The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-25

many people coma 70 my doog and
read the sign, 1laDs end ChaFts.
and turn away" p. L. phillipe.
chief OF the map division q the
library Of congress made this re-
mark, and he made Il rather sadly.
There d as,mnch a The pietnreeans
In Mr.. Phillips division ~ in any
part Of the great library. But the
public thinks Of Q map ~ . dull,
abstract outline Of . country. 30,
more often than not, visitors pass
BY and miss seeing the map with
the picture OF the one-legged man
holding his foot over him like IN
umbrella.
This attractive novelty IL Just In
side the door. It 10 possible that II
he were outside, below the sign
Maps and Charts" the one-legged
gentleman might stimulate the
public imagination and Mr.. Phil
lips would be swamped with visi-
tors. But side-show Advertising il
beneath governmental digs.ty. Mr..
Phillips has gone a. far a. this
dignity permits when be placed .
swinging rack of old 18th centary
maps just inside his door.
The one-legged gentleman 10 in
this collection Of valuable old vel
lum charts. He IL sitting blissfully
in the shade Of his huge foot In
Ethiopia. region about which very
little was known when the map was
drawn. In another Of these maps
a man with . neck like q camel is
set down somewhere in northern
Europe.
These freak humans were not put
there in any spirit of levity. The
map makers of the 18th century
depended on explorers and travel
ers for information about distant
countries Just as map makers dc
today. Sometimes they were de.
ceived. Travellers exaggerated OF
reported weird traditions - facts
Sir John Vaudeville, famous tray
elef Of the 18th century. il respon-
sible for the one-legged man. Mr.
Phillips points out that Mande-
ville's book of travels contains the
same picture that the map maker
used couple Of centuries later.
Vaudeville added q description tc
his picture, written In the quaint
old English Of his time:
Quaint Old English.
I'm Ethiope ben many diverse
folk: and Ethiope is clept (calied)
Gusts. In that Contres ben foil
that han but foot: and thei gor
SO fast that it Is a marvaylle: and
the foot is 50 large that 1t schadev.
ethe allie the Body axen the Some
whanne thei wole lye and rests
| hem"
The man with the long, curvet
neck is another concoction of some
explorer. He adorns a 1859 sailinf
chart of the coast lines OF tn,
world. The map makers of tina,
time often decorated their worl
with pictures OF this sort, shoWins
the natural exhibits and interest
ing features of the different coun.
tries. This chart shows an excel.
| lently drawn elephant, q camel
deer, unicorn, and other animals In
Africa. for instance, and In Europe
the principal cities are marked b,
their coats Of arms and q tiny view
of the city over the shield. Each
Of these views is no larger than q
25-cent piece. Yet the towers and
battlements Of Zach city are dis.
tinctive. The different countrie.
are marked by pictures Of the rul,
ers sitting on canopied thrones
The apparel of the kings and the
colors and style in which they are
drawn are strongly suggestive o.
1.-THE royalty on q modern deck Of
PLAYING cards.
This was a map Of 1853, 4 more
colorful and fanciful af1air. than ouI
current maps with their dots fol
cities and wavy lines for noun
tains. Yet this map is scarcely con.
sidered old By chartography ex.
perts. A map made after 1850 is
comparatively modern. This IL log,
ical when you consider that the
Romans made charts In planning
their roads. and that recofdA o,
maps go back several centuries be-
fore Christ. Some Of the most In
teresting mars in the library o.
congress, to Americans at least
] are not old b, this standard.
A rare and unique map Of thi