The record-union., 1897-08-05
THE MAP MAKERS ART.
THE DIFFICULTIES IN PRODUC-
ING ACCURATE RESULTS.
G.. w. Cotton Tells of the Expe-
dients That Are Resorted To
Good Maps and Bad Maps Com
pared.

There are maps and MAPS" said g.
/ Woolworth Cotton, the veteran map
maker, when asked to give some infor-
/ nation as to the means employed by
the expert in the art. There are maps
which give the outlines of country or
State correctly, but are untrue as to de
/ tails, and there are others where even
/ the outlines are defective, but then,
again, there are maps which are very
nearly correct in every respect
Modern scientific instruments have
made accuracy in maps less d11hcult 10
obtain, and increased travel and re-
! search have created a greater demand
| for accurate maps; but the art is an
ancient one, and maps of highways and
1 typographical plans of large districts
have been found which We're made long
before the Christian era. The Babylon
| ians it is said, divided space and time
/ in such a way that the scientific meas
urements which are in use to-day could
| be made They originated the division
| of the circle into $50 degrees, and di-
vided these into 60 minutes of TO Sec
/ onds each. The art of map building
was developed by the Greeks, but the
application of astronomy to geography
was not made until several hundred
years after Christ by an ARCTIC navi-
| gator.
BY SLOW DEGREES.
The belief in the disk shape of the
earth, which was shared by the geo
graphers of those days, diminished, and
it was wavering, weak belief when
! Crates of Mallus made the first globe.
This vas queer continuance, and rep
resented the ocean in monster belts en-
circling the earth in two directions. In
the four segments produced by the
water, this early map maker placed
four semicircular land areas, only one
of which was known at that time, and
this globe, with it's divisions of land
and water, was accepted until the Mid
die Ages. The Romans made little prog
ress in the art of map making. The
doctrine of the sphericity of the earth
was placed under the ban of the church,
and people went back to the idea of
a disk surrounded by the ocean. Isidor
of Seville taught that earth had the
appearance of a wheel, and because of
his teachings maps made in his day
| were called wheel maps. He also di-
vided the world into three parts, and
turtles.
ONE OF HIS EARLY MAPS.
Consists of a circle within circle. The
space between the two lines repre-
sents the ocean and the inner circle is
divided to show the grand divisions
of the earth Paradise occupies the
top, and towns like Jerusalem, Troy,
Babylon, Rome etc, are shown by tur-
| nd tot, Of do,
and Eve occupy the space designated
| Paradise, which is surrounded by a
fence of thorns and flame. The posi-
ton of the spot is the extreme top, be-
cause Paradise was supposed to occupy
the highest ground on earth. The posi-
tions of the other places We're deter
mined by those of Paradise, which was
the point from which everything was
measured.
PRIMITIVE MAPS.
There was a mixture of science ira
dition and superstition in this produc-
ton, but it is believed that the devel-
opment of the map-making art was
stimulated by such early efforts. In
other parts of the world, at a much
later time. equally primitive maps be-
came valuable to science; thus it has
I
Esquimau woman enabled Sir Edward
Parry to discover Fury and Hecla
Strait, and that the searchers after the
Franklin party received much aid from
coast maps which had been drawn by
untutored Esquimaus. Samples of
maps from the earliest day of the art
show the continued and unbroken pro-
gress; but it is in the last half-century
roc i'm, 1,oC
made in the art of map-making, or
cartography, and by the adoption of
colors the product of the map-maker
has been beautified. BY common con-
sent blue was accepted as the color to
designate water, brown for mountain
ranges and various tints for geograph-
ical or political divisions and to show
the condition of the soil, elevation. etc,
and the art of TYPOGRAPHY has been a
potent factor in the work
But the Geodetic Survey was the
MOST IMPORTANT STEP
taken to promote the art. France was
the first to order a survey of this kind
for map-making. The work had the
double object of providing the necessa-
ry data for a land tax and for giving
the army satisfactory maps of the
French territory. Other countries fol-
lowed the example of France, and as the
military interests predominated the
work was conducted for the most part
by the military authorities. under the
direction of the general staff. Wherever
this method is undertaken the whole
country is covered with a network of
triangles, and the points of Importance
are determined by astronomical obser-
vations. Maps thus made include the
vertical configuration as we'll as the
territorial development of the country,
and on the typographical maps the gen
eral contour of the country is also in
dicated.
Good maps" said Mr.. Cotton, ARE
made here, as they are abroad, by tri-
angulation; but most of the maps on the
market are defective and superficial.
The Government spends much money
for map-making, but the information
which is furnished is not always cor
rect, and the consequence is that Gov
eminent maps must be amended fire.
quently to make them conform to facts.
Where do the new maps come FROM
was asked, land how are they made?"
WHERE NEW MAPS COME FROM
They are usually old maps revamped
and freshened up; and in cases where
new features in the way of villages
cities or roads have been added, the old
maps are corrected and placed on sale
as the latest thing in that line Maps
which have nothing to recommend them
r as such frequently bring high prices be-