The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-14
AGAIN AID IN ESTABLISHING
MARKS
ON ALL GOVERNMENT CORNERS.
First Days Proceedings of the An
nuaI Meeting of the Organiza-
tiOn-TOday's Programme.

uary, 1885, is one Of Importance to the
state and is growing rapidly. It's mem
bers are civil engineers, surveyors, me-
chanical and mining engineers, and the
professions have taken a front place
in the ranks of modern science.
Among those who were present at
the opening session yesterday were
Norris Y Taylor, Of Litchfield, presi-
dent; Gates A. Johnson, Charles A.
Forbes, J. H. Armstrong, Cyrus Hane,
w. c. Truesdell, ]. H. Fitz, all of st.
Paul; w. r. Egan and F. H. Nutter,
Minneapolis; Prof. w. r. Hoag, state
university; w. r. Mayer, Carlton coun-
ty; Howard A Champion, Monticello;
William Danforth Jr., Goodhue coun-
ty; o. H. Sterk, Lyons county; o. J.
Anderson, st Peter; VIC. Fraser, Ohm
sted county; o. L. Hamery, Polk coun-
ty; S. F. Mullen, Sibley county
President N. Y. Taylor, of Litchfield,
called the meeting to order at 10, and
addressing the small crowd present,
administered rebuke to the absent
members, who far outnumbered those
in attendance. He did not propose to
wait on the laggards, but at once in
troduced Mayor Doran, who delivered
He spoke on the subject of good
roads, and was glad to see that the
engineers were taking up the subject
1t was Of vital Importance to the farmer
who was obliged to figure ON the
cheapest way of getting his product
to the market He knew Of no class
OF men better qualified to discuss the
question and suggest remedies than
the surveyors, and he looked forward
To al he
county surveyors as we'll as others,
Will be members of such a society as
this. He wished them a pleasant and
profitable session, and granted the
courtesy Of the city.
President Taylor thanked him for his
cordial greeting, and said the society
will be open to everybody who NAV
feel an interest in their proceedings
Secretary Charles A. Forbes, of st.
Paul, read his annual report, during
the progress Of which he suggested that
a prize be offered for the best written
article by county surveyors on "the
internal Improvement of his county"
and also advocated that the annual
meeting of the society be made a NOV
able one.
President Taylor announced that.
while he didn't think much of annual
addresses, still it was the custom, and
ne had to bow to custom. He made
plea for better records and monu
ments, 1nasmuch as the law passed by
the legislature covering these matters
had been declared unconstitutional
he roasted the governmental SURVEYS
for their irregularity and inaccuracv
He asked the members of the sociefv
to each do what he can to arouse in
Iefest IN the organization. President
Iaylor, after thanking the society for
the honor conferred in choosing him as
its president, further said:
During the two years that I have
been thus honored by you I have en-.
oeaVored to the best of my ability to
90 all that was in my power to Sc
cure and advance the interests of the
society. In the first circular letter
addressed to the county surveyors of
the state, attention was called TO the
TACT that the offices of county survey
orS In most cases were anything but
what they should be; they were not
properly equipped with the certified
government field upon which all subse-
quent surveys are based; that proper
books for purposes of record were sci.
dom furnished; that consequently but
very few of the notes taken were prom
cry recorded, and while the original
government marks and marks at cor
ners were fast disappearing, but feeble
EFFORTS were being made to preserve
them. 1 am most happy to state that
since the organization Of this society
there has been a demand by county
surveyors elect upon the commission
ers or their respective counties for
fuller notes and better euuipments
ana disposition has been manifested
TO make more permanent SURVEYS by
the establishment Of iron monuments
at known corners. Further, the cleo
tlon OF civil engineers and university
graduates as county surveyors in some
parts of the state show move in the
right direction.
The society Is to be congratulated
on the fact that its first act in at
tempting TO carry out its principles in
the establishment of better records and
permanent monuments secured the pas
sage Of bill through the legislature
to that effect. The provisions of that
bill, when properly complied with
would in few years have resulted in
the marking of all government cor
ners with durable monuments. But
that law has been declared unconstitu-
tlonal, and 1 hope that at this meeting
the measure can be so amended and
passed by the legislature in a form
that VIII be unobjectienable to the
courts"
At the opening Of the afternoon SEES
sion Lycurgus r. Meyer, of Montevideo.
read a paper. suggesting desirable leg
1slation from the standpoint of the sur
VeyOr. In substance he said county
surveyors should be given an Office
and the privilege of other county Of
fees : something that is seldom ac-
corded them in most of the counties Of
the state. The records Of the office
should be public, and the statute re-
lating thereto should be so amended as
to bring about this change All sur
veys should be public, and the charge
therefor should be borne by the pub
lie. The records Of the county sur
veyor should include fully filed notes
and the necessary plates, and should
be made permanent in books provided
by the commissioners of the county
The fee Of 81 per day should be abol-
ished as inadequate: the surveyor
should be paid in fees, at the rate Of
10 cents for each tract, lot, parcel or
subdivision recorded: fees for filed
notes at the rate of Is cents per folio.
and certified copies to be 25 cents each
The Legislature should also provide for
the replacement of monuments and
corner marks. All surveyors should be
required to pass an examination and
licensed. No one but the county sur
veyor should be allowed to do work
for county commissioners, and no
money should be paid for such serv-
ices except to the county surveyor
Papers of technical nature were
read by Arthur Gibson and c.. L.
Amman, and the session was adjourned
until o'clock this morning, when the
following programme will be presented:
Paper. .......... Ramsey County Beuleyards"
Gates A. Johnson.
Paper" Reservoir System for Improv-
ing Navigable Rivers
Archibald johnson, United States Assistant
Engineer.
Paper. IAN Engineer Abroad"
Prof. William r. Hoag.