Daily independent. [volume] (Elko, Nev.) 188?-1915, 1913-12-18
GREAT COLLECTION OF. MAPS.
All Told, There Are About zoe. 900 Of
Then In Uncle Sam'O
Cara ~, :

What ID not only the largest but
also the most remarkable collection
OF maps In the world Is owned by the
United States government and cared
for in the congressional library. To
the wing set apart for their preserva-
ton come the most eminent Of geo.
graphers, and here Commander Peary,
discoverer Of the north pole, has done
some Of his scientific research.
All told, there are about 100000
maps in the collection. ORe-room has
huge aliases piled tier upon tier from
the floor to the roof; old-fashioned
ones dating from the beginning of
atlas making to the up-to-date crea-
lions Of the binders art. An expert
is kept continually at work mounting
maps, for many that are purchased
are in a dilapidated condition and
must be mounted or backed" on linen
OF the newest and strongest texture.
The market from which they are
procured covers the world. From
Greenland to India, from China to
Patagonia, maps are gathered, and
the older they are the more they are
valued. One map of China is printed
with the odd designs of rivers, noun
tains, trees and men in a tumble of
which the American mind can make
nothing, but possibly to a Celestial
it is perfectly clear
Among the most interesting and
most precious are early maps, some
of them dated prior to the discovery
OF America One of these Is q hand-col.
| ored affair made in 1882, Just ten
years before Columbus discovered the
new world. A map made by Cosa, a
companion OF Columbus and dated
1900, shows an odd-looking continent
meant to represent America. There
| are rude drawings scattered about on
| this queer picture, most of them at
tempts to show dwellings and people
of strange aspect. In 1903 a map of
the new world was engraved for the
| hrst time and its grotesque outlines
| seem pitifully childish under the glass
| of the handsome case in which 1t re-
| poses. BY its side Is perhaps the
| queerest Of all maps, a powderhorn,
| on which a map is etched in brown,
while not far off is a map made by
one Of the famous pirates of that day,
a Capt. Bart, who probably used 1t in
his buccaneering expeditions after
Spanish gold.
A map dated 1897 shows America as
consisting of Florida mostly, while
| Virginia occupies the rest of the con-
tinent almost exclusively. One of Eng
land in the time Of Queen Elizabeth
and made by Saxton Is shown in a
fine state OF preservation.
or revolutionary maps there are
several dozen, representing different
states or the location or troops at q
| particular time. To this period be-
longs most interesting relic of Wash
1ngton, which is a survey of one Of his
own farms, every field being accurate
LILY drawn to scale and the number of
acres 1t contained written clearly at
the top.
The freak maps attract the most at.
tention from the visitor They are
ranged in case containing about ten
queer specimens OF the map-making
art, and all are modern. Perhaps the
most ludicrous of these is a drawing
representing "All the World Watch.
ing,' showing the outlines of all the
nations fashioned into faces, but the
characteristic of each country shows
in Its countenance, and the correct
geographical lines are given. Brazil.
the United States, England, Spain,
Portugal, Norway and Sweden are 80
drawn that their ocean line forms a
human face, with the eyes watching
sharply.