Evening star., 1912-11-10
GE)L)}ICAL SURVEY.
A certain railroad which passed through
an arid region in one Of the nor shwestern

certain railroad which passed through
an arid region in one Of the nor;hwestern
states was desirous of To-
Finding eating water. The Off -ials
uyo4.r of the road wrote to the
geological survey to ascer-
tain the ross'hslties of striking water at
certain station. Word came back
rro-o-+lv trat if thev dug 2.0nO feet they
would locate water. TIE well was begin,
not however. without grave miseivings
which increased the deener TIE wei went
After a derth of 1000 feet had been
reached a crv went IN to stop: to waste
No roorA money and time. The work wa
Continued. however ana at denth Of
n~aet'v 2ne7 feet. or Just thirteen feet
'ess than tho distance set nv tho govern
went eeolc~'st water was struck ard
TO such good efeant that the wei, flowed
~ +he rate of 500 "n0 barrels day.
THE is ore instance and not an IN
-s-a1 n~e. showing tho worL dove nv tho
~eo'o"'cA s''~rev. Tho an-we~ to TIE
request Ne the RAILROAD o@ioa,s IN this
casa was o'r-en nrnn,nflv n cauea
sn-"e question TO it's orohah ar-
o""ao~ and vet it was snHs'an'ia+ed
D-o-,nt~ess --ado r,nscihIe NV tho
Fa"+ .h"+ ti>e 'oeaIitv in n-estion had bee~
sandstone th~orol, which water ron had
Hee- discovered 70 en-a~ tl,a ~ror~d at
ca~ta'n ,,oi~t. and a->e~ond AZ a 6:ct -e
90 a',out Eve hn~1~ad -,,iles F,rti, ~
e''''v wade IL nose''''a to tel, AT vha.
do'tta tha v-ata~ wnr'd he reached hv q
vol sunk n+ ei--a, -,oint in the area
of this sandstone de-osit
IN the last three wears the survey has
been busy with c'aseiacation and an
prasenent of coal lands
Coal land Tn to the time this vas he
e gun practically all coal
wv land was sold for a fixed
nrice. reeard'ess nf its real value. Under
the present conditions a value is set on
the land as result Of the SURVEYS IN
vestieatiOr irto the richness of the coal
dAnosit. The Is 5nn $50 acres thus far
classified would under the old sale p~ice
5e5,075. while at the nresent valua ion
thev ave worth S71o eoe 5o1 When +his
~c-'s was heeun there was considerable
talk on the Pacific coast of IT'S seriously
aeee"t'ne tha deve'on"nent Of the coal in
d''strv. due To the lar"a ncrea~a IN the
at least to the survey VAS recently hean
wade in the sale of f0n acres AT S4Oa
per acre. Thai o~eans that instead nf
getting only Sc nNa for tho land the gov
errnent cot soth 600 Some of TIE west
ern coal iredS run as high as 5000 TINS
nr r,nre nf recnver, hla coal TO the acre.
while a ~in~1e for'v acre tract 'n a re-
~e~tlv u-ith6~aun t~art IN Montana con-
ta.rs more than . 500 rO0 tons of coal
The r,~nev obtained ron, the sale of
1x-,yh h1- 1..n t.
to The reclamation service ~ be used in
rec'aim'ne arid lands. md so. at the
present time. rear'y q Quarter Of MIL
Won dollars has heen added to the funds
which g" to ''open up the waste places
of the United States.
Established in 1879. the geological sur
vey became pioneer agency In the devel-
opment of the mineral re-
Mineral sources of the country.
Survey geologists and en-
"0oouIceS. gineers rave invest gated
the economic possibilities of the farti1est
corners Of the United States. and by eA-
haustive study of the larger mining dis
tricts have contributed directly to the
working KNOWLEDGE of the mine engineers
and operators. In Alaska the work of the
survey is recogn' zed as the basis for not
only the mineral exploration of tie ter
ritory by prospectors and miners. but its
data and conclusions are cAnt'nual'y con-
suited in all lnr"er engaheering enter
prises. The statistical work of the SUR
vey in its reports on the production of
the precious and useful minerals OF
the country is recognized as of the
erea test value to the mining indus
try. No such comprehensive treatment of
the subject OF production and distrbu-
tion of the mineral wealth of a country
is found elsewhere in the world as that
of the United States geolo"ical survey.
The work of the survey falls into two
large divisions. First come the topo-
grs phical visions. The United States
IS bein~ studied and mapped. The coun-
trv is being divided into Northumberland
fifty-mie e squares. F"ery phase OF the
map. Mounta ms. and whether high. low.
soping or steep; valleys and whether
long. 'ow or deep. ere all shown on the
map. This man when comnleted will be
be SO large that If laid together it would
cover about an acre. Each section of
go miles square forms a separate map
Nearly 40 per cent of the United States
has already been marped. and the work
covers 1000 sheets. The cost of maxim
a single sheet. from the time the experts
set out to study it, through the engrav-
in" of tie plate for the man ranges from
$1,000 to $4,000. The rap dity with which
this work is going forward Is shown by
the fact that every third day new sheet
is printed.
This map, when completed. will be the
greatest, not only in point of size. but in
importance. in the world.
Greatest The Topographic maps of
cnr the survey have become
VI nops. the models for the map
making bureaus of many foreign nations.
The second division is the geo og cal Oil
vision. The map, as it. is comp eted py
the topographers, makes 1t possible TO
locate every hill or stream. But the geoi-
ogists take the map even step 1urtner
They study the country with view to
discovering all deposits in the earth,
which when found are properly charted
on the maps Not only are surface rocks
and soils indica ted, but the deposits ana
their quantity far underground are fore
told with accuracy.
In doing work of this kind one of the
most important features in the geologist $
known that at the time certain animal
existed par icular mineral was IN the
process of formation. To detect traces OF
the fossil remains of the animal. then, is
equivalent to finding the mineral. This
is true Of coal. for instance. At the
time Of the coal formations a certain
animal inhabited the immediate vicinity.
tive indication of the nearness of the
other.
Study of the land does not, however.