The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1897-11-25
NARYLAND'S BOUNDARY.
4 Correspondent Writes an Interesting Let
Ter Concerning the Instruments.
THEY ARE THE FINEST 0BTAINABIE.
No Needle is Used in the Work But Instead
Two Transits As With the Needle it
is Practically Impossible to
Run Due North Line.
TO the Editor ofThe Republican.

To- Inc EultOr OF / ne lNtDuDllCdI
In my last letter | gave short
sketch of the origin and plan of work
upon the Iarylanaaas4, s-iTsin-
ia boundary line survey. | will now
give an outline of how it has been
done.
The survey is under the direction
Of the Attorney General of the State
of Maryland Mr. H. NJ. Clabaugh,
who has chosen Mr. f. H. Sincell, of
Oakland, as his associate and repre-
sentative in the field. The surveyor
in charge is w. McCulloh Brown, and
lie has been very ably assisted by DR..
L. A. Bauer, of Cincinnati, whose
services were secured after the party
was actually in the ield. He has
done the astronomical work and
prologued the line from mountain top
to mountain top. Julius X. Monroe
is the representative OF West Virginia
and looks otter her interests. Other
members of the party are Richard 7.
Ibi ON ming, - O'lllliHpIi - O.. L.
\. BurrelI, Charles A. Ashby, William
4. Brown, William H. kitzmiller, Jr.,
James \. Sincell, Arthur 5. Aber-
uathy, Andrew Nelson, Reed Wolf,
Clay Rodeheaver and Harry Ashby.
Many of your readers are familiar
with the surveyors compass and the
methods of running lines 10y means of
the magnetic bearings, and will be
surprised to learn that the needle is
not used at all in the present work.
The Instruments employed in running
the meridian lines are two transits, a
large one obtained by DR.. Bauer,
through favor of the government,
and high mountain transit, the
property Of Mr.. Brown, with which
the entire line is run from station to
station A transit is the instrument
employed by most engineers; it is
mounted upon Il tripod and has TWO
horizontal plates which are graduated
and by means of which angles can be
lslNtlNtli Al tllN NNliAlN VI hlAN u tI'l'Ni
plate there is compass box and nee
lie. which can be ussd as in the sur
veyor's compass, and upon it are
fastened the two standards on which
rests the axis of a telescope revolving
in vertical plane. The telescope is
provided with lenses of high magni-
flying power, and small objects can
readily be seen at distance of half
mile. In one case q signal pole four
inches in diameter was easily seen at
a distance Of eight and three-quarter
miles and sight taken upon it.
In the telescope there are fine wires,
Que vertical and three horizontal; the
intersection of the centre wires is the
point of sight in the instrument, and
the adjustments of the telescope, its
supporting standards and the levels
require great care, and must be con
stantly watched and kept true. By
means of the upper and lower hOri-
zontal wires in the telescope, which
are called stadia wires, the engineer
by merely looking through the tele-
scope at the graduations on rod, can
measure the distance to any point at
which it is held by his assistant, as
accurately as by means of steel tape.
To run a due north or meridian line
with compass is practically an i'm
possibility, for the magnetic declina-
tion or angle which the needle makes
with the true north is constantly
changing. True as the needle to the
pole, is an old and familiar saying.
How untrue it is, even within the
borders of our own country, may be
Judged from the fact that in the
extreme northeastern part of Maine
the compass needle points 5wenty-one
degrees to the 9CeSt of the north, while
in the extreme northwestern part of
the State of Washington it points
twenty-three degrees to the east of
uOrth; hence a change of forty-four
degrees from one end of our country
to the other, and even over so com
paratively small a territory as that
of Maryland, the pointing of the
needle varies from six degrees west
to three and one-half degrees west
"There are portions of the earth's
surface where the needle points due
"dSt and a0eSt. DIR. Bauer, Maryland
theological Survey.
There are five principal sources o
change to which the needle is subject
list. That due to change of geo
graphical position, even of one mile
2nd. The diurnal or daily change
which is shown by the fact that tn,
needle, if set north on the compass
box at 7.30 a. m, will not remain thus
but lin Garrett county, will swing t.
the west until about p. m, in all