Omaha daily bee., 1908-10-07
THING IN sKYSCRAPERS
Recent Computations Add TO the
stature of Mount Everest, Al
ready without n Rival.


II has been proved by the Geological
Survey Of India that Mount Everest Is still
higher than 2e.OO2 feet. the result OF the
computations OF 1S4s and 1850. which for
over half a century have been accepted
as making Everest the highest known
summit. The mountain is at least 13s feet
higher than those computations made It.
Before mentioning how this has been ascer-
tained II may be well to answer a query
that has doubtless arisen in many minds
and was recently referred to by an English
writer who said It was ridiculous to give
the height of Mount Everest as 9,OO2 feet
because the determination Of the hejgh Of
peaks is liable to errors Of different kinds,
and to give the elevation at exactly 29,002
feet implies a degree OF accuracy in the
value Of the height assigned to the noun
tain that has not been attained. He thought
it would be better to say that Mount Ever
est is about 5000 feet high.
The fact is that the value OF 29,0O2 feet
was not obtained from any one station Of
observation. six trigonometricsl values of
the height were deduced in 1919 and 1850
from six stations far to the south Of the
mountain. The mean OF these six values
is 29,0o2 feet. Owing to the objections Of
the Nepalese government, Mount Everest
cannot be approached by surveyors from
the side Of India nearer than eighty miles
from the mountain. and the observations
above mentioned were therefore carried out
under great difficulties.
But at last It has been shown con-
clusively that Moun Everest is higher
than the well known value given to it. Be
tween 1881 and 1902 a series Of six addi-
tional observations from five different sta
lions was obtained. All but one Of these
stations are nearer to the mountain than
those from which the six determinations
OF height were made In 1919 and 1850, and
the north as we'll as the south side Of
Everest has been included in these obser-
~vations.
The geological survey of India has Just
corrected these results for probable errors
due to refraction and has found that all
hose later values Of the height of the
mountain are from 1872 to 149 feet higher
than the long accepted 2s,0O2 feet. The
mean Of these six values is 29,141 feet.
The survey in the report It has just is
sued says that the height. 2s.l41 feet, is
still probably too small, as It has yet to be
corrected for the effects of deviations Of
gravity. But though 1t is a more trust
worthy result than %,OO2 feet, the latter
value will be retained for the present In
maps and publications of the survey.
There are other problems Of refraction to
be solved and other uncertainties to be
eliminated and it would be a mistaken
policy to introduce new values at every
step Of the investigation which is yet to
be made. No change of the figures will be
made in the publications of the survey
until thoroughly satisfactory scientific
computations make 1t possible to give a
determination of the height OF the noun
tain that may be accepted as final.
The report adds that there is little prob
ability now of discovering a higher peak
than Mount Everest. Some geographers
have held that peaks higher than this
mountain were standing behind 1t to the
north, but when Major Ryder crossed Tibet
along the Brahmaputra in 1904. he passed
eighty miles north Of Mount Everett and
found no peak approaching it in height.
For more than half a century since the dis
covery of this summit the mountains Of
Asia have been continually explored but
no second peak of 5000 feet has been
found.-New York Sun.