The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1898-12-09
OUR LONG COASTLINE
Second in Length Only to That of
the British Empire.
On the DOminlOns of Uncle Sam, Also,
the Sun Never Sets-Recent
Acquisitions Extend
the Line.

| NeXt 10 the BrltlSn empire the UnlteO
States has the longest coast line Of
any nation in the world. With the
Few possessions of Puerto Rico and
the Philippines the coast of the United
States will be at least 10000 miles long,
and, with Cuba, which must have its
coast line taken in charge by the coast
survey of this country, there will be
nearly 10000 miles of coast to be cared
for. The coast line of the United
States, without Alaska, amounts TO
nearly 5000 miles, divided as follows:
Two thousand, three hundred and for
,y-nine miles on the Atlantic coast,
1856 miles on the Gulf of Mexico and
nearly 1000 miles on the Pacific coast.
| Alaska, because of its numerous inden-
| tations and islands-those Aleutian
| Islands which stretch westward until
| they meet the possessions of the "Great
| White Czar"-has an enormous coast
| line, mounting up to at least 5000
| miles.
To compute the coast line of the Phil
| ippines is al present impossible. Spain
has no photographic office and no
coast survey in working order. Even,
| the number of islands in the Philip
pine groups are unknown. Spain has
| never taken the trouble to count them.
Hydrogra and coast survey is an
exact science of which the Latins are
Incapable.
Not the least of the burdens i'm
posed upon the United States by the ac-
1uisition of new territory is the sur
veying of it's shores. Although begun
in 1907, the work of surveying the
coast of the United States proper has
never been completed. In the nature
of things it never can be, for there are
portions like the Nantucket shoals and
the shoals which lie between Monomoy
Point and Martha's Vineyard which
years owing to the shifting sands
which compose them.
When the coast survey of the United
States was started it was proposed to
have the army do the shore work and
the navy the photography. 1t was not
long before the shore work passed into
the hands of civilians, but the navy has
so far kept the photography. though ii
has worked under sort of hybrid sys-
tenn, the part of the navy doing the
photography being loaned to the treas
ury department. An officer of the
navy is detailed as photographic in
spector, and as such has an office in the
office of the superintendent. of the
coast survey, who is "A civilian official
of the treasury department. The ships
and launches with which the hydro
graphic work is done are owned by the
treasury department, but the officers
and men who man them are in the en-
ploy of the navy department. 1t is
system which works better than one
would expect, and SO far the charts of
the coast survey take rank with the
best in the world. In fact, there is
only one kind of charts that can COM
pare with them and that is the chart
of the British admiralty. For ac-
curacy, the charts of the coast survey
cannot be excelled, and the British
hydrogra phic office depends now en-
tirely upon the coast survey charts for
the photography of the American
coast. Yet it is only few years ago
| the DTlllSH SLdi 10 "OiS
taken for the basis of our work in the
Gulf of Mexico. The Russian charts,
which formed the basis for our survey
of the Alaskan coast were imperfect,
and it will be years before the survey
of that coast is completed.
| In the meantime there is the coast
| of Puerto Rico to be taken care of, and
also the coasts of Cuba and the Phil
| ippines. The charts which are now de-
pended on for Cuba are incomplete and
unsatisfactory. England and the
| United States have done much work
on that coast. in the way of surveying
the principal harbors, but in many
cases the old and faulty Spanish charts
| are depended on. To make a complete
survey of the Philippine Archipelago
is an enormous task, which will re-
quire years and the expenditure of a
| lot of money. AS the coasts of the
| United States are all looked after by
the coast survey, SO the surveys of the
| coasts of foreign countries are taken
care of by the photographic Office of
the navy. This is purely naval bu-
reau and the ships employed in making
surveys outside of the country are all
regularly commissioned men-of-war.
AS matter of fact, all the ships of the
coast survey are regularly commits
stoned by the navy, although the navy
does not own them, and fly the ma
tional ensign, instead of the revenue
flag, which is flown by other ships of
the treasury department., when not in
the naval service (as they have been in
this war) or when they are on duty off
the three-mile limit.
Naval experts say that nation
should have navy in proportion to
its coast line. If this proposition is
correct the United States should have
navy only little less strong than
that of Great Britain. GREAT Britain,
France and Italy have navics some
what in proportion to their coast lines,
while Russia, Germany and Austria
hive nayies larger than their coast