Talk:Arctic Point Fire Lookout

inaccurate statements in article

There is text repeatedly added or revised by other editors that reflect possibly incorrect rewording. Contrary to a previous assertion in the article that the tower was both designed and built by the Aermotor Company, which i removed, note in the source that the tower along with other structures were "all built between 1935 and 1939, by Forest Service personnel." Now there is an assertion that the tower was decommissioned in a certain year, when the source only supports that the decommissioning began in that year. I agree that one version of paraphrasing was bad, but I'd rather see an accurate quote, properly attributed, than assertions which are simply made up.

I think the problem is that editor(s) are attempting to show how paraphrasing can be done, in place of direct quotes. However, the demonstration is poor. --doncram 15:20, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

"Aeromotor of Chicago, popularly known for their windmills, manufactured the tower and the 7 x 7 foot galvanized steel cab installed atop the open steel platform."--SarekOfVulcan (talk) 15:28, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

But also, "It was quite an undertaking making the many trips into the remote backcountry, hauling the steel parts for the tower, the glass for the cabin windows and the lumber for the outhouse and interior of the cabin." So it does sound like a kit.--SarekOfVulcan (talk) 15:34, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

I do see the difficulty here: Aermotor built the tower (in Chicago) and then the Forest Service built it (meaning assembled it) on location, so your previous statement that Aermotor built it could be technically correct, just not the right sense for use in this article. Especially where there are potential contradictions in source(s), explicit quotes can avoid interpretation error and can appropriately give responsibility/blame to the right persons. --doncram 15:59, 19 July 2011 (UTC)