New-York tribune., 1901-08-25
CHARTING THE HUDSO,,
WORK OF THE EAGRE, THE OLD y,c,,,:
MOHAWK. NOW ANCHORED
OFF OSSINING

Passengers trains Of the New-YorI r..
and Hudson River Railroad have recentIv 49,.
Ossining a blue flag with red trisns1 eu a.
white circle. flying from the foremast Of a H.,
schooner yacht. That flag. according to the s,s,s-
ment OF a conductor has excited more suecul..,.
and caused more questions TO be asked thar s
thing else seen along the line in the LAST va.
IL has been mistaken for almost everything So
yacht club Dennant to signal Of distress :, q
the flag OF the United States Coast and eso,ss..s
Survey. and flies from the Treasury Dena-,-
yacht Eagre which for more than tuentv vsa.-
has been sailing the waters along the a,i-..
coast with a party of government engineers vh-
sole business ID is TO chart the waters al -
adjacent land for purposes of navigation IT,
ship has an interesting history. II was ono. ~
flagship of the New-York Yacht Club Its -
was then the Mohawk In 1877. while Iv,,a -
anchor with all sail get in dead calm or &c.,
ton. Staten Island. her officers and crav 80
Commodore Garner and his family all below ,v
yacht was struck by a sudden sauau and cars,-.s
The commodore. HIS wife and his niece w..
drowned, but the other members OF fba -,
and the officers and crew were saved Ths w..
was soon afterward raised and was sold 49,
Treasury Department purchasing her for the c..
Survey service and remaining her the Eag-
which means the tidal wave. She Is one =, -.
sailing vessels in the fleet OF about dozs,
ships engaged in the service. She has snar+ -
last two winters In surveying the waters an tsa
east coast OF Porto Rico. and came North 49,
two months ago. After some surveying In C-na
peake Bay she was sent TO New-York ua-s
and having lately finished a survey OF the ,va,a
HUDSON nsa Island Tas detailed to chart the
the work OF her officers and crew Is even NOR. sp'
The Eagre carries eight officers ali trained -, So
gineers and crew of twenty-three men" men VIII IN,
serve In the ordinary capacity OF sailors in a vov
age age and assist in the work of surveying when
mat Is In progress. The present Commander is
J. B; Boutelle. assistant engineer OF the Coast ana
SIeode,ic survey. and the executive officer IS Will
lam y Proctor, who will soon be detached tror,
the EagTe and will be assigned to the same dun dun
on the MatchlesS now engaged In the slrvav :,
Chesapeake Bay Frank Ainsworth is watch
Roeth' deck MdR of5cer MGser dgHk Tiflor ofiSsr f
herd. surgeon. and J. n. UIlrich, assistant an.
Proctor viii PGst e9 IL Dc by "a y 9
engineer OF the Coast and Cieodetic Survey Thers
a separate cook and steward for the crew vs. anu
=, The quarters Of the officers are neatly but plain
library aboard ship All are sppointess nSer sfensai s
reg aesuiaIions OF the Civil Service and promotions
enlisted for three years. The government nros
SotS oee9, t1g s9 6b5 n96 SUPPLIES & the uniforms
similar TO that in the navy The crew turns our
fast at $50 O'Clock and report az tSa s5 oreas
for duty at 1850 They have in readiness theis sss
weather permitting until o'clock in the evenings Tns
On rainy days Office work such as writing t5s
peTs to be % 1o To mans and re r
attention Of the officers, while the crew IS Kept
working hours all the officers are at liberty A sT
Cept Cne ofrlCer or the watch. and each uarhsr
OF the crew. which IS divided into two watches
has shore leave every alternate evening
The surveying includes three branches-touo.
graphical work on shore. photographic work, VIII
systematic sOundings. and triangulatiOn by vhies
objects ashore or in the water are accuratsv
placed. or course. navigation is also an innoortan
branch OF the service when the ship Is sailing
from one assignment 10 another On iniari
waters. such those OF the Hudson the hvdro-
graphic survey extends from shore to shore tina
water being traversed by a launch or vhaIe-
boat in parallel lines at given distances apart
and soundings taken at short intervals and care
in fha,.
cred as carefully at right angles, with soundings
survey is. therefore. divided into small SQUARES
with the sOundngs noted by red dots and the
depths and character OF the bottom accurately
noted. II Is plain that by this method the only
distractions that possibly escape discovery
are such as are small enough to lie wholly within
the pSTallelograms bordered by the crossed lines
OF soundtngs The typographical part OF the work
consists I'm accurately determining the contour OF
the shore and the attitudes OF its sky line Tor a
the water line at all points
The Eagre will remain near OSsining another
month or more. and will then again go South FOR
the winter. continuing the survey OF Porto Rtcan
waters for a distance OF eight miles from ths
beach until next summer Visitors 20 the ship
generally comment before leaving it upon hsr
orderhness and scrupUlous cleanliness. She Is IS
sftck and span as any private yacht in the water,
about this city She Is 80 feet over all 30 teet
beam. and has draught Of s1z feet.
Two new steam vessels under construction
for the service-one Port jefferson, Long Island
and the other at Shooters Island.