Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1882-02-18
THE eEODETIC SURVEY.
The system of Triangu1ating the
Coast-Ths Experiences of the
na;eiaIs I'm the NfIds of the West.

The system Of Triangulating th'
C0asf-Ths Experiences OF tn
OmciaIs I'm the wfIds Of h West
The work of the Geodetic Survey which
has been actively prosecuted in Nevad'
during all the time that the weather ha
permitted, has been suspended. The gen
tlemen connected with the Survey have be
come we'll known in every town OF oul
State, and have so endeared themselves t.
our people that we regret to have them
leave us. They have done an important
scientific work. In an interview with Pro
lessor VIM. Eimbach, who has been or
| dered away to Washington, the reporter oi
| the Salt Lake Tribune obtains a readable
sketch of the party's life in Nevada.
THE SYSTEM.
The cause of the Government ordering
the Geodetic Survey was thus explained
by Mr.. Eimbach to a Tribune representa-
tive
According to the old plan OF survey
the country was treated as o plane surface
instead Of what it really is, q surface sec
ton of a sphere. The Geedetic Survey
takes into consideration the curvature OF
the earth's surface, and is the most perfect
kind Of surveying known. For instance,
there is a geometrical figure recently COM
pleted by the party between Eureka, Ne
vada, and Mount Nebo in the Wasatch
Range. This figure is 225 miles long and
composed of six triangles. Now, the COM
putation will, il correctly measured, be
less than an inch out of the way. In fact
the highest margin allowed for variation
in UGH a survey is only one-tenth Of
foot, in q space as large as the one named,
while under the old fashioned method OF
plane triangulations, it would range from
one mile to five. Columbus, Ohio, as now
set down on the map, is nearly a mile toe
far east.
WHAT IS BEING DONE.
The Government has now a number Of
surveying parties at work measuring the
arc of the 39th parallel. 1t is thus pro-
posed to connect the Atlantic and Pacific
Coast systems in such a way that all the
States and Territories, north and south,
can be surveyed with the utmost accuracy
from that line. One party had been at
work near Colorado City working eastward
to connect with the arc being measured
west from Jefferson City. There was also
a party near Austin, Nevada, working to
connect with the line at Colorado City last
Fall. There is a section being surveyed in
West Virginia, which will ultimately be
connected with q section east Of St. Louis.
There are now eight sections which are
being surveyed between New York and
San Francisco. By a section I mean a
stretch OF country being handled by one
corps of men. Now there is little being
done on account of the Winter weather.
Most of the surveyors are idle waiting for
Spring to open.
LIFE IN THE FIELD.
We are in the field about six months in
the year, roughing it in the mountains.
We have a complete camp outfit and
transport our provisions, tents, instru-
ments, etc., for about eighteen or twenty
men, on pack mules. 1t is not so much Of
a picnic as it looks and there is lots of
hard work. 1t is about as hard as army
life, except where it Is worse. Near Cherry
Greek, Nevada, re were pounced upon
one day by a lot Of men who thought we
were q gang of counterfeiters. They ex-
pected a large reward for taking us in.
We showed them the various instruments
by which we made surveys, and finally
convinced them that we were not coin
ing lead into standard dollars. We are
obliged to use the heliotrope a good de&l in
SIGNALLING from hill to hill. 1t is an in
strument. by which the reflection from q
mirror is thrown several miles across the
country in making signals. The In.
dams employed this same principle years
ago in Signalling with pieces OF broken
looking glass, and when we made use Of
instruments in Colorado, they mistook
them for signs to call out the United
States troops and began to build their war
fires upon the hills to call the warriors to-
gether. We often experience considerable
trouble in the Indian country, as they
think We are coming to survey and appro-
pirate their lands.