Evening star., 1915-06-13
WHAT THE GOVERNMENT Is DOING

originals Of the maps are drawn on
the ground after careful measure
ments. Estimates and guesswork,
which play prominent parts in most
map-makine, are not entering into
Uncle Sans big undertaking in the
slightest degree.
Because the area being mapped is so
great-approximately 100000 square
of "quadrangles," the areas between
meridians of longitude and parallels
of latitude. The scales vary from one
to four miles to the inch, depending on
thickly settled. or is mountain or
desert wilderness. If the map of the
United States, on completion, were
printed as a unit on a one-inch scale,
1t would cover nearly an acre OF paper.
People unfamiliar with the workings
of the many-cogged machine that Is
known as the govern
"Bled" Pine ment of the United
MI, States would hardly
AAnioei. suspect that activities
of the forest service have a close bear
ing on any of the work of the War De-
partment. Such Is the case, however.
and it Is shown by a recent order radi-
cally changing the War Departments
engineering specifications following
experiments at the forest products lab
oratory maintained by the forest serv-
ice in Wisconsin.
The War Department. despite the fact
that in its principal aspect it Is a de-
stroyer, is also a builder and in con-
struction work at its numerous army
posts and barracks scattered over the
country consumes thousands of feet of
timber annually. In the past its speci-
yellow pine timber made from trees
that have been "bled" for turpentine.
In the future, however. "bled" pine
timber will stand on an equal footing
from trees which have never had their
sap drawn off.
More than 1000 tests of 'bled" and
'unbled' timber were made by the for
est service. The results were rather
surprising. They showed that In all
cases "bled' timber is as desirable as
the "unbled" sort, and that in many
cases the type that had been carefully
excluded from use by the specifications
actually had the greater specific grav-
and crushing forces. 1t is believed that
the work Of the governments timber
experts. aside from its effect on the
War Department, will result in great
sayings n to the timber industry ~.
oratory. through a study of designs for
pick and other tool handles, brought
about the radical alteration OF speci-
1cations in use and effected large saw
ings also in that field. This was done
dies of woods not before considered
desirable, and by economizing material
through the adoption Of scientifically
designed shapes and proportions. The
time by the authorities of the Panama
cana1-then the governments greatest
consumer of tool handles-and have
since been taken up by the Navy. War
and other departments.
X X
Uncle Sam is the sworn enemy of
tacks humans, animals
Diseases OF or plants, and a large
u.4..e.n, part Of his activities
various maladies that appear in the
country. One Of the most recent and
for time one of the most baff1ing
jobs of this sort that have been under
taken by government specialists In
volved the unraveling Of the mystery
death Of vast numbers Of wild ducks
and other waterfowl in certain parts
of the west in recent years. After
several years of investigation by the
biological survey the cause of the
trouble seems to have been found and
the government experts are now work. |
ing out plans for remedying condi- |
tions.
The center of the trouble has been
around Great Salt lake in Utah, though
thousands Of ducks have died also in
other lake regions in Utah, Nevada
and California. In the marshes near
Great Salt lake. which are breeding
grounds for some ducks and resting
birds have perished by hundreds of
thousands In the last few years. The |
situation has been 30 serious that when |
it was thought the deaths were due
to contagious disease there was
even fear that the determination of
the western wild duck might not be
|
Though hunters of the Salt Lake |
say that sick ducks were found |
in small numbers in the marshes as |
affected in sufficient numbers to at |
tract general attention until 1908. In |
1910 conditions reached their worst, |
and on the ground in many places dead |
The great duck-shooting clubs of Salt |
Lake City and Ogden became alarmed |
and called on the federal government |
for assistance. The biological survey !
began'a preliminary examination Of
conditions in 1918 and during the past |
year has made careful Investigations.
When the government experts took /
up the problem there were many theo-
ries as to the nature Of the malady. The
generally accepted opinion was that
the ducks suffered from contagious
disease caused by a germ or a pari-
site worm. Other theories were that
the birds were infected with typhoid
from sewage or were poisoned by
teachings from smelter waste or by
liquors from beet sugar factories. The |
of the biological survey
have pretty conclusively proved that |
all these theories are wrong and have
become convinced that the trouble is
from poisoning by alkaline substances
in the water.
AS long as these substances were
well diluted. 1t is pointed out. there
was little trouble. In recent years.
however. irrigation has increased, the
water supplied in the summer to
marshes and pools has de-
creased. and at the same time more
alkali has been leached from the irri-
gated land into the streams The NAL
ady Is thus shown to be a sort Of by
the alkali country.
The Investigators are still working
on the problem of how to remedy con-
ditions. but have reached some con-
clusions. They suggest that where
practicable the gun clubs and others
and marshes so that the ducks will
frequent the fresher streams and that
II possible arrangements should be
made with the irrigation companies for
the passage of additional water during
crucial periods. The Investigations
are gathered up and given fresh water
a large percentage of them will re-
cover. 1t is suggested that the clubs
could employ men to do this work at
slight expense.
It has been proved that birds recov-
a In thnfN