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f t¥ : _Wes y b ' 'Government Considers Plan ! _ for Aviator Patrols Over . Northern Woods f ._._."_____--._.,_.- '| ~With aviation making such rapid [ | forward strides in 'civilftan ~| pursuits, -- now _ that the, .. Wat --lis over, -- consideration wil ohe given to the possibility of using airplanes or hydroplanes to paiurol northern Ontario for fire protection purposes. Gen. Sims, who was ifew months ago appointed Agent-- General in England, succeeding the late Col. Richard Reid, has shown great interest in devising means . 19 protect the northern forests, and he has secured much information -- on the subject which has been submitted to the Government. Gen. Sims consulted the headquar-- ters of the Canadian Air Force in England, getting the opinion of the experts there as to the possibilities of successfully using hydroplanes in northern Ontario. Having been in that part of Ontario for a time be-- fore going overseas in a military ca-- pacity, Gen. Sims has a first--hand 'knowledge of the obstacles that up until this time have prevented the 'Govemment launching an aerial pa-- trol system. The information which | Gen. Sims secured has just reached * the Prime Minister's office, but con-- sideration of the proposal has been delayed because of sessional busi-- nmess occupying the attention of the IGovernmont. It is the intention to !consid(-r the reports in detail at the | first opportunity. | Fight Fires From Air. | _ Hon. G. Howard Ferguson, Minis-- | | ter of Lands, Forests and Mines, who | h.as charge of the fire protection ser-- | i vice in the north, has had the matter | 'of airplane patrols befote him for | the last couple of years. The situa-- | tion was carefully canvassed, but it | was }'ound_tha} the cost at the time 'the investigation was made would | be prohibitive, and that the present ;met.hod, which has been brought to ia. high state of efficiency, could well ' be continued for the present ! _ The cost was only one of the ob-- [ Jections to the scheme. The exten-- 'sive forests and the rugged nature of the entire northern districts pre-- sented the difficulity of finding land-- ing places. It was felt at the time the matter was previously consider-- ::}int(.lhz}tlit would be impracticable to planes out as pat | of tl}e difficulty in xgukri?ll; ?3&3%?3 openings to permit of a landing, and the danger to the aviator of };'évi zx to descend in some place where ni;; | would be practically impossible t ere?ch ground safely. C | t is understood tha ' tion submitted to Gent. tgi?nisn?rma's Canadian Air Force estimq.ted) Ee cost of such a patrol f the K. would be about $375,000 a year, and an initi s : lal ex-- penditure of $351,000. The in the service believe that mexperts the fighting of fires could bUCh # from the air. e done 1 : pomnnnene mm emmmmenmmm en on omm enmmemmemmmemmmemntmemmmenmmmmmenmmemmmmm,