Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-07-24
Assertion of Galveston Court House in Center -
SURVEYORS OF LONELY ELS
GREAT BRITAIN MAINTAINS
TEN SHIPS IN THE WORK.
Active Fleet Of Little Cruisers Kept
Busy in photographic Office
of the Admiralty.

AS important to every mariner as the
compass and equally Indispensable Is the
chart which shows him his course, gives
him sailing directions. points out the
deeps and the shadows and general In,
formation on lights. beacons' and a dozen
more important facts that he must learn
and understand to bring his boat safely
to her destination.
England. in her capacity of the greatest
sea power. bears the greatest burden Of
this work. and at the present time we
have 4 small feet, mostly composed OF
steel. copper sheathed sioops OF little night
ing value, varying from 800 to 1.O70 tons
displacement, constantly at work and
during last year alone the photographic
office of the admiralty issued sixty
seven new navigation charts and reported
the discovery Of 36S rocks and shoals.
Furthermore the survey ships sounded
over the great area of 1851 square miles
and charted 77S miles of coast. which was
not bad work. considering that only
eighty -four officers and 81 men were en-
the Fantome, Egeria. Merlin. Waterwitch,
Mutine. Sealark and Ellinor In foreign
seas and three vessels In home waters.
Such are the baId rs usos, c,d though
one can CLEAN from them some small idea
of the work carried out. only actual ex-
perience at sea on one OF these pusv
little vessels can give the right picture
to the mind.
From am. to sunset each crew u
busily employed, maybe ashore In his
tile country surrounded by treacherous
natives. calmly triangDiatinS the land "'
checking the ships compass and taking
magnetic sights to locate any deviauon
(for many ships are wrecked through the
earth's electricity affecting the compase).
On other occasions they have TO take
long pulls into reef-infested bays. where
reign the fast moving current and the
laundering surf Or perhaps they deive
deep to the bottom OF the ocean, finding
how vast is the depth Of the Pacific (tne
deepest ocean,. and tending with mother
" care the fine wire that stretches down
into green valleys. seeing that there are
no kinks" to subject II to any undue
strain. and watching the dynancmeteH.
one Of the vast number Of delicate tnstrur
ments carried aboard.
Of the Beaten Track
And yet again, all alone, far of thu
beaten track, they have to fight the
fercest gale, and should disaster overtake
them, their determination is as complete
as the fate that befell the Condor. when.
as will be remembered, she steamed to
sea in December, 1901, and was never
seen again, presumably being lost with
her crew Of 40 men. Peeping into odd
corners Of the world. dealing out Justice.
protecting lives Of whites (no matter what
their nationality may be) In obscure
islands, carrying the mails and giving
the settlers I'm wild. lonely spots their
only glimpse OF the great outside world.
showing the white ensign in many queer
places where otherwise II would never be
whisky schooners and keeping watching
eye on the Thousand and one shady craft
that use the ocean highway-these are
their services.
rira If
their busy year their task is suffering
hardships. at times half starved. at one
time blistering under tropical sun, al
another lighting the fog and the pack ice.
Each vessel works to beat her sister and
get the most information. and though the
officers volunteer for this work and re-
ceive higher pay, the crews are just
drafted into the sloops in the ordinary
course of service, and though the work Is
interesting and they are not bound By
the cast-iron discipline that prevails IN
the big sauadrons. this does not compen-
safe for the loss OF promotion in the gen
eral service by serving in the surveying
branch. and no doubt extra pay should be
given, for it is richly earned.
When once more the boats go into port
then comes the preparations of the charts.
During the past nine months each oftcer
has made his so-called rough sheet.
though it is a very accurate piece Of work
and from these .'roughs' the fair
sheet" is built UP WIKI great care and
labor: all the depths and shoals are marx
ed and delicately tinted and shaded, and
when finished il is a very technical and
beautiful piece of craftsmanship. as any
will agr e that have looked upon them.
Then the "tair sheet Is sent of TO t3s
hNdrograpfer twho rules this branch OF
The service, and after certain minute
notifications have Deen carried out il Is
handed 10 the engraver. The number OF
charts printed and Soid tor used by the
warsh!ps, II iaos was slightly over q
million cop.eS.