New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1905-05-02
MAPS OF MILITARY VALUE.
4pricuIturaI Soil SasrUeys Important
for the ArmY.
rrnnM rtr TRTRUNH BUREAu.l

washington. May LINE ehIIo KICK Oh Gu
operation between the several departments CT
the government has frequently been made the
occasion of criticism in debates in Congress,
senator Lodge, among Others having more than
once pointed to this as of the grave mis-
+al,As IN the conduct of the federal admins
tration.
A striking instance Of this lack of co-opera-
ton which has just come to light Is the failure
Of the War Department and the General STAN
to avail themselves of the maps, invaluable from
a military standpoint. which are annually being
produced under the direction Of Professor MIL
ton whitney, of the Bureau OF Soils So far as
can be ascertained. the General staff has never
even learned that the Bureau of Soils is con-
Quoting a soil survey OF the entire country ana
preparing maps which contain most of the i'm
portant features usually shown on military maps
prepared as the result of "Reminiscences.
For the last five years the Bureau OF Soils
has maintained approximately twenty parties
Of biologists and soil experts in the held' ana
the results of their observations have been en-
bodied in maps which now represent almost
90 900 square miles of the United States. Inc
value of this work to the agricultural interests
Of the country has led Congress to appropriate
constantly increasing amounts for tho carrying
on of the work. and, as the maps are fafhlSneu
to all foreign agricultural institutions, 1t Is
have a better knowledge to-day Of the topos-
raphy and soil conditions Of the United States
than have American military officers.
Certain general officers Of the army have long
urged that military maps of all parts or the
country and especially of those parts adjacent
to the seaboard be prepared by the engineer
corps. but little or no work in that line has
been accomplished by the army, and the valu-
able data compiled by the Bureau OF Soils nave
been persistently ignored. The soil maps give
not only the general topography of the country,
using the base maps of the Geological survey
for that purpose, but in addition thereto the
nature of the soil for depth OF not less than
three feet, thus indicating the character OF the
roads to be met with, the probable effect which
heavy rains would have them, etc. Taken IN
connection with the maps of the Geo4oSIcA
Survey they furnish practically all the nforna-
ton necessary from military standpoint, with
the advantage over reconnaissance maps, on
which the military commander usually Ii COM
PEELED to depend, that they are prepared by ex-
perts who have ample time to devote to their
surveys and observations anG every faclhtF LOT
committing the facts to paper.
With such maps, the feasibility OF erecting
earthworks, intrenchraeats ETC., can be deter
mined at a glance. Moreover. the military quar-
termaster who must make careful calculations
as to the availability of the local roads to sus-
tain the necessarily heavy traffic eutailed by
the transportation Of the supplies for great
army. can easily perfect his plans when, with
the aid OF soil map. he can learn whether the
roads over which his heavy wagons must travel
are of earth. clay stone. on what sort of a
base they constructed, the liability to flood
ing during heavy rains etc.
Some military experts who have recently ex-
amined these maps point to the fact that had
the information they present been available at
the beginning OF the Spanish war the War De-
partment would have been saved from the error
Of selecting the site chosen at ChicLamausa for
a great military camp because. from the soil
maps 1t would have learned that tho soil
only few feet deep ana underlaId with
stratum OF rock which would inevitably force the
drainage and seepage back to the surface. The
error OF placing tho Cbickarpauga camp that
site has cost the government in pensions to those
whose health suffered and to the families of
those who died from typhoid fever probably
more than the entire cost of the soil survey of
the United States to date.
The same proposition Is also doubtless true Of
Camp Algec. A more thorough knowledge Of
the topography and drainage features Of that
site would doubtless have led TO the selection
of location more favorable to the health of
the troops CHARTERED there In this connection
it is noteworthy that the cost of the soil maps
to the government does not exceed an average
of 81 81 a square mile, while their value TO agri-
culture is regarded by those in a position to
know ample to warrant the expense that
ground alone.
In countries military maps not widely
dissmaT from the maps of the Bureau of Soils
being prepared under the supervision of the
military authorities and far back as the
early seventies it urged by members of the
engineer corps Of the United States Army that
a military survey, to be followed by the prep
aration Of military maps. be made of all parts
of the United States particularly those por-
tiOns adjacent to the seaboard. Thus far, how
ever, the engineer corps has been so limited in
numbers to render this work impossible in
addition to the valuable services which the corps
already renders in connection with river and
harbor Improvements.
value OF the soil maps has never occurred to
Secretary Wilson, 1t is not improbable that
some arrangements will be made between the
War and Agricultural departments whereby
slight additions to the data already gath
cred by the soil surveyors be made and
adding even more to the value of the soil maps
from military standpoint, and thus obviating
all necessity OF the War Departments dupli-
eating the work OF the Department of Agri-
culture.
1t is predicted by the experts who have ex-
anlined the soil maps that when their value is
brought to the attention of the General Staff it
will make arrangements whereby the soil maps
will be furnished TO post commanders and
other army officers in all parts of the country