New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-03-21
THE MAP-MAKER'S AMI.
,our OF THE DIFFICULTIES IN PRO-
DrC1NG ACCURATE RESULTS
-, ~ COTTON TELLS OF THE EXPEpIENTs THAT
ARE REsoRTED To-GooD MATS
AND BAD MAPS

AXE REsoRrED To-GooD MATS
AND BAD MAPS
"There are maps and maps s'u ,.s 80 Give
Cotton tho veteran map-maker when asN'u W o..
,o t,forration as to the means employed ny ''o
xnor, in the art There are maps VIM" g.
49, ,,.,,,ns ~ q country or state correctly pu' "0
,r,r,o as N details and there are DINERS W."
even tho outlines are defective pu' .", anrroct in
there are maps which are very he"'H 80, nov.
every respect The makers OF Inc oo'''O' a,.rts
a dir5cult task and must resort to man! oNp
in order 10 obtain the necessary lhlori'"'o" o,.
Noder, scientific instruments have mac a."
racv in maps less difficult TO Obtain an" su,ara
travel and research have created sie' a,o
for accurate maps: but the art Is an "'0 ,ors
and mans Of highways and toposl ~. worc
M large districts have been ioun' NM pahv
- lo,c before the Christian era. i"' Ut
,orians u is said divided space ana ''''O 49,. oro
a WAY That the scientific measurements ,",od tho
I'm use to-day could be made lheE " a a,v,dod
division Of the circle into $50 degrees an" NV mr.
those into 60 minutes of 80 secohus V"N' -,
-. -, ,,an-rnakinr was developed by t'e "'' I
but tho application OF astronomy ~ e f,or
was not made until several huh"''
Christ by an Arctic navigator ~, hama ~
nv slow degrees the belief in the oiSh Sn"ps |
,ha oortb which was shared by the seos'ap
=. .,oeo dovs diminished and il was "dN''"3'
VT belief when Crates. Of Mallus, mace .'' II
globe This was queer c"h'''N""''' ,,,. tho
scrted the ocean IN monster pei's c"''
r,h IN two directions In the four ses'ii'"'
,,roduced ny the water this carry maP-""N' rrtt
g. son,icrcu'ar land areas. only one OF VIM"
Wa known al that time. and TINS E'o"'' .,,
divisions Of land and water va" ".O,P'a
-he Middle Ages. The Romans mace "''' h
in the art of map-making. Inc "o'"' 49, han
nboricitv Of the eartn was placed under lhe Va"
81 tho church and people went back TO 'he Iue"
-. All .urrourded by the ocean. lsidor OIL So
,;lIe Taught that the Garth had the dP'"i"
q wheel and because of his teachlhsS mop mo
=. lie Sav were called wheel maps. lie also ul-
,;5ed tho word disk into three parts anu III" 49,,
,ie,or kent it, ground for centuries phe Oh n'S
carly mans consists of a circle within 'iV'e. IN
snace between the two lines represents tn' oDo
and the inner circle * divided 10 Sho" NV So
divisions of tho earth. Paradise occupies ''r w
ond tovcns like Jerusalem. Troy. Baby on Rome
etc are shown by turrets and towers. ana iic'ui'
of Adam and Eve occupy the space oeSis""''U
Paradise which is surrounded ny ie"De
,horns and hamt The position OF TINS Spo' " NV
sxtrome ton because Paradise was supposed 10
-. ,h hichcst ground on earth. The positions
or inc other places were determined by thoSe Vi
paradise. when was the point from when every
Thing was measured
PRIMITIVE MAPS.
-,ero was mixture of science, tradition ana
.,rnerstifion in this production. hut IL Is poi'o'U
,bat the development OF the map-maklhg ART "s
stimulated by such early efforts In o,her Pai u
tbe w,rla at a much later time. equally pr''ii''o
mans became valuable 10 science: thus II mas u00
related that map drawn by an hsqun'au "0'-'-'
enabled Sir Edward Parry to discover fu'F anu
w.. Strait sud that the searchers AFTER the
Irra,ll;r marty received much aid from coast maps
which had beer, drawn by untutored ESl"ihd"S'
Samples Of maps from the earliest "aE oi ''e @"
show, the continued and unbrOken progress ""' -
&c in the last half-contury that the greatest I'M
movement has been made in the ART OF hdP-H"N
ing or cartography. and by the Adoption Oh Co.ois
tho product of the map maker has been beau'i"Vu'
BY common consent blue was accepted as the coio,
20 DESIGNATE water. brown for mountain ranges anu
,arous ,inis for geographical or political DIVISIONS
and n show the condition Of the soil elevation etc.,
,.1 ,bo -. 49,. ,.Aographv has been Il potent factor
In the worl
But the eeodetc survey was the most important
eten taken to promote the art FRANCE was '"o
oret IN order a survey Of this kind for map-makhs
r,,rroses The work had the double object OF pro-
,.,d,r, tho necessary data for land tax ana ior
giving the army satisfactory maps OF the frehcn
territory Other countries followed the example o.
France and as the military interest predomnateo
Tho work was conducted for the most part by the
military authorities under the direction of the gen.
oral s,aN Wherever this method is undertaken
the whole country Is covered with a network OF
trianeles. and the points Of Importance arc deter
mined bv astronomical observations Maps thus
made include the vertical conhgurotion as well as
the territorial development Of the country ana on
the iopographical maps the general contour OF the
country is also indicated
Good mans" said Nh. Cotton. ARE made here
es they are abroad. by triangulation; lut most oil
the maps on the market are defective and super
Ncial The Government spends much money for
map-makne but the information which is fur
uishcG is not always correct, and the consequence
IS that Government maps must be amended fire.
quently to make them conform to facts
Where do the new maps come FROM? was asked
"and how are they made?
WHERE NEW MAPS COME FROM
ened M; and in cases where new features in the
way Of villages cities roads have been added, the
old maps are corrected and placed on sale as the
latest thing in that line. Maps which have MOTH
ing TO recommend them as such frequently bring
high prices because they are beautiful and are
works Of art; the fancy work on such maps acts
like the good binding on poor book The really sood
map is "a composite creation, and the map-inaker
task is 10 put together the work of hundreds OF
other people and give 1t proper form re s e nau
session and by calculations made from some one
more DESIGNATED points whe,ncr ,he ad 9s as
rhe expert bank teller knows a bill 10 be counter
compiler frequently discovers errors in the work
which is given to him TO put together and while
his subsequent researches and calculations usually
show that his doubts were well founded ,,o Coz,
To illustrate the methods employed by the Gov
bnrxed a large bundle made up OF hundreds OF
hor each representing six square miles OF terri
tory These sheets were copies made from the
United states surveys Of the State OF Dakota.
Ia n sheet contained thrty.sx squares, and in
,heee SQUARES the ponds, pools rills rivers, lakes
and all natural features were shown. in order 10
,nakc from hundreds of slips a OF tho
Stafe NJ Dakota the pieces must be properly put
together by the map-maker and then by means OF
information gained from many sources the cities
Villages railroads and, If needs be, the post roads
are hned in The Offices Of the various county
clerks are drawn upon, the Oldest inhabitants are
Interviewed. old libraries are iansacked, ana every
thing pertaining TO the territory in question is
carefuiIv studied and weighed The railroad infor-
nation is furnished usually by the engineers de-
partments OF the various roads
'"That is one feature said Mr. Cotton which
we must watch carefully. The average railroad
corrora,ion will insist having engineer draw