The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-11-16
MOTHER EARTH's SHAPE
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
Latitude Observations to Be TAksn ct
Biz Stations Near the aoth Degree
OF North Lasituds-Ths etutt-
CART Meeting.

Washington. Nov. 1s.-The work Of the
international Geodetic association at the
Stuttgart conference last month. which
Is expected to bear fruit Of f~ar-reaching
importance to the scientific world, Is an
nounced by Z. ID. Preston Of the United
States coast and geodetic survey. who
represented this government there and
who has Just returned to Washington.
Little publicity was given the proceedings
OF the conference. but an interesting re-
port now Is about to be made by Mr.. Pres
ton. The prime object of the conference.
which was in session Oct. 3 to u. was the
measurement of the earth. and action was
taken Tor the measurement OF an arc at
the equator. This. taken in conjunction
with the measurement of an arc near the
pole. now under way by the Swedes and
Russians, will throw new light on the
fattening of the earth. The comparison
OF the two measures will make IL possible
to determine how much shorter the polar
iameter In than the equatorial. a knowl-
edge of which is important both I'm the
making of maps of great extent and In
the solution OF many astronomical prob
lens. Ever since IL was discovered, some
10 years ago. that the ATTITUDES of all
places on the earth are subject to a small
periodic change. the scientific world has
given more or less attention TO the sub
tect. Now the international association
has determined how to go to the bottom
OF the matter. and has planned to take
up the work of continuous latitude OBJ
servations at six stations, encircling the
globe near the 3sth degree OF north lati-
tude. This parallel passes a little north
Of Washington and San Francisco.
through Cincinnati and crosses Japan.
Turkestan and Italy. In each of the coun-
tries named an observatory will be
erected.
Three stations In the United States win
be at Gaithersburg. Md: Ukiah. Cal, and.
of course. at Cincinnati. the exact paral-
lei chosen by a happy coincidence pass
ing through the regular Astronomical OBJ
servatory which has been established
there for many years. The work will be-
gin in the summer of 1899 and Is now
provided for during q period of five years.
IL Is altogether probable. however. that
in order to completely determine the mo-
ton of the pole much more time will be
required and a continuation of the observ-
atoms for at least 20 or 30 years may be
counted on. The total annual cost OF the
work will be about $4,000. so that II ne
cessity arises for prolonged Investigation
the association will have ample outlet
for its surplus funds.
Discussing the work Of the conference
| Mr.. Preston said to-day: IAN important
discussion was on the difference of longi-
tude between Paris and Greenwich. 1t In
a curious fact. as well as a matter OF
co~ngratulation for Americans. hat the
best direct determinations of the difer-
ence of time between these two funda-
mental points on the earth's surface was
that made Incidentally In 1872 by the
United States coast survey. II was exc
cuted as a check on two determinations
OF our longitude from Paris and Green
witch respectively. The work has been d.
rectly done four times by the French and
English and has been repeatedly accom-
| plished I'm an indirect way by other Euro
pean surveys. showing the Importance of
the problem. Thanks TO the efforts of
the International association we may soon
hope to see the present discrepancies dis
appear"
An account of a new alloy of nickel and
steel was laid before the conference. The
International bureau OF weights and
measures at Paris has found that when
a bar consists of IS per cent of nickel and
81 per cent of steel. the expansion from
heat is only one-hftieth of what we should
expect from the Individual components.
This discovery has great Importance In
the construction of astronomical clocks.
or In fact of any clock. since the effect
will be to practically eliminate the temper
question. which has thus far been the
great difficulty in obtaining a uniform
rate in time pieces.
Nineteen countries belong to the associ-
alton, of which 10 were represented at the
Stuttgart meeting. The proceedings are
published only In French and German.
but any report submitted In the language
OF the country from which II comes may
be printed in that tongue
An effort was made recently to intro
duce English as one of the official means
| of communication, but owing to the COM
paratively small number OF delegates who
spoke Il this was considered Impractical
BILE for the present. Besides IL English Is
so admitted there seems to be no good rea-
son for excluding Spanish, which Is more
widely spoken than French or German.
and which Is growing more rapidly than
either.
Seventy years ago some learned men In
Germany formed an association to give
Impulse to the awakening interest In the
size and shape of the earth. From this
beginning the society has steadily grown.
In 1866 II merged into an international
convention. in which the principal ma
lions of the globe were represented, ana
now stands as the worlds authority on
the ways and means Of determining the
earth's figure. The next meeting will be
ia Paris in 1900.