provided for in each of the townships affected by such fire for all such assistance as such township fire wardens shall be entitled to employ under the provisions of this act. It shall be the duty of said deputy game, fish and forestry wardens, whenever possible to go to the place of fire, take personal charge of and direct all efforts to extinguish and control the same. Said deputy game, fish and forestry warden shall have general charge of township fire wardens in his district, and shall have authority to mass such fire warden force as may be available, at any special point in his district, to suppress fires. CHARGE OF DEPUTIES.-REPORTS.-TEMPORARY WARDENS.- CO-OPERATION OF GAME WARDEN. (12) § 767. SEC. 3. The state game, fish and forest warden shall have general charge of all the deputy game, fish and forest wardens and fire wardens hereinbefore provided for. Said deputy game, fish and forest wardens shall make annual reports to the state game, fish and forest warden, and such other written and verbal reports as he may require, which annual reports shall show in detail each fire occurring in such district, stating the cause of the same, the method used to control or extinguished such fire, amount of property destroyed and the number of lives lost, and such other facts as the state game, fish and forest warden may require. In case the fire warden force of any locality is deemed by the state game, fish and forest warden inadequate to prevent or suppress forest fires, he shall appoint temporarily needed fire wardens whose duties and authority shall be the same as is herein given to supervisors acting as fire wardens. He shall have authority to mass such fire warden force as may be available at any special point to suppress fires. He shall cooperate with any police or military force of the United States government which may be detailed to guard the national domain from fire. He shall investigate, or cause to be investigated by said deputy game, fish and forest wardens, the damages done from time to time by forest fires, and the causes of such fires, and include the same in the annual report to be made by him to the governor. The commissioner of the state land office is hereby made forest commissioner of the state. Said forest commissioner shall investigate the extent of the forests of the state, together with the amounts and varieties of the wood and the timber growing therein, the method used, if any, to promote the regrowth of timber, and any other facts relating to forest interests which he may regard as important. The state game, fish and forest warden shall cooperate with the forest commissioner in securing such information, and shall render such assistance as may be possible through his department in securing the same. GAME LAWS.-WARNING PLACARDS. (13) § 768. SEC. 4. The state game, fish and forest warden shall provide and officially sign an abstract of the penal laws of this act, with such rules and regulations in accord therewith as he may deem necessary, and on or before the first day of March of each year he shall forward as many copies as he considers needful to the several fire wardens in the state and to all railroad companies, and it shall be the duty of said fire wardens to post up such abstract as warning placards in twelve conspicuous places in their respective districts. MEANS OF PREVENTION OR SUPPRESSION.-EXPENSE. (14) § 769. SEC. 5. During a dry and dangerous season, when forest fires are prevailing or are liable to break out, the state game, fish and forest fire commissioner shall use such means under his command as he may deem necessary to prevent or suppress fires, and expenses thus incurred shall be paid by the state, which expenditure in any fiscal year shall not exceed forty thousand dollars, to be paid out of the general fund upon the order of the state game, fish and forest fire commissioner. Am. 1917, Act 364. ASSISTANCE MAY BE REQUIRED.—PENALTY FOR REFUSAL. (15) § 770. SEC. 6. It shall be the duty of each fire warden to take precautions to prevent the setting of forest fires, and when his district is suffering or threatened with fire, to go to the place of danger to control such fires, and each forest fire warden shall have authority to call to his assistance in emergencies any able bodied male person over eighteen years of age, and if such person refuses, without reasonable justification or excuse, to assist, or if any fire warden refuses or neglects to perform the duties assigned him in this act, such officer or person shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars or imprisonment in the ' county jail not to exceed three months. ENFORCEMENT OF ACT.-ARRESTS.-INVESTIGATION OF CAUSES OF FIRES.-TRANSFER OF WARDENS. (16) § 771. SEC. 7. The state game, fish and forest warden, the deputy game, fish and forest wardens and the several fire wardens created by this act shall have authority to enforce the provisions of this act, and it shall be the duty of said deputies and said fire wardens to cooperate with the fire warden of any adjoining district, and in the absence of such fire warden to direct the work of control and extinguishment of forest fires in such district, and to arrest, without warrant every person found violating any provisions of this act, and to forthwith take the offender before a magistrate and make complaint against such person. It shall further be the duty of each of said deputy game, fish and forest wardens to look up the evidence relative to all fires the cause of which is unknown, and actively endeavor to secure the conviction of all persons violating the provisions of this act. The township fire wardens provided for in this act shall inquire into the cause of each forest fire within their respective districts, and report the same verbally or in writing to the district warden, as he may request, and shall also inform him of conditions existing in their several districts believed by them to be dangerous, and also report such other facts as the district warden may require. The state game, fish and forest warden may transfer to any other district than the one for which he is appointed for a specified time, any deputy game, fish and forest warden, to aid in the enforcement of the laws for the protection of game and fish and in the prevention and suppression of forest fires. COMPENSATION, HOW PAID.