St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1902-10-22
EDITOR OF THE FREE PRESS:

EDITOR OF THE FREE PRESS:
AS state geologist, wish to bring
through the Free Press and such other
papers in the state as may be willing to
publish this communication proposal
which has come from the United States
Geological Survey whereby an accurate
Typographical map OF Vermont NAV be
secured at much less than half the cost
of preparation. No such map nor any
thing at all approaching it has ever been
made.
The United States Survey proposes to
cooperate with the Vermont survey in
the preparation of such a map as is de-
scribed below in such manner that at
the cost OF one half of the field work,
surveying ETC., the state can secure a
map which will stand as the basis OF any
future geographical or geological work.
The other halt of the cost OF survey as
well as the entire cost of drawing, en-
craving, printing and publishing the
maps is to be borne by the United States.
What the maps will be may be under
stood from the following statement
which the director of the national survey
has sent:
THE maps that result from these co.
operative surveys show, in different col
ors, the following principal facts:
Public culture, printed in black,
which includes the exact plan of every
road, lane, path, railroad, street, dam,
public boundaries, names, etc.
2-The photography, or water, printed
in blue, including all lakes, rivers,
streams, swamps, marshes, reservoirs,
springs, etc,
3-The relief or surface forms, printed
in brown including the shapes otthe hills,
valleys, and ravincs, their elevations
and depressions, and the slopes of every
rise or fall in the surface of the land.
The cooperating states have the ben
eft of this publication without further
expense, and the residents of the state
as well as it's officials, may purchase the
maps at rates of cents per sheet or
50 per hundred"
The benefits of such maps as the above
which is really in the nature of promise
from the general government, are great
and numerous.
In the first place definite knowledge
of the whole area of the state is gained.
This is important to the development of
whatever resources the state may
possess. Naturally such maps facilitate
and render less costly any engineering
plans which may be formed. They pro.
mote accurate knowledge of the geo.
graphy of the region. Future highways,
electric roads, railroads, water systems
and the like may be directly planned by
these maps and thus the usually neces.
sary preliminary surveys will be unneces-
sary. They furnish accurate informa-
ton respecting all town or other bound
aries and as to the relation of towns to
all natural features. They afford basis
to which may be referred all questions
relating to public works whether under
the state or national government. They
show the location, extent and accessibility
of lands, water, forests, rock and miner
al deposits and thus they are indispens-
able to state officials, investors, corpora
tions and indeed to all property owners.
In addition, as an incident in the max
ing of a topographic map, monuments
are established throughout the state, the
positions of which are accurately deter
mined by geodetic methods and which
serve as datum points for all other gov
eminent and private surveys. There are
also established throughout the state
bench marks or permanent monuments
which furnish datum elevations for the
future determinations of height in
connection with all public or private