The sun., 1893-06-21

for general use is German product. ant
is 1t the scale OF g. 10000 $3.50 miles Il
the Inch. The growth Of this country ha'
given so much information for cartographi'
use that e good map on this scale is badly
crowded with detail. The best genera
aliases show southern and central Europe
on scale OF not less than / .5Oo.OoO 7s'
miles TO the inch. and even when finely en-
gsav"d these maps are often very much
crowded. particularly in regions Ike tie
Alrs. where detail is minuteiy shown.
According 10 the English geographer. j
| @. BARTHOLOMEW. about half OF the land
surface of the globe has already been sur.
weed fully or 50 far that We have an npproXl'
raately accurate knowledge OF it, topOg-
raphy. while only about One-eighth Of the
land may still be described as unexilorcd.
! The Rerne Geographical Congress last year
suggested that all the civilized natIons
! should unite in the production OF map OF
| the world on u scale o; about sixteen miles to
| the inch; and Mr. GASSETT, the geographer
| Of our Geological Survey. says that In the
| present condition Of Topographic surveys In
| this country 1t would be possible to deline-
Gte on this scale 10000 square miles, or
| n!ncty-two per cent. OF the area OF tho
country excepting Alaska.
1t will surprise many people to know that
n considerable part Of the remaining eight
per cent. OF our area which cannot be shown.
even on this modest scale, lies along our
Atlantic coast and includes northern Maine.
the Adirondack plateau In New York. and
southern Florida. The remainder OF the
country OF which so little is yet known that
we have not detail sufficient to fill such
map, embraces the Cascade and Coast ranges
OF Oregon and Washington. the western
regions OF North and South Dakota. west
Texas. and southeast New Mexico.
The most detailed surveys that have yet
been carried out in this country, are those
OF the Coast and Geodetic Survey. They
were commenced in 1882 and now include
tho whole coast line OF the Atlantic and
Pacific oceans and the Gulf OF Mexico. except
ing that OF Alaska. From this survey. maps
Of zone within five miles OF the coast have
been constructed on q scale OF 10000 or
about six inches to the mile. The maps and
charts based upon this survey are OF the
highest order OF excellence and are greatly
admired by foreign geographers.
Our Geological Survey has only completed
q little over $4,000 square miles Of it's de-
tailed Topographic survey as yet: and
very large part OF this work has been car
ried out in the great mineral regions Of the
West and South where population is still
scanty. Tho reason for first making the
detailed topographic survey Of those
regions is that before they can be
studied closely in their geological as
pccts. their topography must DO mi
nutely mapped so that the geological data
subsequently obtained may accurately be
placed on the map: and as the Geological
Survey is Of the highest Importance to the
intelligent and economical development Of
our mineral resources. the Topographic Sur
vey is being carried out in our mineral re-
gions in advance OF dstailed surveys in the
older and more populous parts Of the coun-
try. The States OF New Jersey. Connecti-
cut. Rhode Island. and Massachusetts. how
ever. with the assistance Of the national
surveys. have completed their detailed topo-
graphic surveys, and have issued fine maps
on large scales that compare favorably with
those OF any part OF Europe. Other State
surveys have been started here and there. |
but have rarely been carried out in salts
factory manner.
Foreign geographers express not little
surprise when they learn that really no
satisfactory data for map making have |
been collected in the great States OF New ,
York and Pennsylvania. except along the /.
coasts and in few small areas. save the |
road and railroad diagrams. which make no !
prctension to accuracy.
Many years will elapse before We shall |
have obtained such knowledge Of the to- |
Biography OF our vast area as to enable US to |
utilize all the resources Of cartoVraphy in |
our map making: but We are rapidly accu-
this information. Our map firms !
do not yet skilfully utilize such data as We
already possess. 1t is wholly practicable to
give our people the advantage OF map prod
ucts which will compare more favorabiy |
with tho fine and cheap ones that are
offered to tho public in Germany. Austria.
France. belgium. the Neither
lands. and Sweden: and lovers OF good maps |
will hail the day when our general map
publishers reflect greater credit upon the
resources OF their beautiful art