Amarillo daily news. [volume] (Amarillo, Tex.) 19??-current, 1912-03-20
UNCLE SAM IS
BUSY MAP MAKER
New Ones Finished Daily,
Ranging from Weather
to Navigation

Washington. D. G.. March li-
Maps as the ware known - the 'ay-
man are diagrams of geography.
Their purpose Is to give the location
on papcr OF various continents. grand
divisions countries, states and cities
OF the world, a purpose which they
fulfill 20 high degree OF efficiency.
To speak Of map Is TO convey the
impression that geography and moth
inp but geography Is being dealt
lv.th.
Next after the \. q c. and !. o IS
| Of rudimeutary education come the
maps Maps. like tho poor, We have
with ms ALWAYS.
The same Is true - a much lesser
degree Of charts Everybody knows
that chart Is a map of water in
stead Of q man - land The popd-
/ lar idea Of char however is some
what vague.
That the maps ana charts are ever
anything more than mere outlines Of
absolutely geographic feat' re- Is a
fact little known such is the case,
however. witness som" Of the in
tensely interesting maps published
by the United States government
4 New Man Every Day.
Take. Tor instance. the maps made
every day by the weather bureau u
the department II agriculture The
maps in the Biographies studied in
the puhli, schools OF the United
States are considered unusually ef-
ficient If thev are corrected once IN
every three or four years Some
maps are in use TODAY which did yco-
man service twenty and thirty years
ago. This may Ne al very we'll for
the rough purpose Of conveying a
general idea of he size and share Of
the continents Of he cartl. even II
the Anacostia flats ~ the eastern
branch Of the Potomac are being III
ed MP considerable garbage dimrcd
into Long Island SounG and The Ms
sissippi river enlarglng It's delta hut
somehow the weather bureau does
not feel that Il can get along unless
II gets out new camp every day
OF course. Il any great change IN
the size Of the Grc3j Lakes snouid
be shown on map some morning.
or a few hundred miles missed Off
the southern end OF the peninsula II
Florida; or even Il the golden dream
Of the drainage huroal which Is re-
claiming the Everglades Of Florida
With surveyors instruments paper
ind printing presses. should not come
over night the people could not he
blamed IL they talked ahoct 1t
Such changes, however. are not
frequently noted in tho maps Of the
weather bureau. AMI. should they he
the chances are that after n con-
gressional committee had gone 10 the
effected part of rho country ard hal
found all the land intac. and no wat
or missing from thA lakes. some m
Fortunate employe OF the bureau
might be discharged.
/ Deal With E,anrscrnt Subject
But the maps o. the weather bu-
reau deal not in such trifles as sta.
pie land and sea. They are maps Of
the weather. Each day when the
map is published the observer Of
them may discover Just where the
wind is blowing and how hard Just
where the rain is falling and how
hard. and inst how dry o.ner parts
OF the United States are.
These maps are sent TO farmers I'm
all parts OF the country and 10 9TH
ers who are interested In them. and
there Is another set which goes "a
the coast folk. fishermen and the
like, and there is also storm chart
disregarded with sublime lndiffer.
ence by fishermen ont Of Gloucester
| and Marblehead who are blessed
with confidence in their own ahiI
ity To judge the weather and who
would carry sail In the face Of the
wind issuing from the trumpet OF the
Angel Gabriel whose arrival We are
expecting at any moment. Others
however, derive great benefit from
these storm maps, and undoubtedly
many a life is saved through the
agency Of the weather bureau and
many good ship saved from dero.
likelihood or a damp berth IN Dayy
Jones locker.
photographic Maps Intricate.
BY far the most interesting of the
maps published by the government,
are those which the hydrographic
office OF the navy department prints
once a month. These are the wealth
or maps OF the sea, as opposed 10
the weather bureaus weather mans
OF the land, only they are infinitely
more than weather maps. The men
who make them seem 20 be on the
most intimate terms with the sea
and with all the elements that vex n
to the confusion OF mariners. In
fact. so closely in touch Is the nv.
geographic office with the sea tina,