El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-02-24
7 0P06AbPHEA
TAKES MANY
CHANGES
MUST COOK, CLIMB
AND DEAL WITH MEN
Risks Life, Limb and Repu-
tatiOn to Map the Lay of
the Land.
u FrederIck ]. HaskIn.

STATES geological survey employs q re
markable lot Of men. Engaged in
making the actual surveys for the
great topographic map of the United
states, the map from which all other
accurate maps are made, they must
possess versatility wide In its range
and useful In its applica ton. It is
their task TO take a plane table and
sheet Of paper, and with these simple
Instruments to measure distances and
TO map out elevations in such a way
that the person acquainted with the
topographic map they make, may, upon
examining the map, make a correct and
accurate mental picture of the region
thus plotted.
Must Also Know How to Cook.
In this the topographer has to do
many things which seem to be wholly
unrelated TO the science Of measuring
and accurately picturing long stretch
IS Of landscape. He must be able to
bake biscuits in a frying pan, for the
topographer cannot always command
the services OF a cook He must be
something Of diplomat for often
there are land owners who seriously
object to having the secrets Of their
landed possessions placed upon govern
ment published maps. as for instance
a man who believes that there are rich
mineral deposits on his land about
which he is not willing that the world
should know.
He must be a mountain climber who
can get 10 the summit Of the highest
mountains without a guide; for II is
upon such high places as these that
the topographer becomes the monarch
OF all he surveys, so far IS the work
Of plotting the adjacent country on his
plane table paper is concerned. He
must be a leader Of men; because each
r0pograp her must have a force Of as
sistants with him, and often his work
takes him into places where civilization
does not reach, and where the to-
pOgrapher must be as absolute In his
authority over those under him as is a
steamship captain over those in his
world afloat He must know how TO
doctor a sick man, to treat a sick
horse, and to shoe z bad mule
One Of the most unique organizations
OF men In government service IS the
body OF veteran tOpOgraphers who have
seen more than 20 years work in the
field Of topography These men or
ganized a club last year, and the toast
master Of the annual dinner was the
Oldest man in the topographic service
Of the geological survey This year the
next Oldest man in the service pre-
sided. Succession to the POSTMASTER
ship henceforth viii be determined by
length Of service
The government topographer must De
willing TO undergo many hardsnips
and Sometimes 10 stake his al Wnen
the issue is life or death. For IN
stance some years ago, a topographer
who was at work on the Yukon river
IN Alaska decided that he would 90
through TO the Arctic ocean, with the
none that there he might find a de-
1aved whaling vessel. ana thus BeL
back to civilization he knew tnaI II
he failed in this death would probably
be MS portion BY one OF those strange
chances Of life, although he did miss
the last Whaler, he fell In with some
indians from Point Barrow, VINO
brought him down TO ciyillzatlon again
one might tell many stories ulusIraI-
Ing the devotion Of the government
ropographer TO his duties. Upon one
occasion. a man was badly injured Dy
being kicked by a horse While re
lief expedition was coming, ne CLIMBED
10 the summit Of the mountain TO com
plete his work Of plotting the sur
rounding region Another tOpograpner
was caught IN the quicksands OF a
DANGEROUS western stream, but ne
threw his plane table and notes ashore
before undertaking to extricate him
The tools with which the topograph-
er works in making the surveys upon
which all Of the scientific maps Of the
country are based are. as lntlmateo
before, extremely simple. The plane
table IS usually a board about IS by
"a inches square. mounted on simple
frfpod Upon this board is fastened
an Instrument known as an a--u s. q
telescope mounted ike transit eA-
cept that it has no horizontal move
ment. The base Of this lnstruTnenI ls
2 flat piece OF brass, usually apoGt
Il inches long. which is made In sucn
a wav as to permit it being used a.
a straight edge. With this simple n
strument the topOgrapher needs Only
10 know one dlEtance-tne len8th OF d
bese 1ine-and with this he CONSTRUCT
: network Of triangles- BY trlgohoIillc
methods he is able to measure the
length Of the lines for the reInalnlh5
two sides Of his first triangle ana
each Of these IN turn serves as me
given side of subsequently, constructed
triangles.
IN this way he is able TO compute
automatically the length Of each OF
his lines. and thus TO place each point
IN its proper position on his plane
-eb1e sheet When he has finished
this he has a map which may Blt e
even the EeOlOgist che information ne
needs for his work Of geologic survey
ing. The map he constructs nnaue on
the ground. becomes the legal map OF
the United states The layman scarce
" can imagine what 1t means to place
IN single square inch the toposra pLic
features OF two square miles YET TINS
must be done with an accuracy ap-
preaching perfection.
Not only must the map show dis
tances. but it must show the drain
are of the region plotted, all OF the
hills and valleys, all OF the cities and
villa eres and all Of the important rural
buildings Tt must outline the wooded
area. the roads, both first and second
class and any other notable features
of the 1anscape. The water features
are represented on the map in blue.
elevation in brown and features con
-structed by men, in black
UEed by POstOffiee Department.
The uses to which the topographic
,,,aDs are put are many and important.
me postoffice department uses them
IN LAYING out rural free delivery routes
fn making its maps. IN time Of war
they would prove OF lnesLlmaDle value
IN the handling Of the armies Of the
country. They render subsequent pre-
lfminarv surveys for each new work
uDnecessary For instance, prior TO
The existence Of these maps when a
civ wished to secure an adequate
water supply, 1t had to spend more
money on its preliminary surveys than
me first cost Of the topographic map.
Railroads and dozens OF other private
enterprises use these maps almost
every dav IN the year. The states use
them in the work OF constructing good
roads