-APPEAL TO STATE GAME WARDEN. (17) § 772. SEC. 8. Each fire warden shall receive for his actual services rendered under this act two dollars per day, one-fourth of which shall be paid by the municipality where such service is performed, and three-fourths by the state; and any employe engaged in like service shall receive at the rate of two dollars per day, and said expense shall also be paid, one-fourth by the municipality where such service is rendered, and three-fourths by the state as hereinafter provided, but no payment shall be made to any claimant or his assigns under this act until he or his assigns shall have presented an itemized account and made oath or affirmation that said account is just and correct, which account shall be approved by the township board. The township clerk of the board shall thereupon issue to each claimant or his assigns, his warrant upon the township treasurer for the entire sum to which such claimant is entitled, and such treasurer shall pay the same. Such clerk shall transmit to the auditor general an itemized list of such claims as have been presented and allowed by the township board certified to by the supervisor and clerk as being correct and the auditor general shall audit such claim and the whole amount thereof shall be paid out of the state treasury from the general fund by warrant issued by the auditor general upon the state treasurer in favor of the county in which the same was paid and forward same to the treasurer of said county, who shall pay it over to the treasurer of the proper township. The auditor general shall charge back to the county in which such service was rendered one-fourth of the amount so paid for services and the county treasurer of said county shall charge the same to the township in which such service was rendered, which shall be allowed by the township treasurer in his settle ment with the county treasurer:, Provided, That no fire warden shall be paid in any one year for more than twenty days' service in extinguishment and preventing forest fires, nor for more than five days' service in each year in posting notices and making the reports required by this act, nor in the aggregate, for more than twenty-five days' services of whatever character in any one year; nor shall any one person employed by fire wardens to assist in extinguishing or preventing forest fires be paid for more than ten days of such service in any one year, except upon special instruction from the state game, fish and forestry warden: Provided, That in case the township board of any township shall refuse and neglect to pay any proper and legitimate claim which may be presented to them, within thirty days after receipt thereof, the person presenting such claim or his assigns shall have the right to appeal to the state game, fish and forestry warden, who shall investigate such claim and if he deems that the services have been rendered and the claim is just and the claimant entitled to compensation, he shall certify the same to the auditor general who shall pay the whole amount thereof to the claimant from the general revenue funds of the state treasury not otherwise appropriated, one-fourth of which shall be charged by the auditor general to the county in which such service was rendered, and the county treasurer of said county shall charge the same to the township in which such service was rendered, and shall be allowed by the township treasurer in his settlements with the county treasurer. Am. 1917, Act 300; 1919, Act 41. CARELESS SETTING OF FIRES. PENALTY. (18) § 773. SEC. 9. Any person who wilfully, negligently or carelessly sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any woods, grass lands or other combustible material, whether or not on his own lands, by means whereof the property of another is injured or endangered, or any person who wilfully, negligently or carelessly suffers any fire set by himself to damage the property of another, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. Any person who maliciously sets on fire, or causes to be set on fire, any woods, grass lands or other combustible material whereby the property of another is destroyed or life is endangered, shall be punished with a fine of not over five hundred dollars, or be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not over ten years, or both such fine and imprisonment. FIRES NEAR FOREST LANDS.-INCOMBUSTIBLE WADS.-FIRE BRANDS. (19) § 774. SEC. 10. Any person who shall kindle a fire on or dangerously near to forest or grass lands, and leave it unquenched, or shall be a party thereto, and every person who shall use other than incombustible wads for firearms, or who shall carry a naked torch, fire brand, or other exposed light in or dangerously near to forest land, causing risk of accidental fire, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. DESTROYING WARNING PLACARDS. (20) § 775. SEC. 11. Every person who shall willfully deface, destroy or remove any warning placard posted under the requirements of this act shall be liable to a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each offense, or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding three months. SPARK ARRESTERS.-CLEARING RAILROAD RIGHT OF WAY.-COMPANIES TO WARN (21) § 776. SEC. 12. It shall be the duty of all railroad companies operating any railroad within this state, to use efficient spark arresters on all their engines and to keep their right of way to the width of fifty feet on each side of the center of the main track cleared of all combustible material and safely dispose of the same within said limits of their right of way between the fifteenth day of April and the first day of December. No railroad company shall permit its employes to leave a deposit of fire or live coals or hot ashes in the immediate vicinity of woodland or lands liable to be overrun by fires, and where engineers, conductors or trainmen discover that fences or other materials along the right of way or woodland adjacent to the railroad are burning or in danger from fire, they shall report the same promptly at the next telegraph station at which an operator is on duty. In season of drought, railroad companies shall give particular instruction to their employes for the prevention and prompt extinguishment of fires, and they shall cause warning placards furnished by the forestry commissioner to be posted at their stations in the