Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1932-12-05
CHANGING WORLD
TAXES MAPMAKERS
Presses Stopped for Correc-
tons in Process by Geo.
graphic Society.

CdCCnlLg up Win the SWllL-uOflug
modern world to map it is not the
plodding task of clustered craftsman
as many map user suppoSeS. 1t is a
Job crammed with elements Of adven-
ture, news reporting and mass print
ing" in addition to careful and pains
taking research. With the appearance
of the latest world map just issued by
the National Geographic Society. some
of these unknown factors in map-mak-
ing are disclosed.
Three times it was necessary to stop
presses during the latter weeks of the
maps publication to make changes that
would record last-minute shifts in i'm
portant world names and SovereigntieS.
The redrawings were required when 1raq
was transferred from British mandat-
ed area to a full-fledged independent
State; when the name NiZhnl Novgo-
rod, borne by Russian city for centu-
ries, became Maxim Cork" and when
the great heart of the Arabian PENN
sula was given the newest title OF any
major state, Kingdom Of Saudi
Arabia"
Names Of countries, cities, streams
and other geographic features have
changed in chameleon fashion in the
10 years since the previous world map
of the National Geographic Society was
published. OF the more than 1890
names appearing on the new map, 1t
has been necessary to change 1,226,
while more than 500 entirely new names
have been added.
Nations that have arisen since the
World War or have become rejuvenated
are particularly sensitive in regard to
place names it was found. One
country in the Near East threatened to
bar its mails to letters using pre-war
names for its newly -christenen cities.
Cable for SpeIIings.
In running down these changes and
recording them accurately, research
workers have handled countless books,
manuscripts, charts and other records,
while map reporters" have interviewed
special authorities. Practically every
embassy and legation in washington
has co-operated in solving difficult
problems of names, spellings and trans
iteration On some disputed points the
evidence in records of foreign ENJOYS
was not conclusive, and appeal was
made to authorities in their countries.
On one occasion the japanese embassy
cabled half around the world TO nno
that there should be an extra 20" IN
"Manchoukuo."
Physically, the production and dis
tribution of the more than a million
copies Of the new map was an out
standing task Into its production went
more than AZ tons of special paper,
made so as not to shrink or stretch
To print it more than 5000, 600 impress
sions were made, wherein the sheets
travelled a total distance of more than
1850 miles in passing through the
presses. Nearly two tons OF special
inks were used. A copy OF the map
will be mailed to every member OF
will thus go into every country, pr1ncl-
pality, colony and inundated area in
the world, as well as TO- remote ISLANDS
of the seas.
Izmir "17's Gravenhage."
The replacement on the map of old
names by new, and in some cases
wholly different ones, is best shown in
the vast territory Of the Union OF
Soviet Socialist Republics. in both
Europe and Asia. From Leningrad In
to Krim in the south and Rikovskoe,
on Sakhalin Island, in the extreme
east, there is hardly an inch Of the
map which does not disclose names now
official which are unfamiliar to the map
student of five years ago. Southwark
into Turkey, Syria and Arabia and
eastward into Iraq and Persia, the
march of the new names continues.
Constantinople, the new map shows. has
become Istanbul, Angora is now Ankara,
Smyrna has been changed to 1Zrnir,
Aleppo is Alep and Damascus Is Damas.
Baghdad must be spelled with an "h, 3"
the former Teheran has lost an &c" and
is now Tehran.
Western and Southern Europe, as well
as the territory Of former Russia, have
had their numerous changes, as shown
on the new map. In this region, as
elsewhere, national spellings OF each
country are given preference, but oc-
casionally the forms most familiar IN
English-speaking countries are put in
parentheses as s Gravenhage (The
Hague) Lisboa Lisbon) Warszawa
(Warsaw) Beograd (Belgrade), Shkoder
(ScutarD, Helsinki (HelSingfore) and
Klaipeda (MemeD.
Appears in Degrees.
In its five trips through the presses
o map, such as the new world map,
attains only by degrees the appearance
which it has when completed. The
first impression from zinc plate pro-
vides only the black marks showing
cities, railways and such Typographical
features as mountains. The second
trip provides, in addition to the black
marks, an outline in blue Ink of drain
age SystemS-riVerS, lakes and coast
lines. The three following. passages
through the presses supply solid colors,
pink, yellow and light blue. and the
other tints that result from printing
these colors over each other. This col
oring of areas differentiates the vari-
Gus nations, colonies, protectorates and
mandates.
The map shows the advance of new
railways into hitherto isolated regions.
In Canada the two lines which reach
Hudson Bay and James Bay appear.
In Africa, in Portuguese Angola, black
lines trace from Benguela the railway
which is the completing link in the
first transafrican road of STEEL In
Asia is shown the "Turk-Sib'' line,
which has bridged the last gap in rail
connections between the transsiberian
line and the railway system Of Central
Asia.