Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-03-08

levels, this veteran and exact Govern
ment survey gives TO all bureaus of
the Government-the Army, Navy. In
terror Department, Department of
Agriculture-and other interests out
side Of the Government, the abso-
lutely essential fundamentals on which
all accurate development of the coun-
try depends.
The Coast and Geodetic Survey
does the pioneer work of the coun-
try--at sea as well as on land. Its
men, who are at once engineers and
navigators, do So per cent of their
work at sea, and are the best com
bination along these lines in the
world, because when they start their
Investigations they have no charts
to guide them, and they must be
everlastingly correct to the last ten
thousahdth of an inch. That is
their sacred creed, because the lives
of all men who go down to the sea
In ships, depend upon their accuracy.
They plot the everchanging roads
of the sea with pen and ink; they
measure the strength of the oceans
current with minute mathematical
exactness; they comb the ocean for
pinnacles of rocky mountains and To-
cate them, so that the mariner who
follows may not pile his ship upon
them.
Within the last three years earth
Quakes have been felt In IS States
and in Canada near the border; both
under the sea off the coast of Oregon
and in Porto Rico, Hawaiian Islands,
the Philippines and Alaska. Some OF
these caused more or less local dam
age. In these same regions during
historic times there have been at
least eight major earthquakes which
ia 40 loss
of life. Earthquake study is there
fore important to the country as
whole and this Federal survey is
cooperating with other Government
departments and the Carnegie lnsu-
tuition of Washington in concerted
attack upon this problem.
Survey Alaskan Waters
Again, one of the greatest tasks
which confronts the survey is COM
pletion of the survey of Alaskan wa
ters Alaska may be considered as
the last American frontier, and as II
is not Connected by railroad with the
continental United States il is en-
tirely dependent upon water-borne
transportation for its development
1t is known that Alaska is extremely
rich in It's vast and varied amount
of natural resources, which includes
such much needed products as cruue
oil. coal, timber for paper pulp, mar
BILE, lumber and enormous quantities
of food fish. The greater part of Alas
kan waters still remains unsurveyed.
The history of Alaska has been a
calamity Of sunken vessels-literslly
by the score big ships were lost, with
great sacrifice of life. Under Col.
Jones administration the main chan
ell of southeastern Alaska for some
$50 miles, from the international
| boundary to Cape Spencer, has been
surveyed to a depth of IS feet at low
water and swept by wire drag to
locate pinnacle rocks, so that IL is
now as safe as New York Harbor.
These are merely illustrations of the
sort of work that is being done by a
Government agency almost unknown
to nine hundred and ninety mine per-
sons out of every thousand 1t serves
and don't they prove the value of such
a service as these "You and Uncle Sam
articles to get you acquainted with what
Uncle Sam does for you?
Copyright, 1925 by VIII p. Kennedy
The fortieth article in this series