The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-08-17
HOW MAPS ARE MADE.
Dots and Lines and Crooked Marks That
Require Months of Skilled Labor.

line--is the making of map. Dot
stories fill row OF walnut cases; the
"reminiscences OF dotted lines occupy
thousands Of piceonholes; n library Of
crooked marks is piled TO the ceiling Of a
five story block on Monroe street. 1t is
tho largest map house III the world, and
for twelve wears has printed l,O00,O 900
maps a week-G24. 600, 900 pieces of linen
paper covered with dots, lines and
crooked marks.
Fortune lies in the accuracy Of the lines
and stories in the locations of the dots.
Maps are as necessary to real estate men
as title deeds. and nearly as much de-
ponds on their accuracy.
a map is a plain, simple thing that tells
its vanished tale at a glance. How is 1t
made Until about the time of the great
fire maps were engraved on stone, copper
or steel. The process was very slow,
tedious and expensive. The plates soon
wore out and maps cost about as much "a
sheet of gold About 1870 a Buffalo
man invented the process Of making
maps on wax. 1t revolutionary map
making and now maps are a common
and nearly as cheap as newspapers.
The mapmaker works in a room whose
temperature cannot run below 80 dogs.
Few men work at it longer than four
years, though years Of apprenticeship are
required to make them expert. The heat
becomes uncomfortable in the end and they
go into some other employment.
Preparatory TO making the original
plate melted heeswaX and some harden
ing ingredient are poured on highly
polished metal table. For ine work the
WAX Is as thin as piece Of paper, bat ;or
the coarser kind the WaNeu sheet Is an
eighth Of an inch thick. Rough pen and
ink drawings IF the work a. be- done are
given the operators. They draw the hair
lines with sharp pointed instruments bv
the aid OF straight edges The dotted
lines indicating county or township bouu-
diaries are made with little wheels, ON
whose NARROW edge are cut thcpeculiarly
designed lines. All crooked lines are
made 10y hand and require an artist eye.
The names of towns. river. countries
and the like are impressed in the wax
with type letter by letter Every i'm
preston must cut through the wax TO the
polished steel plate beneath. for the map
is made face down When all the lines
and letters are in the wax is placed under
a cooler temperature, which hardens it.
The wax is then covered with black lead
and the steel plate, with its waXeu coat,
is suspended in an eloctrotyping solu-
lion. The copper in the solution covers
the black lead and forms a hard plate
which is called the original. The wax Is
then peeled off and the printing surface
is presented. The thin copper plate Is
backed up with type metal and the plate
is ready for use. 1t is usually preserved,
however for the making of stereotype
plates from which the actual printing Is
lone.
In the preparation Of the etchings
great care is required to keep the waN at
the proper temperature, as n degree too
low would make it hard to work and
legree too high would melt II and prob
ably destroy it. Often many hundred
thousand maps of the same pattern are
ordered and from twenty to fovy plates
are made from the original. II the maps
are small 50 many Of these plates as can
be used conveniently are placed side 10y
side on the presses and a sheet Of maps
is printed at each impression. The ordi-
nary advertising real estate map Is fin
ished when it leaves the press. The bet
ter maps are sized and vanished. The
larger ones are mounted on. rollers and
wooden strips. This completes the me
chanical process Of the making Of a map.
But this is the smallest part OF a map.
The unseen work, the preparation OF the
original draft, represents the time, labor
and money expended. The story OF the
dot is not woven in a day. POstOfiice
towns are located by copies of papers in
the pOstoflice department at Washing
ton: the chief engineers Of the railroads
send profiles Of their lines; county sur
veyors make maps Of their localities.
Where the government has made sur
veys the location of a section, township
or county line is easily made. But the
six mile township system was not
thought Of until the western reserve OF
Ohio was surveyed In the older states,
where a boundary line begins at a stone
and runs to q white oak tree, the trouble
begins. Good local maps are used in
government surveys have been made the
greatest difficulties are encountered
Chicago News