The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-11
MATTHEW F. MAURY
 DESERVES A MONUMENT


 , marquis. crowned wi American hon. ors. and nearing the age of three-score and ten. frequently noticed the studi- GUS little middy. who drew diagrams In spherical trigonometry on the round shot in the racks of the quarter deck, | to enable him to master new problems
 in mathematics. Many times during that voynge across the Atlantic the | old man and the youth talked together, | the great statesman and soldier re- membering the while. perhaps, the en- | thusiasm that once dwelt in his own heart. when, at Maury's age. he had crossed the same sea to offer his ser vices to America as q volunteer. and without pay. This first voyage of our | young scientist was a very happy one.
 a good omen for all his future pro- gress. In his next cruise Maury sailed around the world in the sIoop-of-war Nlneennes. The visiting of different zones. the sights he met with in far away lands, the obseryation of singu-
 lar currents. either of wind or waves. were things which In themselves form ed an education fof a young midship-
 nan of the navy, and in the case of Matthew Maury they were ali siezed upon with the avidity which marked an unusually observant, if not pres cocious mind. In a letter to his old teacher, written at Callao, in the sum- mer of 1927, he said; My cruising has been very interesting since I joined the Vinceanes, and particularly for tue last eight or ten weeks But still more interesting even. occurred when after two years absence his voyage was ended: and that was his engage ment to his sweetheart. Ann Hern- don. to whom he gave little seal as q tokeE of endearment. It was only to he used in writing to him when again he should be far away upon the sea. 1t bore the simple in- scription. .Mizpah" The Lord watch between thee and me when we are ab- sent one from the other" We are not surprised that he chose a Scripture quotation for such a gift, for he was reigiously ti aimed from his early youth. and he knew his Bible. A bright Christian hope was one of the most striking attributes of his whole character; and not long before his death he wrote on the fly leaf of his Testament, while at sea, Thy gen tleness. O God. hath made me great"
 In 1881 Maury was apointed sailing
 master in the sloop-of-war Falmouth,
 which was ordered to the Pacific sta
 ton. Before his vessel had rounded
 Cape Horn he began to formulate those
 theories of his which had engaged his
 earnest attention since his first year
 afloat. and which afterwards. in tho form of his celebrated charts have &C., complished so much for the commerce
 of the world. They related to the
 winds and currents of the sea--a sub ject which up to that time had received little scientific study. The preparation of these charts in their earliest form, as Maury made them. grew out of a small incident. as many other valuable inventions have done in the years be-
 fore and since. As a young sailing
 master he was naturally ambitious to
 make quick voyages; and accordingly,
 before he left New York he searched everywhere in that port to obtain re- liable information regarding the winds and currents to be encountered in go- ing to the Pacific. Nothing of value however could be found. even in the | leading city of the nation. He saw | therefore at once that there was a de- I plorahle lack of trustworthy informa- | tion on this subject: and he then re- I solved that some day he would supply
 the navy, at least. with far better sail | ing directions that then existed. This | resolution he faithfully kept: and 1t l finally resulted in those splendid l charts of the sea which still bear his
 name. The whaling charts alone have
 saved millions of dollars to that indus | try, which, at the time of their prepa-
 ration. was one of the leading features
 of American maritime life In 1884 l Maurys ship. which had circumnayi-
 gated the globe. entered the port of
 Boston, and he immediately set off for
 fredericksburg, Va, to marry the lady
 to whom he had been engaged since he
 was last on shore and from whom he
 had only heard at intervals through
 those letters which bore upon them
 the ''Mizpah' seal. Maury's position
 as an authority on naval questions was
 now established; and at the request of
 his fellow officers he was put in charge | of the depot of charts and instruments
 at Washington. Under hIs efficient su-
 provision this became the well-known 1 national observatory and hydrographi-
 cal department of the United States He 1 was in the thirty-sixth year of his age
 when the unsought appointment came
 to him. No man could have been found
 in the country" said Senator Bell of Tennessee, in a speech before the Sem