The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-12
Young Man Heads Oldest
U.S.. Scientific Department
Dr. E. Lester Jones' Superintendent of Coast Geodett
Surrey, Is Only SO Years OH-Commands
Force of 700.

One Of the youngest officials Of the
Wilson administration is at the head of
the oldest scientific department of the
than three months ago. was not the re-
suit of luck. accident or political infiu-
ence. but the recognition OF remarkable
qualifications which fitted him for the
position. says Mime. On Dit in the New
York Morning Telegraph.
/ 1t was on the 18th OF April, the day
| following his thrty-ninth birthday, that
DR.. f. Lester Jones became superintend-
| ent of the Coast and Geodetic Survey
| the service which. according to Secretary
/, Redfield, deals first with humanity and
| second with commerce"
| Whereas geodesy is that branch Of ap-
| piled mathematics which Investigates
| the figures and areas of large portions of
the earth's surface. the exact determine
lions of geographical positions and the
| azimuths of directions" and much more
| to that effect. in the dictionary. Dr..
, Jones arrives at the same conclusion by
| a simpler and more direct answer.
when some one asks me What Is
| geodesy? I say, It's the exact geographic
cal location of your town. of your farm.
| surveyed by triangulation. Once the alb
solutely accurate points are given your
| local surveyor, there Is no mistake"
"Triangulation?"
Yes" DIR. Jones courteously took the
| word to pieces for the uninitiated. THE
trigonometrical proposition, you know.
that If one side and the angles Of a tri-
angle are known, the remaining sides can
be computed"
Protection to Navigation.
DR.. Jones' explanation of the service
of the Coast Survey was even more sim
pie than that OF the Geodetic.
1T protects navigation" he said. at is
just as though a mother said to her
child, You may so to such a place. along
what our charts do
That is not difficult to understand"
one commented.
IT believe that all science can be trans
lated into language perfectly clear to
the lay mind" DR.. Jones exclaimed land
that it becomes necessary to speak In
that language when a great national sci
entific service like this is to be UNDER
stood and appreciated in all its signifi-
canoe"
1t was President Thomas Jefferson
who authorized the organization Of a
national Coast Survey. as a bureau OF
the government under the Secretary Of
the Treasury. The first head Of the
service was Ferdinand Rudolph Has
Sler, SWISS, whose portrait HdHSS
over the mantel in DR.. Jones office.
1t is one OF the most striking of the
hundreds of official portraits in the
department buildings Of the govern
ment-that of the man who went to
Europe in 1911 to arrange for the nee
essary instruments and standard for |
the first work of the national Geo
detic Survey.
1t was not until 1871 that the scope |
of the bureau was extended. 1t then |
became known as the Coast and Geo
detic Survey: and was transferred from
the Treasury to the Department of
Commerce and Labor. when that
branch of the government was estab-
lished twelve years ago. Today. II is
one of the divisions of the Depart
ment of Commerce.
Not only is DR.. Jones a scientist who
engages in the Coast and Geodetic
Survey, but his science is an obses-
sion-a passion.
Men Devoted to Work.
There is a devotion to this work."
DR.. Jones observed. (which is little
less than wonderful. Here are men of
broad education, of culture, of in
auence, who are content to work here,
year in and year out. small
salary. while other men in their classes
are out commanding large incomes as
civil engineers. I've asked some Of
hem about II and invariably they tell
ne they love it-that's what they say.
love it, This particular science has
become a part of their life. which
they can't set aside or change"
How many are there in the sur
rey?"
About 700-that means every one
hose employed here in the department.
and those out in the field. There is
!, fleet of seven steamers. three large
aunches and a number of smaller
ones Four vessels used by the sur
rey in the Philippines are loaned by
the Philippine government.
Perhaps no one in the survey, no mat
Ter how long he has been in the service,
has spent more of his life in the open
han has DR.. Jones. Indeed. it would
'eem. that by environment. training, ed
lcation and temperament, he had been
qualifying for the SUPPLEMENTARY of the
coast and Geodetic Survey all Of his life. /,
He was born in Orange, n. j., and as
small boy was the companion of his
ather, himself scientist and a student
II nature.
Or. Jones was educated at Princeton