Waterbury Democrat., 1902-05-02
GEOGRAPHIC SCULPTURE.
A Plan Under temptation to Make x. an Exact Model of the Dnited
 States.

An exact model Of the On1Ued States on the. scale of 21s inches to the mile is one of the possibilities of the future as an added attraction to the national capital. While this pos sibility is, strictly speaking. as yet only in the air, it nevertheless has some jealous advocates who see in it not only a great educational func- tion, but a feature of attractlveness to the people of the country not equaled by any piece of natural scenery, says the Washington Star.
 It will be recalled that several years ago there was a project for an outdoor map of the United States on the Potomac flats, through which visitors could walk as through park. Bills were introduced in Congress for this project by Senator Cannon, of Utah. The idea was also zealously advocated by MT. Gardiner Hubbard, president of the National Geograph- ic society.
 The present plan, however, con- templates a much more perfect re production than would be possible in an outdoor map. The country would
  ner as the city of Washington has been in the models prepared by the park commissioners and now on ex- hibition in the congressional library. This scheme carried out delicately 1 and accurately you'd make it pos sible to reproo dce every building road, bridge and railroad in the United States, as we'll as the physical | features of the country.
 A model of this character and on the same scale is now being made of | Switzerland. This model will be the first production on a large scale of what is known as the new school of model making The new idea diff fers from the old in that it elimin- ates the exaggeration of certain lines which was supposed to be nee essary in order to convey to the 1 eye the impression a person sup posed1y gets by seeing the original subject. To accomplish this the scale in elevations had to be made diff | ferent than that of the surface mod eled, which fact has tended to de- stroy popular confidence in the ac- curacy of the old models.
 The new modelling is really ''ge- ographic sculpture as some of it's devotees call it. It aims at absolute accuracy and is made possible l through the perfection in map-nak- 1 ing and of dry-plate photography. 1 There is no attempt at exaggeration | of elevations or any other illusion. The new Park commission models are Eexamples of the new school. only on considerably larger scale than that proposed for the model of the coun- try.
 It would be necessary to house this model in well-lighted building, which would have to be about 500 feet long and half as wide. Visitors could see it by walking over glass paths. These paths would be made on sliding SUD- ports, capable of being pushed side ways. so as to allow of an inspec- tion of the whole surface.
 One of the possibilities of such a model which would make it appeal to statesmen as a practical proposition would be that of having any section desired removed and replica produc- tions made. as well as changes made in the model to suit changed condi- tions which might occur at any time. These replica sections could be made of paper pulp or other light sub- stances and used in school work, just as the maps of the geologic survey are now done, and sold at cost