vicinity of forests and grasslands, and where a fire occurs along the line of their road, they shall concentrate such help and adopt such measures as shall be available to effectively extinguish it. Any railroad company wilfully violating the requirements of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by a fine not exceeding one hundred dollars for each such offense, and railroad employes wilfully violating the requirements of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars, and in default of the payment of such fine and costs of prosecution, shall be committed to the county jail for a period not exceeding ninety days. But this section shall not be construed to prohibit or prevent any railroad company from piling or keeping upon the right of way, cross ties or other material necessary in the operation or maintenance of such railroad: Provided, That for the purpose of this act the term "railroad company" shall include any and all railroad companies, logging road companies or any and all companies which operate a steam locomotive at any time or place outside of the limits of incorporated cities and villages. SPARK ARRESTERS ON PORTABLE ENGINES.-DUTY AS TO LIVE COALS, ETC. PENALTY. (22) § 777. SEC. 13. It shall be the duty of each and every owner of threshing or other portable steam engines to have efficient spark arresters on their engines at all times when in use, and no person in charge of any threshing engine shall deposit live coals or hot ashes from his engine in any place without putting them out or covering them with at least three inches of earth before leaving them. All persons violating the provisions of this section shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than fifty dollars. ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES. (23) § 778. SEC. 14. Nothing in this act shall be construed as affecting any right of action for damages. WOODLAND TERRITORY DEFINED. (24) § 779. SEC. 15. Woodland territory within the terms of this act shall be construed to mean forest and brush land. DISPOSITION OF PENALTIES. (25) § 780. SEC. 16. All moneys received as penalties for violating the provisions of this act shall be paid into the county treasury of the county wherein the offense occurred, and the treasurer of the county shall pay the same forthwith to the treasurer of the municipality where the offense occurred, to be used in defraying the expenses of enforcing the provisions of this act within such munici-, pality. ANNUAL REPORT. (26) § 781. SEC. 17. The forest commissioner shall, annually on or before the first day of December, make a written report to the governor, together with an itemized account of the expenses incurred in carrying out the provisions of this act, which report shall include such statistics and facts as he has obtained from the chief fire warden and from the several fire wardens of the state, and from other sources, together with his suggestions relative to the preservation of the forests of the state and the prevention and extinguishment of forest fires. APPLICATION OF ACT. (27) § 782. SEC. 18. This act shall apply and be in force only within the territory within this state lying north of the north line of township twenty north. Sec. 19 repeals all inconsistent acts and parts of acts. STATE BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS. An Act to establish a state board of fish commissioners, and to repeal act number one hundred twenty-four, session laws of eighteen hundred seventy-three, act number seventy-one, session laws of eighteen hundred seventy-five, and act number three, session laws of eighteen hundred eighty-two. [Act 63, P. A. 1885.] The People of the State of Michigan enact: BOARD OF FISH COMMISSIONERS.-TERM.-POWERS.-VACANCIES. (28) § 7573. SECTION 1. That it shall be the duty of the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to appoint three persons, residents of this state, who shall constitute a board of fish commissioners. The persons so appointed shall hold office each for the term of six years, the terms of office of the several persons now composing said board to continue for the time for which they were appointed, or until their respective successors are appointed, confirmed and qualified. The board of fish commissioners, as at present organized and constituted by law, and their successors in office appointed hereunder, or under any act of the legislature of this state which may hereafter become a law shall constitute a body corporate by and with the name and title of the "State Board of Fish Commissioners," with the right, as such corporation, of contracting, suing and being sued, of making and using a common seal, taking conveyances and leases of lands and tenements, and holding and disposing of the same, in the said corporate name, and of owning, using, and disposing of personal property, for the uses of said board in carrying out the objects of their organization and appointment, as the same are herein or may by law hereafter be declared. Any vacancies occurring in the membership of said board, to be filled by the governor; appointments to fill vacancies to be submitted to the senate for confirmation at its next regular session, if extending beyond a session of the legislature. DUTY OF BOARD.-EXEMPTION FROM TAXATION.-SUPERINTENDENT. SALARY.-ASSISTANTS. (29) § 7574. SEC. 2. It shall be the duty of the said board of commissioners to select suitable locations within this state whereon to establish and maintain fish-breeding establishments for the propagation and cultivation of white-fish, and such other kinds of food fish as they may direct, for the purpose of stocking with such fish and replenishing the supply of the same in such of the inland and bordering waters of this state as they may know, or have reason to believe are suitable for the kinds of fish they may select. All property owned or leased by the fish commission shall be exempt from taxation so long as held and used for state purposes under this act. Said board of commissioners shall employ a competent person as superintendent of fisheries, whose duty it shall be to devote his entire time to gathering ova, hatching and planting, or distributing fish, and superintending generally the practical operations of the work, under the direction of the board of commissioners at a salary of not to exceed two thousand five hundred |