Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1905-03-04

~
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 q
tired whale will hoat lazily on the
bosom of the deep, and at a distance
appears to the man on the bridge as
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 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.
Disagreement in Charts.
Another explanation for mistakes
which were formerly made by ships
masters, especially in the East India
archipelago. is the disagreement in
| longitude Of the Netherand govern
| ment charts and those of other ma
lions. 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-
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 one of the navi-
cation charts 1t Is the most difficult
thing in the world to get 1t off. One
case in point is sufficient In 1901 the
! ship Nautilus reported the discovery
of an island at 1886 s., AZ E.. or
| about the middle of the Southern Pa
citic. Not only was ii reported as a
| fact, but the information was accom-
panied with the superfuous supposl-
| ton that at Is uninhabited" On the
| strength of this assertion 1t was con
sidered the genuine article, but 1t was
believed its position was doubtful, Its
longitude was given as 1917 degrees 90
minute, and this was said to be a mis-
take. AS it subsequently proved, the
| whole island was a mistake. The ship
| Garcia In 1883 made a search for il
for a distance sixty miles east anC
west Of its assigned position, and at {
cast of the lead to seventy-five faith
oms found no bottom. In 1898 til,
fable was destroyed by being erased
There is nearly always some vesse
in the United States navy employee
in making and correcting surveys. Tn
mass of material thus collected 70
the photographic Office Is of the great
est possible service. The coast is, o
course, the principal object of atten
ton to these surveying parties, bu
on the Pacific they often cruise Ions
distances In search Of islands or shoals
or reefs reported at various times. In
this way more phantoms have been
explained away than In any other
While the ordinary mariner does not
take time to investigate the things
he sees, or believes he sees, the sur
vey expedition examines critically In
nine cases out Of ten they sail over
the spot where the fabulous island is
said to have been seen, and generally
| find their dead line is too short to
touch bottom. For some unknown
reason these islands Of the imagina
ton persist in selecting that part OF
| the ocean where depth Is greatest.
when they might have done better is
when they might have done better is
zone of those things no fellow can
| find out"