Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-21

others. While they keep a copy Of every
important map that makes it's appearance
In any part OF the world. using them to
verify their own maps, each map they put
out has been made after surveys OF their
own. No matter what remote territory they
are mapping, or how trninR seems the
chance Of error in the maps Of other max
ers, no work goes out except It be the
result OF their own surveys, calculations
and engraving.
Map-making originated with the wander
ing tribes Of Asia. The sons OF Ishmael
were probably the first to use the idea. 1t
became necessary for them to mark their
routes and to locate the landmarks that
gave them guidance, and out Of his sprang
the art of the map. Even to this day one
may behold the difference in races in this
respect. The negro tribe that dwells
through generations in one locality in
Africa completeness nothing from the map.
On the other hand the Eskimo is quick to
understand the meaning OF a map and to
grasp the idea OF location through II. The
statement of Commander Peary that the
Eskimos showed him on the map where DR..
Cook had gone may sound improbable to
the uninitiated, but to the informed 1t was
not an unreasonable statement. 1t Is said,
indeed, that a rough map drawn by an
Eskimo woman enabled Sir Edward Parry
70 discover Fury and Hecla strait. Many
of the early American explorers declared
that they found the Indians good map
makers In a rudimentary way, that their
drawings and representations as to rivers.
mountains and other geographical char
acteristics were notable for their accuracy.
References are found in ancient literature
to maps on wood in the time of Rameses II.
and the Babylonians carried the art of
Topographic representation to a consider
blye degree Of perfection, 1t was the
Babylonians who divided the circle into $50
degrees, and the hour into sixty minutes.
Upon these divisions is based the modern
idea Of latitude and longitude. One must
not suppose that the ancient Egyptians and
Chaldeans were lacking in appliances which
would lead to accurate map-making. Some
years ago Prof. Smyth of England visited
the pyramids of Egypt and used the finest
modern surveying instruments In searching
the mysteries OF those huge piles. He
found that the builders had cornered them
to the points OF the compass as accurately
as he could have done 1t with his instru-
ments. He stated that in not a single in
stance did he find his instruments superior
to those which must have been used in
the planning and construction of the pyra-
mids.
One of the latest aids of is
the camera. The ~dirigible balloon, the fly
ing machine, the telephotographic camera
and even the moving picture camera are
expected to lend themselves to the per
lection of the art of landscape representa-
ton. One hardly realizes at first blush
how all the arts and sciences are inter
twined with one another. When the tele-
aCnnn NynU lfcnaxrannI t. ,laz1
maker almost as much as It helped astro-
omy. When electricity was hitched to the
chariot of civilization it aided the map
maker in lhis work as much as II assisted
man as a beast of burden. BY the use of
closed telegraphlc circuits the surveyor can
tell to the decimal part OF an inch how ac-
curate his measurements have been.
No less important to civilization than |
the maps OF the lands are. the charts of the
seas. Since the time of Maury. that in
trepid Virginian whose work In mapping
the oceans won for him the title of
geographer of the seas, great strides have
been made in getting all the character
istics OF the seas portrayed on paper. The
Carnegie institution, through its magnetic
survey work, the photographic office of the
Navy department, the coast and geodetio
survey and many other American agencies
are still at work gathering data for a
highly accurate charting of all marine con-
ditions. And the heavens are not forgotten
by the makers OF maps and charts. The
great catalogues of the stars being made
by the Carnegie institution and other
astronomical agencies are giving the map
maker as good opportunities for accuracy
and excellence in celestial charting as in
terrestrial representation. Land, sea and
sky are now well represented by the car
t~ographer's art.
By FREDH8IC J. HAsKn,
Tomorrow-The Louisiana Law.