen get it back in full and with some to
spare.

[Illustration: _Copyrighted by E. S. Curtis, Seattle_]

CHIEF KITSAP, FINANCIER

BY

JOSEPH BLETHEN

ILLUSTRATED WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

When young Johnny Kitsap, having made up his mind that his clerkship in
the reservation agency did not offer the chance of advancement to which
the son of a Puyallup chief and a graduate of Carlisle was entitled,