Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1904-08-19

the mariner the impression of shoals.
Looking on his chart he finds none
charted in that neighborhood and, con-
sequently. enters his discovery in his
log. When he reaches port he gives
information, which finally finds its
way to the photographic Office Of his
government, and then to all the others
throughout the world. Sometimes a
tired whale will float lazily on the
bosom Of the deep, and at a distance
appears to the man OF the bridge as
a reef or, perhaps, as a distant island.
A school of fish will stir up the water
or change its hue, and the wide-awake
sailor may see in it one Of those
dangers to navigation" which will
live for q time on a chart with the
embarrassing letters "E. D." opposite
yhe entry, meaning its existence is
doubted. A tide rip often is mistaken
for breakers, and is another of the
things responsible for the $500 phan-
toms which appear on the books of
the photographic Office.
DlSdkTecDlth III ShdTtSs
Another explanation for mistakes
which were formerly made by ships
masters, especially in the East India
archipelago, is the disagreement in
longitude Of the Netherland govern
ment charts and those of other ma
tons. This difference, which amount
| ed to five or six minutes, and occa-
sionally more, was rectified about
twenty-five years ago, when the Meth
erland government adopted the same
longitude as the British Admiralty.
The rectifcation was not complete,
however, and there are still many du-
plications of shoals and other dangers
on the charts, having been reported
by different navigators using the
charts OF their respective nations.
Once a fabulous island gets a foot
ing, 80 to speak, on n Of the navi-
CATION charts, it Is the most difficult
case in point is sufficient. In 1901 the
ship Nautilus reported the discovery
Of an island at S.35 s., 167.47 E., OIL
about the middle of the Southern Pa.
cifc. Not only was it reported as O
fact, but the information was accom-
panied with the superfuous supposl
tlon that ut Is uninhabited." On the
strength Of this assertion it was con
sidered the genuine article, but it wal
believed its position was doubtful. 1T
longitude was given as 1877 degrees %;
minute, and this was said to be a mis-
take. AS it subsequently proved, tn,
whole island was a mistake. The shiI
Garcia in 1888 made a search for |
for a distance sixty miles east ant
west Of it's assigned position, and at
cast of the lead to ~seventy-fve faith
oms found no bottom. In 1893 tn
fable was destroyed by being erased
There is nearly always some vesse
in the United States navy employee
In making and correcting surveys. TIL
mass of material thus collected fo
the photographic Office is of the great
est possible service. The coast is, O
course, the principal object Of after
ton to these surveying parties. bu
on the Pacific they often cruise lon
distances in search of islands or shoal
or reefs reported at various times. Il
this way more phantoms have bee
explained away than in any other
While the ordinary mariner does no
take time to investigate the thing
he sees, or believes he sees, the SUI
vey expedition examines critically Ii
nine cases out of ten they sail owe
the spot where the fabulous island |
said to have been seen, and general,
find their dead line is too short t
touch bottom. For some unknow.
reason these islands of the imagina
ton persist in selecting that part o
the ocean where depth Is creates
when they might have done better
when they might have done better
zone of those things no fellow ca
find out"