The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1901-01-26

:
to know when he has reached
the north poieo. How is he to find his
way back home? is another It would
take a scientific man and considerable
space to answer. .sa &#-%~
y But here is an odder proposition Sup
pose an explorer actually makes his way
70 Where the north pole ought to be, and
When ne, gets, there finds that it has
moved. Yet this is precisely what science
says will happen him. Then, too, the pole
moves IN most mysterious way There
are no wagon tracks to show the direc-
tlon 1T took; no trail to follow. And in
order to catch up with it the man on the
scene must know exactly where the pole
was on such and such date, and where
IL ought o|be on that particular day that
ne hopes to overtake it. In other words.
the pole is not a fixed but a constantly
varying point on the earth's surface.
Prof. 5. G. Chandler of New Haven,
Conn.,, is the man to whom the credit is
due for having demonstrated not only
That the poles are in motion but for de-
term1n1ng after long series of mathemat-
1cal calculations the direction of the
movement and the law by which it could
be approximately predicted For his Won
derful study of all available observations
Prof. Chandler was awarded the gold
medal by the Royal: Astronomical society.
columbus university observatory Is At
VI e-t-4- eilgse-u IN important cunt1rmt.-
tory observations, which were to have
been completed May / this year The
work has been extending over six and
one-half years. The observers are Pro-
fessors Rees and Jacoby and DR.. H. s.
Davis of New York city. The zenith tel
escope used throughout this work was
made by Waunscaff of Berlin for; this spe-
clal purpose. Up to the present time
measurements have been made upon G,51S
pairs of stars, and the observed epochs
correspond to- the computed time very
closely.
r. H. Tucker of the Lick observatory
ON Mount Hamilton has made a provis-
1onal determination of the amount of lat
itude change at the locatio of that OBJ
servatory, and fixes it at one-tenth of a
second latitude yearly.
The International Geodetic association
is Undertaking systematic study and
accurate determination of the movements
. OF the poles at six specially selected OBJ
serVatories st4ung along the thirty ninth
parallel of north latitude around the
world. Important results may be expect
ed from their hearty co-operat ton in the
investiga ton. 49,. |..-.-.' =
Prof. Charles Doolittle of the Folwer
observatory at the University of Penn
sylVanla, as the result Of his most care
full research in this directions, concludes
that at Philadelphia the movement of lat
1tude, amounts to at least forty feet an
nually. The strange aspect Of the mat
ter, however, says the Chicago Times
Herald, is that it is varying in rate of
movement, due 10 causes which have not
been yet discovered. Furthermore, the
motion may increase it's speed at any
| time. ..
>Ihe consequences of this discovery are
| 'ar-reaching The sea level is changing
and even the motion Of the moon is at
fected by the displacement of the earth's
axis and the resulting uneven rotation.
The longitude and latitude Of all points
are huctuating. and this method Of fixing
position on the earths surface NAV have
to be superseded or much modified. The
instability Of the pole and the shifting of
latitude will disconcert the geodetic sur
veyors. raise legal complications and con-
troVers1es over deeds and descriptions of
boundaries to some extent, and require
many adjustments not now foreseen. The
northern boundaries of the states Of our
Union are given in terms OF latitude. and
the discovered vacillation of latitude will
unsettle the exact boundaries and virtu-
ally alter their legally established posi-
tons. This will throw into confusion
! nearly 5000 miles CT state boundaries. A
man nVlng this year in the dominion of
CANADA may find himself in the United
States next year, or vice versa.
Congress may be obliged to take action
regarding the boundary between the
United States and Canada. for assuming
the maximum annual movement to he
forty feet, strip Of land on the north
ern boundary of the United States be-
tween these two countries containing
many thousands of acres may become dis
Duted territory. The boundary between
British America and Alaska will also he
affected The exact boundaries will have
to be predetermined and fixed by natural
landmarks, rs latitude and longitude are
/ no longer accurate methods of boundary
definition.
Determination of longitude will GER
tatnly be exceedingly awkward to make.
tnasmuch as the basis of the world, s
longitude the meridian OF Greenwich. is
not spared the uncertainty, as its position
is oscillating around the observatory at
Greenwich. England, which is by. defini-
ton the zero longitude Of the world Bit
the odd circumstance is that points on the
earth s surface may at times be east and
at other times west Of the town OF Green
Wich.
Another difficulty which has arisen is
as the inaccuracies thus discovered per
meate all previous catalogues of stars,
nebulae and consultations Further
more. the variations of the axis Of the
earth's rotation unquestionably affect the
moons motion, introducing irregularities
which must not be lost sight OF in ac-
curate determinations
Another consequence is the change in
the sea level due to the same causes as
the polar instability. Following an in
genfous suggestion of Prof Newcomb of
washington. that changes would be found
In the, height OF the mean sea level due
to these causes, Or. "A. S. Christie OF the
tidal division of the coast survey ex-
aminedthe records OF this department for
Ihlrty-f1ve years back, and steady
change In the mean sea level was dis
covered such as would be expected If the
variations OF latitude actually took place.
N1tW outstanding the natural distrust of
measurements as fine as this, the har-s
mony between tidal and astronomical OBJ
vations can hardly be due to chance
e his change in sea level affects the entire
coast line OF the world. and while amount
ing to but couple of inches in a decade.
: still sufficient to be taken account Of
for accurate computations
As to the cause Of the motions Of the
earsf's axis the alteration of the poles,
and conse1'lenf variation IN latitude the
i!ScNssfon Is NOR omen 4 M cert