Vilas County news. [volume] (Eagle River, Vilas County, Wis.) 1896-1927, 1909-08-18
A HUGE COUNTRY
is UNCLE SAM S
AREA SOME s,74s,s44 SQUARE
MILES, EXCLUSIVE OF
ALASKA
HOW MASON AND DIXON FIXED
LINE BETWEEN NORTH AND
SOUTH.

Washington, D. c., Aug. 14-The
geological survey of the United
States has taken advantage of the
fact that boundaries of the United
States have adj been finally fixed
and the land and water area of each
state charted, to issue two bulletins
one of which deals exclusively with
the history of all boundary lines
not only of the nation but the indi-
vidual states, and the other with the
area Of the country Except for pos
sible errors in the misinterpretation
of the coast line there is little doubt
that the measurements of the coun
try as whole area are now nearer
accurate than ever before. The to
tai area of the United States is
given as 3,743,344 miles, exclusive OF
Alaska, the canal zone and the island
possessions
One of the most interesting his
torical descriptions in the bulletin
on boundaries is that describing the
fixing of Mason and Dixon's line
The passage is as follows:
According to the original grants
of Pennsylvania and Maryland the
boundary between them was to be
the fortieth degree of north latitude
This line being found to pass North
of Philadelphia and to exclude Penn
sylvania from Delaware bay, negoti
ations ensued between the proprie
tors to rectify this geographical
blunder and for nearly century the
matter remained unsettled.
In the year. 1882 an agreement
was made to fix the boundary. Com
missioners were appointed in that
year and subsequently in 1889 te
run the line, but they failed to agree
and chancery suits were the result
Taking a decision of Lord CHANGER
lor Hardwick in 1850 as basis oil
final adjudication, an agreement was
signed July 4, 1850. BY this agree
ment the line between Pennsylvania
and Delaware on the one part and
Maryland on the other was deter
mined as follows, viz:
"a due east and west line should
be run across the peninsula from
Cape Henlopen to the Chesapeake
bay. From the exact middle of this
line should be drawn line tangent
to the western periphery of circle
having radius of twelve English
statute miles, measured horizontally
from the center of the town of New
Castle. From the tangent point q
line shold be drawn due north until
lit cut parallel of latitude fifteen
miles due south of the most southern
part of the city of Philadelphia, this
point of intersection to be the north.
east corner of Maryland; thence the
line should run due west on said par
allel as far as it formed boundary
between the two governments.
In 1850 commissioners and sur
veyors were appointed who spent
three years in measuring the base
line and the tangent line between
Maryland and Delaware The pro-
prietors then, wearied with the de
lay, sent over from England two IA
nous mathematician, Charles Dixon
and Jeremiah Mason who verified
the work of their predecessors and
ran the line west between PennsyI-
vania and Maryland, since known as
'Mason's and Dixons line.
Mason and Dixon fixed the lati
tude of this line at SO degrees AZ
minutes Is seconds A resurvey in
I $50 by Col. Graham determined it
to be 80 degrees 43 minutes 26.5 sec.
onds.
Mason and Dixon began their
work in 1863 and were stopped b,
Indians in 1867, having run the line
about 244 miles west of the Della,
ware, not quite finishing their work.
They put up milestones all along
said line, every fifth one being
marked with the arms of the re.
spective proprietorss.
In consequence of the accidental
removal of the stone at the north.
east corner of Maryland, commits.
sioners were appointed in 1850 by
Pennsylvania, Delaware and Mary
and to revise the former surver,
which was done by Lseut-Co1 Ora
ham of the United States topograph-
cal engineers The result cnnfrnan