The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-07-26
OFFICIAL SURVEY OF ROANOKE.
How the Work Has Been Pro.
crossing Lately.

Many Complimentary Letters Have
Been Received from Engineers all
| Over the Country in Regard to It-A
Description of How the Work Started
and the Announcements 1t Has Made.
Tho official survey of Roanoke has
been in progress for some time, and the
methods employed and results obtained
have been published in the Engineering
News and very favorably commented
upon. Many letters from prominent
engineers all over the country have been
received, all complimentary. A gentle
man from large Southern city was re-
Gently here examining the work with
an idea OF doing something of the same
kind in his. city.
In January Of this year, Geo. P. Wood,
the engineer in charge, read paper
| before the Association of Engineers of
Virginia upon the methods employed in
the survey. These met with the ap.
| proval OF the engineers who heard it,
1t is beyond question that the M ethods
are correct, but the average reader of
| The TIMES cares not so much for
methods, as results, what is now COM
plete and what tho map will be good
for. when finished.
To appreciate the work 1t is necessary
to remember that before the survey was
begun, none or very few Of the street
lines were known; more or less accu-
rate guess could be made by looking at
fences and houses, but when property is
valued at hundreds OF dollars per front
foot, guess work is not very satisfactory.
The first move Of the survey was,
therefore, to prepare maps showing
what Is on tie ground, in other words,
to find out what the people who built
the fences and houses thought were tho
proper lines. The next step is to COM
pare these lines with the deeds for the
property. This is task that those who
have not como into the matter can have
no conception of. The same property
may have half dozen descriptions, no
two alike. The same line may be called
one length by the deed on one
side of IT, and another by the deed
on the other side, or the description
may be such that only intimate
knowledge of the town will enable one
to oven guess where the described prop
erty is situated. But all these problems
must be solved and many of them are
already solved. The following are a
few samples of deed descriptions from
property taken from official records:
beginning at southeast corner Of q
warehouse on Second street and run
ming with said street 100 feet to L.
Rover's line; thence with same so feet
to Trout e Sons line.
AT orthwest corner Of shed, thence
east 100 feet to northeast corner of a
fertilizer house, thence south to be-
ginning. Not one Of these houses, sheds
| q mr. fO ha
lot in Big Lick adjoining --
fronts "a feet on Main street and runs
back with Second street, length -
"- lot, say so feet more or less.
This is not very definite, such descrip-
tlons are not few, but they are mum.
bered by the thousands. Worse than
these, however, are hosegiving courses
and distances which are wrong.
10 one not an engineer they seem all
right, but in fact are wrong. nearly
every description in the old part of the
town is OF this kind. Some of them are
inaccurate because they do not enclose
parcels of land, others II they do on
close piece Of ground, enclose the
wrong piece. These errors are not to be
measured by inches, but many of them
by feet All these things have to be
worked out, not only so as to find the
error but also to find out the correct
thing.
When the survey is finished every
street. line will be determined, and
every person can toll exactly where his
lot is and how large 1t is, and if he
wants to sell he can give true descrip-
! ton Of it.
1t may be thought that as the city has
managed to get along until now, why it
cannot continue as in the past. OF the
many reasons why it cannot the follow
ing is one that speaks directly to the
pocketbook. Many of tho cheap modern
buildings will some day DO replaced by
costly brick and stone structures. When
such house is built the owner wants it
on his own ground, and he does not want
to leave 8 little space between his house
and the one next to him on account of
not knowing exactly whore his line is.
If the reader will examine Salem avenue
he will discover many of these little
spaces, ground worth several hundred
| dollars per front foot.
Playing For the Scandinavian Vote
ST. PAUL, Mimi, July 25.-[Speciall
Complete returns from all the counties
with two exceptions, show that Nelson,
for two terms member of Congress from
the Fifth district, is certain of tho Re-
| publican nomination for governor. Mel.
son has $50 out of roo delegates and his
friends will control the nominations
from governor to supreme court judges.
Nelson is low tariff Republican who,
it will be remembered, voted for the
Mills bill. The giving Of the nomina.
ton to Nelson is said to be the first
move of tho Republicans to win back the