South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1917-07-22
TOPOGRAP HIC MAP
A VALUABLE AID
Its Importance in War and
Commerce Now Well
Established.


battles OF the civil war would never
have been fought had there been
Topographic maps, for IL those in
command could have studied a
! Topographic map of the country
| about them they would never have
subjected their men 10 such march,
e. as were made and then have ex-
I pected the men 10 fight. But topos-
raphy in its general sense and AS Il
is shown today on the maps made
I by the United states geological sur
/ vey of the interior department We 5
J little known in the sixties. The
! engineer corps OF the army was
highly efficient, but the topographic
Z American army until August o,
/ 1861, when an act Of congress au-
| thorized the enlistment of one COM
/ pany Of topographic engineers. This
company was afterward merged in
\ 20 the corps of engineers.
/ Today within the wide boundaries
7 of our country, which embraces
more than three million square
miles. there are a hundred million
people They live on farms. in viii
/ lagos, and in towns and cities Their
I dwelling places NAV he separated
by broad rivers and rugged noun
tains, but the use of the topographic
! map is gradually knitting them sys-
! tematically together, and at any
4 time that this widespread popula-
/ ton may be required 10 move in
( concerted action for "A common
cause the typographical map will
/ give the leaders a comprehensive
view of its geographic relations, so
that the problem of moving can be
I solved more quickly aud with good
judgment. The topographic map,
! like the telephone and the type
writer, has become a necessity, and
we wonder now how we have ever
done without il.
Value of the Maps.
The man in the street" may have
thought little of the value Of the
work Of the topographic engineer,
and do him and others who have
not conside ed the importance Of
that work some illustrations of its
value might be interesting.
a well-known author soldier. and
topographic engineer found the
topographic maps OF the geological
survey indispensable in every
/ branch OF his work. BY studying a
/ country before goins into il he he
came so familiar with the details
OF many interesting features of
which the natives had never heard
that his stories acquired a realism
fr,fr IN,
to them had he dwelt in the country
a lifetime.
A party OF OhioanS who expected
to make a winter trip by automobile
TO California consulted the top
+ ographic maps of the survey and
/ planned their itinerary for the trip
with The most satisfactory and eco
/ nomical results. Realizing from the
maps that they would travel at high
attitudes and would consequently
/ encounter low temperatures. they
made detailed provision TO meet
every emergency. They selected
roads that followed the longest lev
els. thereby saving trouble" and
gasoline, not 20 mention racking de-
lays.
Again. the topographic map was
consulted by a New York business
man who wanted to hunt bear and
/ biz game in the wilds OF New
/ Mexico, and who thus arranged MS
plans. with the aid Of some CORE
spondence. at distance OF over
600 miles. The arrangements in
Guided even the details Of the eN
pense fer the necessary pack train
for transporting his party and sup
plies into A country where the near
est postmaster TO some points is 40
miles distant
FOresters Use Maps.
The forester depends on the gov
/ erhment topographic map 10 find
] trails whereby his fire guards"
may reach their "lookouts" in the
I season when lightning sets fire 10
the highly inhammable pines ana
causes immense monetary losses &C
the government With the map al.
so he lays out his telephone lines
and draws his permits for leases u
the cattlemen.
A lumberman OF New Mexico
saved several hundred dollars rs
purchasing a 1O-Cent map of the
I country in his vicinity and using =.
10 check up the areas he held under
lease The copper miner and the
owner OF turquoise mine made
fresh discoveries by studying a 10
cent topographic map issued by the
4 geological survey.
The war department saved much
time and expense by using a survey
map when those IN charge Of 2
government hospital for tubercu-
/ losis in the southwest desired 10 en-
large the water supply. The use Of
the detailed typographical map was
absolutely necessary in determ!ning
the limits OF the drainage area. in
deciding what properties 10 pur-
chase IN order 20 include the best
and strongest SPRINGS, and IN locat-
ing sites for dams and reservoirs
/ This work. done by a trained top
cgrapher with the methods now
/ employed by the gcological survey.
/ reduced the cos very materially.
/ Fifteen cents spent by a reclama-
+ ton engineer in 1sO9-1O in connec-
ton with a private engineering pro
/ Jet saved his company $4,000 and