The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-05-19
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
INFORM A TON
Blu RE AU
FREDERIC J. HAsKIN. DireeesR.
Washington. .. C
INCHARTED SEAS.
Washington. .. C

ONShAh1ED StASs
Washington. D. c., May ia
coastwise steamer was nosing her way
thru a heavy fog off the coast of Cali
fornia. The fog was thick as wool,
and about the same color. 1t was
impossible to make a dead reckoning
of the ships position by sun or stars,
for neither was visible. Neither could
the vessel be located by landmarks,
while the lightship off the dangerous
Cape Mendocino, which the captain
knew must be somewhere near, was
also completely obscured.
In such situation a navigator may
often determine his position by taking
account of his speed, as shown by the
log, his direction, and the length of
time he has been travelling; but in this
case such a calculation was rendered
inaccurate by the fact that the vessel
was in one of those mysterious. irreg-
ular currents which move up and
down the Pacific coast, and which had
caused her speed to exceed that reg
istered by the log.
There was still one other way the
resourceful captain might find out
where he was-by taking soundings,
and comparing the depths with those
shown on the government chart of
these waters. This was being done,
but not with very gratifying results,
for the government chart was far
from perfect.
Finally, however, the lead struck a
hole so deep that bottom could not be
reached. The chart showed such a
hole, or submarine valley, just-beyond
Cape Mendocino, and it did not show
another such depression anywhere in
that part of the sea. Therefore, the
captain felt sure that he had passed
the long shoal which projects out
from the cape, and he headed west
ward, following. as he supposed, the
bend of the coastline. Within a few
hours his vessel was hard aground on
the very point of the cape, with a
heavy sea pounding her to pieces. Six
members of the crew were drowned
trying to go ashore in the boats. and
the vessel, worth a million dollars,
was total loss.
This wreck, which happened not
long ago, is described in detail pc
cause its illustrates, so that the lay
man may understand, how lives and
property are endangered in uncharted
coastal waters.
The vessel. by its soundings, dis
covered the fact that there are two
deep submarine valleys in the vicinity
of Cape Mendocino, one north and
one south of it. But only the one to
the south had been found and char
tered by the coast and geodetic sur
vey. Therefore. the captain was mis-
leu lhNO bGIISNlHe liidl pdSSNO
the cape, when as a matter of fact he
was directly off its dangerous shoals.
Perhaps he should have continued
soundinSs and thus discovered his
mistake. but the fact remains that if
the chart had been complete, the
wreck would not have occurred.
The United states is just now en-
barking upon great career as a
maritime nation. 1t is spending bill
lions for ships and bidding for men
to enter the merchant marine.
One of the first duties of every
maritime nation is to furnish mariners
with such data as will enable them to
navigate the waters under its jurisdic-
ton with the greatest possible safety
This obligation has not been dis
charged by the United States. Many
lives and property worth millions of
dollars are lost annually because the
task of charting the coastal waters of
the United States and its possessions
has never been completed.
Now that the war is over, the fin
ishing of this job is one of the most
pressing necessities which the nation
faces, and one which is little under
stood by the majority of Americans.
If the United States had been before
the war a maritime nation. this con-
dition of our coastal waters would
probably be regarded as a national
scandal But the average American
having been always an inlander who
never saw or used boats, owned no
stock in boats, and had no friends or
relatives working on boats, Goes not
care a whoop whether the pinnacle
rocks in Alaskan waters are mapped
or not, and the variable current off
the mouth of the Columbia river is
nothing to him. He does not even
appreciate the significance Of the fact
that New York harbor is filling up in
spots, and that over two hundred
changes have to be made in the chart
of that harbor every year to keep it
up to date.
But with millions OF the public
money tied up in ships and with
Americans going into the merchant
marine every day, this indifference
should come to an end The officials
of the coast and geodetic survey sin
cerely hope that it will. This little
known department of the government
has been pegging away for 1913 years
at the tremendous job of mapping
out coastal waters. 1t has never had
enough money. enough ships or
enough men. Its examinations are
the hardest to pass of all those Of
fered by the civil service. Its officers
must be capable navigators and ship
masters, business men, and scientists
of the most elaborate technical train
ing. They get small salaries. The
survey mas never hao waiting list.
Furthermore, it is hard to convince
a congressman from the corn-belt
that the survey of the Pacific coast
waters should be carried out to the
one-thousand fathom line, and it is
still harder to make him understand
the principles of photography. This
congressional. obtuseness, combined
with the fact that there has been no
widespread public understanding of
the situation, has made it possible for
the United States to neglect one OF
its most obvious duties as a civilized
nation and to permit the continued
loss of lives and millions which might
be saved.
Just before we entered the war the
coast and geodetic survey celebrated
it's one hundredth anniversary. and
went thru some other motions design
ed to attract public attention to itself
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