Slim's Dream

Slim was an old 'shacker.' By this I mean that he lived in a shack. This is the name we give to men who live alone, in the woods, in insubstatial housing.

Slim wanted to be important-he wanted to be a hero.

Slim liked to start forest fires and then exhibit his bravery and hard work putting out the very same fires he started.

One autumn morning, when the wind came from the south, he started a fire which roared north towards Tower, passing through Kuglar on its way. Slim quickly went to work, excitedly attempting to prove his heroic nature. He took axe and saw and tried to clear a fire break in the woods. He could not stop the fire. The Department of Natural Resources responded. They called out local fire fighters. Together they were able to stop the blaze and save the Kuglar Town Hall. Fighting fires like this one can be expensive. The DNR spent over $180,000 fighting this one.

The local game warden, ususualy a lazy state employee, recently graduated from Arson School. He wanted to try out his new skills. He studied the fire. He looked at where the fire started. He could tell that an excellerent (fuel oil) was used to make the fire burn faster. He found a book of matches at the scene. He remembered how hard Slim worked. He knew Slim was trying to put out the fire just a short distance from where it started.

The game warden used psychology. There was a special chapter in his arson book about the motivations which cause men to start fires. He arrested Slim.

Slim was found guilty and fined $189.000 to cover the costs of putting out the fire and sentanced to two years labor on the County Work Farm. Slim lived just long enough to be released from the County Farm and to pay $169.48 of his fines. Slim was buried, without honors, on the hill in Potter's Field. He has never been remembered as a hero. Those of us who remember him at all remember him as a 'fire-bug.'