Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-02-25
GOVERNMENT PHOTOGRAPHERS.
By Frederic J. Haskin.

IL 10y - ACOS1 II
The Topographic service of the
United States geological survey en-
ploys a remarkable lot Of men. En-
gagged 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 a versatility wide In It's
range and useful in its application. 1t
is their task to take a plano table and
a sheet Of paper, and with these simple
instruments to measure distances and
to map out elevations in such q way
that the person acquainted with the
topographic map they make may,
upon examining the map. make cor
rect and accurate mental picture OF
the region thus plotted.
In this the topographer has to do
many things which seem to be wholly
unrelated to the science OF measuring
and accurately picturing long stretches
Of landscape. He must be able to bake
biscuits in frying pan. for the topog-
rapher cannot always command the
services Of a cook. He must be some
thing OF a diplomat, for often there are
land owners who seriously object to
having the secrets of their landed pos
sessions placed upon government pub
who believes that there are rich min
eral deposits on his land about which
he is not willing that the world should
know.
He must be mountain climber who
can get to the summit OF the highest
mountains without a guide; for 1t is
upon such high places as these that
the topographer becomes the monarch
of all he surveys, SO far as the work
Of plotting the adjacent country on his
must be a leader Of men; because each
Photographer must have force OF
assistants with him. and often his
work takes him into places where
the tOpographer must be as absolute
in his authority over those under him
as is steamship captain over those In
his world afloat. He must know how
horse and to shoe bad mule.
One of the most unique organizations of
men in government service is the body
Of veteran topographers who have seen
field of topography. These men organized
a club last year. and the POSTMASTER of
the annual dinner was the oldest man In
the topographic service Of the geological
in the service presided. Succession to
the toastmastership henceforth will be
determined by length Of service.
* X
The government topographer must be
willing to undergo many hardships, and
sometimes to stake his all
Risk when the issue is life or
er.e- death. For instance, some
VI AAe' years ago topographer
who was at work on the Yukon river, in
Alaska, decided that he would go through
to the Arctic ocean. with the hope that
there he might find delayed whaling
vessel and thus get back to civilization.
He knew that II he failed in this death
would probably be his 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,
who brought him down to civilization
again. One might tell many stories illus
trating the devotion of the government
topographer to his duties. Upon one oc-
casion q man was badly injured by be-
ing kicked by a horse. While a relief
expedition was coming, he climbed to the
summit Of the mountain to complete his
work Of plotting the surrounding region.
Another tOpOgrapher was caught in the
quicksands of dangerous western
stream, but he threw his plane table and
notes ashore before undertaking to ex-
tricate himself
The tools with which the topographer
works in making the surveys upon which
all OF the scientific maps Of the country
are based are, as intimated before. ex-
uemely simple. His plane table is usual
~ board about eighteen by twenty
four inches square. mounted on a SIM
pie tripod. Upon this board is fastened
an instrument known as an alidade; a
telescope mounted like transit, except
that 1t has no horizontal movement The
base Of this instrument Is a fiat piece Of
brass. usually about eighteen inches long.
which is made in such way as to per-
init 1t being used as q Straight-edge.
With this simple instrument the topog-
rapher needs only to know one distance
the length of base Hne-and with this
he constructs a network of triangles. BY
trigonomic methods he is able to meas
ure the length Of the lines for the re-
naming two sides of his first triangle,
and each of these In turn serves the
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 table sheet.
He then reads the landscape as If 1t were
book. and makes an appropriate and
comprehensive digest Of what he sees on
his plane table sheet. When he has fin
ished this he has a map which may give
needs for his work of geologic surveying.
X
The map he constructs, made on the
ground, becomes the legal map Of the
United States. The
What the layman scarcely can
Map Contains. MEANS 1,Ae - m,aca n
single square inch the topographic fea-
lures Of two square miles, yet this must
be done with an accuracy approaching
perfection.
Not only must the map show distances,
but it must show the drainage Of the
region plotted, all Of the hills and valleys.
all of the cities and villages and all Of the
important rural buildings. It must out
line the wooded area, the roads. both
first and second class, and any other
notable features Of the landscape. The
water features are represented on the
map in blue, elevation in brown, and
features constructed by men in black.
The uses to which the topographic maps