The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1913-11-25

high peak northwest of orange court
house was che starting point. and that
from here IL was possible TO see "A
distant peak in the north mountain
range over the top Of the intervening
Massanutten mountain
WASHINGTON, OF course, used a sim
pie compass, and his line could not
he expected To check absolutely with
that obtained 10y the government sur
Neyors vino have retraced his survey.
using high power transts and all the
refined and accurate methods which
modern instruments allow. Neverthc-
less, the line was run SO carefully in
the first place that but little variation
has been found i'm IL. Even without
Instruments it is possible To distin-
guish the course of the line with sur
prIsing distinctncss From the top of
Middle mountain i'm the Massanuttcn
range, the Shenandoah Rockingham
cor fairfaN, line can Ice readily follow
cd 10y means OF the boundary fences
dating from earliest days, and 10y the
blocks ot timber alternately cleared
away or lcrt standing. which come up
from either county and stop at the
line, like squares i'm a ChcckCrboard.
Then IL one turns to the southeast the
same domarkations are plain across
the valley If the south fork of the
shenandoah, cutting straight through
the pg,Svut PAGE county which is
made ut land formerly i'm Shenandoah
county. belonging To the Fairfax grant,
and partly from land formerly i'm
Buckingham Thus. as far as the eye
can Sc" IN either direction, this old
line shows plainly
The Washington compass. now lo hc
seen a; tho 4. :. national Museum i'm
the city named for its owner, Is pre-
stunned to Ice the same one used in
ruuuus this line more than 100 years
ago.
Washington's Survey Marks.
The Fairfax stone stands rs a per
maneut monument I'm addition, there
are, throughout that section of thu
country, various other records of these
Washington surveys. For example, "a
large white oak which stands at the
corner of farm about li2 miles from
Lost city. Hardy county, W. Va, was,
accordmg to a persistent story of that
section Of the country. marked by
Washington
Survey blaHcs cut into trees, and
since grown over. have been cut away,
and a count OF the annual layers of
growth over the old wounds show
them to have been made at the time
Washington was survey ms, ono
strange ching about these blazes is
tina: they are several feet higher than
those put on trees 10y woodsmen of
today This fact has given rise To e.
sort of superstition that Washing
ton, known To have been very tall,
was actually "A giant. other authori-
ties have said that WASHINGTON did
much Of his work on horseback, and
made his blazes with u long handled
aX from the saddle.
The town of Whitcpost, Clark coun-
~, Va. takes its name from a post
presumed To have been set 10y Wash
ngton as one of his survey marks.
The post formerly exposed, is now
covered by a protecting case which
shelters i, from the weather ana from
the dcspoiline hand OF the vandal
tourist
Why the Line is Retraced,
The reason that this old Washing
ton survey Hnc is being rctraccd is
because the federal government is
purchasing the lands in this neigh
borhood, IN connection with the new
Appalachian forests which are being
acquired at the hoadwaters of naviga-
bic streams, under the terms of the
Weeks law. designed to protect these
watersheds from the evils of dolor-
cstation, rho government requires a
clear title before the land can be paid
FOR In making sure Of the titles it is
necessary, i'm many cases, 10 90 back
to original royal grants, or To colonial
records, and to have recourse to re-
surveys before the facts of ownership
can Ice indisputably established