Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-05-31
Exploring
Expeditions.

counts of the daring
| EXPLOITING explorers who discov
r1.L cred the north anG
NAPeoAsioAs' south poles few Of
| them realized that at the same time ar
| expedition almost equally dramatic anc
perhaps quite as dangerous was being
successfully carried out on the NORTH
American continent. This time 1t was g
government commission. or rather two
government commissions. representing the
| United States and Great Britain. and
such commissions do not carry with them
brass bands. war correspondents or press
agents.
The commissions, under the direction
of 0. H. Tittman. superintendent of the
United States coast and geodetic survey
and DR.. F.W. King Dominion astronomer
for Canada. after several years arduous
work. have about completed the field work
of delimiting the boundary between Alas
ka and Canada. The expedition began its
task of marking the boundary line fol
lowing the famous London tribunal OF
1913, and the latter treaty of 1906, and
has kept at 1t unremittingly since
The work began at Cape Muzon, at the
southern extremity of Prince of Wales
Island. in southeastern Alaska, along the
ilne of the Portland canal: thence follow
tains paralleling the southeastern coas,
OF Alaska to Mount St. Elias and north
along the 141st meridian of west longi-
tude to the Arctic ocean. a total distance
of 1854 miles,
1t was the duty of the members of the
commission to mark clearly the boundary
line with monuments, opening a clear
vista from monument to monument
through any timber that might be in the
way. Along the 141st meridian the
monuments are three miles apart. At
the more important or conspicuous
points a pyramidal monument of alumni
mum bronze five feet high and weighing
800 pounds was placed. In traversing
the 1.5S4 miles the party encountered
all the difficulties and dangers to be
Altogether six men gave their lives to
the task One man persisted when a
snow cornice on which he was standing
broke off and dropped him 1,500 feet.
Two others were swept into the Pacific
ocean by a rock and timber slide. and
by hardship and overexertion in the
field
In this work 1t was necessary to climb
the highest of mountains as well as to
Canadians reached the top of Mount
Natazhat, elevation 1900 feet. and a
Joint American and Canadian party sue
ceeded in getting within 1000 feet Of the
top of Mount St. Elias, 1900 feet high.
There was straight going from this point
and the complete ascent would have
been easy, but four-day snowstorm so
depleted the supplies of the party that
the members were forced to retreat. DIT.
Tittman gives the members of the party
the highest commentator for their dis
play of ability and courage in this climb.
nno Nv
glaciers. were roped together every day
for month. and had it not been FOR
this precautiop a number would have
lost their lives. for there were several
serious falls Many people Will be IN
terested to recall that the first man to
make the complete ascent of Mount St
Elias was the Duke of Abruzzi. who
triumphed in 1906. with q party OF the
most expert assistants and trained AL
pine mountain climbers brought from
Switzerland
The question of transportation of sup
plies was the big problem. but it fur
nished a number of delightful surprises
From White river to the Arctic ocean
it was possible to use horses. The ma
tives told the members Of the survey
that they could not trust to the northern
country for food for the horses, but on
the Arctic coast there was found sufti-
cient to keep more than fifty horses IN
good condition. The natives on the Arctic
coast have no word in their language
for horse and consequently called the
horses big dogs" They were surprised
at the big loads the horses could carry
and were disappointed when the horses
would not eat fish like their dogs do
In one of the trips the survey used a
steamer. and when it approached a
northern village one day last year the
whistle was blown. Three hundred dogs
that had gathered to greet the party
bolted at the sound of the whistle and
it is said they haven't been seen since.
The United States public health service
is about to start upon a campaign
of sanitary education
Sanitary which will seek as Its
ultimate object the
Cuu'aIioA' eradication of one of
the most important sources of epidemlcs
in the United States-the pollution of
rivers and lakes by the dumping of
sewage into them.
Some time ago this service began a
study of stream pollution. Now this is
to be followed up by a general investi-
cation of the sewage-treatment problem.
Coming at time when the pollution of
the great lakes along the boundary line
between the United States and Canada is
under investigation by the international
Joint commission, whose expert, Dr. Allan
j. Mclaughlin, is also an officer of the
public health service, the action of the
service is deemed significant, for 1t is the
latest manifestation of federal interest
in the subject of sewage treatment as
distinguished from the sanitary survey
of waterways. The earlier work has been
largely in the nature of diagnosis, al
though the United States geological sur
yey has published several water supply
papers treating of sewage-disposal meth
DDS The new studies deal with the cure.
Prof. Earle B. Phelps of New York has
been engaged to have charge of this new
work, which will be in two separate SUBJ
divisions. The first subdivision will in
cIude the design of works for the treat
ment of domestic sewage. with particular
reference to plants for dwellings, hotels,
institutions and very small communities.
and will be in charge of Leslie c. Frank.
The second subdivision, which will deal
entirely with the matter Of trade wastes,
will be in charge of H. B. Hommon. who
carried out the recent sewage treatment
studies at Akron and Cleveland. Ohio.
One of the purposes of this work will be
to bring the smaller towns, with limited
financial means, to a realization Of the
sanitary problems which they must
eventually face.
When the engineers of the United
States bureau of mines several years ago
announced that unless
Eoonoru less IVA stef,,l Methods were