The Washington herald., 1915-08-28
By DIR. LESTER f. JONES.

A full and complete knowledge o
the coast. its nature and form, thu
character of the adjacent sea bot
tom, the positions of reefs, shoal:
and any other dangers to navigation
the rise and fall of the tides, the di-
rection and strength of the currents
and the character and amount of mag
netic disturbance, are of the great
est practical value and a real neces'
sity to all those nations whose lands
touch the sea or who have any in
terest in it's commerce. To supply
this very needful knowledge the gov
ernments of the principal maritime
nations must and do make surveys
of their coasts by the most exact
methods.
Some idea of the Importance to this
country of surveys of its coasts may
be formed when we recall TO mind
that the coast line of the United
States and Alaska, measured along its
general trend. exceeds 1850 miles in
length. and along which a vast COM
merce is being carried on. To rep
resent the actual shore line which
must be surveyed and which includes
all the islands, bays. sounds, ana
rivers in the tidal belt, these figures
reach the large total Of 81 600 miles;
and to this must be added the shore
line of Porto Rico, Guam, Tutuila. the
Hawaiian, and the Philippine Islands,
the detailed coast line of which adds
more than 1000 statute miles more.
The Coast Survey Csince 1873. the
Coast and Geodetic Survey dates its
origin from an act of Congress pass
ed in 1907. during the presidency of
Thomas Jefferson, authorizing and re-
questin2 the President of the United
States TO cause survey to be taken
of the coasts OF the United States and
to undertake such matters in connec-
tion Herewith as he may deem proper
for completing an accurate chart of
every part of the coasts thereof"
Coast Survey Commences.
At that early period of our national
life the necessity for an accurate
charting OF our coasts was clearly
recognized. though no very definite
idea was held of how Il work on so
large a scale should be carried out.
In March. 1907. Mr.. GaIlatin. then
Secretary of the Treasury, issued a
circular letter asking for the sub
mission of plans for the carrying out
of the survey of the coasts that should
unite correctness and practicability, |
and outlining in general terms the
view held by the government as to |
hat was desired TO be accomplished |
The plan submitted by Mr.. F. r.
Hassler of Philadelphia, in response
to Mr.. Gallatins request, was accept |,
ed. and he was employed to take
charge of the survey Of the coasts of
the United States
Because of the external relations of
the country it was impracticable to
take any steps toward putting the
plan into action until 1911. and even
then. before the work could proceed
ii was necessary to secure instru-
were not to be had in this country it
was necessary for Mr.. Hsssler to go
20 Europe England, France and Ger
many for them. and where he re-
mained for about four years supervis-
ing their construction and testing and
ant of these instruments were made
after new designs drawn up by Mr..
Iassler In accordance with Mr.. GAL
Htin's directions the equipment of !
was made TO include those I
lecessary for the determination of
,oundary lines. 1t is of interest TO
r"te that the plan for the survey orig :
nally laid down by Mr.. Hassler has I
,een essentially followed ever since. l
md that no such plan had ever been
PREVIOUSLY carried out by any coun- ,
ry. II
Many Lines of Work.
The chief work Of the Coast and e
ieodetic Survey is the making of nav
Eational charts of the United States
nd the outlying territory under their I,
The field, or surveying il
york necessary to the making of nav S
gational charts is in seven different
mes. which given in their logical or ],
er are as follows:
l-Triaugulation, which includes a
Ase measurements. by means OF a
'hich distances between points be- n
ONE known. c
@-AstronomiSal observations. which 3
etermine the directions of the meas -
red lines, and the locations Of points I,
n the earth's surface which are le
ade known by the astronomical de- q
of their distance from the h.
luator Uhe latitude) and from a ri
rime or reference meridian the III
'ngitude) which for all navigational VI
larts is now the meridian of Green =,
ich.
3-Leveling, by means of which the
evations OF places throughout the n,
,untry with reference 20 mean sea ss
vel are made known. -
Tidal observations. for ascertain =,
g mean sea level. from which ele-
atoms are reckoned. and for pre- m
citing the rise and fall OF the tide 81
r the use of the navigator. the engi- ~
Ter and others; also for the reduc- II,
On NJ ,,ala