Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1888-10-26
row MAPS ARE MADE.


Il
pots .nd Line. sna Crooked Msrss That
Require Nenfhs - Labor.
The story Of dot--a fortune in 4
hair-iine lis the making Of a map
Dot stories fill row OF walnut cases;
the "reminiscences Of dotted lines occu- I
py thousands Of pigeonholes: q library
OF crooked marks Ii piled TO the cell 1
ing Of q five-story block On Monroe |
street II Is the largest map house IN 1
I the world. and fer twelve years has .
printed i.0sJ0, 90 maps a week ga. =
800 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 az title deeds, and nearly /!
as much depends on their accuracy.
a map Ii plain, simple thing that
| tells It's vanished tale at glance
How Is It made? Until about the time
Of the greet 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 as sheet Of gold
About 1870 a Buffalo man invented the
process Of making maps on WAX H.
revolutionized map-makiHg. and now
maps are as common and nearly a.
cheap as newspapers
The map-maker works in room
whose temperature can not run below
ninety degrees. Few men work at it
longer than four years. though years
Of apprenticeship are required 10 make
them expert The heat becomes UNI
endurabIe in the end and they go into
some other employment
Preparatory 70 making the original
plate melted beesEax and some hard
ening ingredient are poured on .
highly polished metal table For fine
work the wax is as thin as a piece Of
paper, but for the coarser kind the
waxen sheet is an eight OF an inch
thick Rough pen and ink drawings
of the work TO be done are given the
operators. They draw the hair-lines
with sharp pointed instruments by the
aid OF straight-edges- The dotted lines
indicate county or township boundaries
, are made with little wheels. on who's
! narrow edge are cut the peculiarly tie
designed lines All crooked lines are
made by hand and require an artist' :
. eye The names of towns, rivers.
! countries and the like are impressed
: in the wax in type letter by letter
Every impression 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 Iced
: and the steel plate. with its waxeu
l coat, is suspended in an electricity ping
solution The copper in the solution
j covers the black lead and forms hard
: plate which is called the original The
j ! wax is then peeled of and the printing
: surface is presented. The thin copper
: plate Is backed up with type metal
e and the plate is ready for use 1t Is
e usually preserved, however for tbs
4 making OF stereotype plates from
!, which the actual printing is done
1 In the preparation of the etchings
: great care is required to keep the wax
at the proper temperature, rs a de-
gree too low would make it hard Il
work and a degree too high wouls
- melt and probably destroy it. Oftel
i, many hundred thousand maps Of III,
II same pattern are ordered and from
n twenty to forty plates are made from
y the original II the maps are small
so many of these plates as can be use
" conveniently are placed side by sid
e on the presses and a sheet OF maps
IN printed al each impression The or
in binary advertising real-estate map
I. finished when it leaves the press Tn
Y better maps are sized and vanished
e. The larger ones are mounted on roll
ers and wooden strips. This CON
re pIetes the mechanical process of tn
n. making of a map.
5. But this IS the smallest part of
e map. The unseen work, the prepars
K ton OF the original draft, represent
e. the time, labor and money expended
ii The story of the dot is not woven in
W day Post-oftice towns are located b
is copies OF papers in the Post-ofioe De
ID | partment at Washington; the chief e,
IN gineers of the railroads send profile
III of their lines; county surveyors max
IN maps of their localities. Where tn
Id Government has made surveys the ID
e. cation of section. township or cour
ed ~ line is easily made But the 81,
n mile township system was not though
OF until the Western reserve OF Oh
Id was surveyed In the older State
where boundary line begins at
A. stone and runs 10 a white-oak ire
tn the trouble begins. Good local mai
4ir are used in these States. But
it i countries where no Government su
,st yeys have been made the create
en- difficulties ara encountered. II tsca.
Y. NeseS.
- Major Srnith-''Colonel Jones c;
- gou tell ME where General Rosins'
- got his military titles" Colonel Jones
"a Certainly. sir. He was general tick
agent at Kalamazoo. Mich. for ;
;,s years "-Ptsck.
nd You should be baseball player
.,;s H., t,,a,f.a ~ the Sni1s.r- s>lAl