The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-07-12

and Heidelberg: in Germany he hunted,
hshed and studied in the Black Forest
and specialized in zoology. For five years
ne was connected with the New Jersey
Fish and Game Commission, and his first
service In the national government was
as deputy commissioner of the Bureau
or Fisheries. 1t was while he was deputy
commissioner that he was sent to Alaska
10 investigate the seal and fish indus
| tries, and the report he submitted was
not only proof of his tireless, unfiaggin.;
energy as workman, but what Secre-
tary Redfeld pronounced "a rema rkable
document"
Good Alaskan Pictures.
Nothing in Alaska escaped DR.. Jones'
| camera or moving picture machine and
the long. wonderful daylight found him
| working over his report and developing
his pictures at midnight. quite forgetting
| that he was converting eighteen and
| twenty hours Of light into a working
day"
The Report of Alaska Investigations.
copy OF which was sent to every MEM
| Der of Congress, reads like an interest
Ing bit of narrative. illustrated with pic
| lures which are unique in presenting con-
dltions with comprehensive vividness. 1t
appealed to Senators and Representa-
ives as no other report of its kind has
| ever done. because of its directness and
utter lack of statistics and dreary col
umns Of computations.
The photographs told more than fig
ufes, and the absence of all scientific
terms words rarely found in the politi-
cal vocabulary. made 1t not only the re-
markable document that Secretary Red
field found 1t. but historical.
One of the things that impressed me
most while I was in Alaska" DR.. Jones
recalled. was the lack of protection for
her waters. 1t is such a ragged coast.
its waterways treacherous-and I began
collecting photographs of wrecks. Here
are some of them
1t Is Gruesome collection those pic
lures of the destruction of both fishing
and passenger vessels in Alaskan waters,
ana Dr. Jones made point among other
general needs of Alaska to suggest bet
ter charting and lighing of the coast
When DR.. Jones was talking about the
devotion of the men IN the Coast and
Geodetic Survey to their work and the
hardships they are glad to endure for
the sake Of its hold upon their Drawn
and brain. one wondered II any one of
them could possibly be more devoted to
the science than the superintendent him
self
Work Is Thrilling.
II Is llIlpOSSlDle TO Ialh ABOUT tne
survey at all he laughed. unless one
has a very long time at his disposal.
there is SO much that is thrilling and
interesting. SO much that makes out of
this applied science something more Won
derful than romance"
There We're some of the charts made
by the survey open up on the superin |
tendent's desk and one looked at them
with a feeling Of awe. deepened by a !
new realization of all they meant. The |
map of New York Harbor, for in
stance. with almost every bit OF space |
marked with the fathoms, every pier |
drawn. the clear channel traced-not the |
least thing. real or anticipated. was out
of the picture, and it all looked like the
most complicated, intricate and scientific
of compositions, and it was. Yet. re-
duced TO DR.. Jones simple translation
of the science, the mariner read, You
can go here and there-it is safe; avoid
this and that-they are dangerous"
The survey has never been adequately
housed. and as its scope widens year by
year. the offices become less and less
adaptable. The red brick building in
which the superintendent has his Office
was originally designed for a hotel. cut
up into small rooms and with many more
levels than it Is stories high. 1t is not
freproof, and its walls have been re-en-
forced to comply with the building resu-
ations of the District. The part OF the
department with quarters in the adjoin-
ng Butler house, built by Benjamin But
Ter years ago as ''palatial residence"
has more substantial offices. but quite as
in arrangement.
Indeed. in the surroundings of the sur
vey, the only visible modern note seemed
to be the presence OF the superintendent
himself. the young. slender. athletic
keen-eyed scientist