Evening star., 1943-05-02

~ oAAN SASSS w dAlotllCl. l1C
impact of total World War-have,
changed all that. That's why you
should become map strategist.
The study of map strategy begins
right in your own room at home.
The equipment needed is simple.
Maps, a globe If possible, some COM
mon string, straight pins, a pair of
dividers (such as used by craftsmen
paper.
Globe Is Best.
Most essential for your study are
the maps. These may be the hardest
things to obtain unless you are
fortunate enough to have an atlas,
an old school geography or some of
the fine maps published by the Ma
tlonal Geographic Society. Don't
worry about them being up to date.
Remember that in these faSt-moving
days no published map is absolutely
up to the minute.
A large single map giving total
world projection is the best. This
can be spread out on your study
table or pinned to the wall of your
room. However, if you must use
several maps to get world picture,
make certain that they are all on
the same scale. Otherwise, the dis
tances measured will not be uni
form. A series Of maps published
In the same atlas or in a geography
are most likely to all be on the
same scale.
If you have globe, so much the
better Only globe can give true
conception of the relationships of the
various parts OF the earth. No two
dimension map zone printed on a
fiat surface) can do it.
Air Defense.
There are no textbooks or guide
sheets to help you in your map
strategy work, unless you consider
the daily newspapers as such. Map
strategy study is matter of sug-
gesting problems to yourself, then
solving them with your maps spread
out in front of you.
To illustrate: Suppose that you
are an aviation enthusiast and have
information as to the approximate
speeds and cruising ranges of the
big war planes about which we hear
SO much these days. You can work
out map strategy with this infor-
nation.
Plan an air defense of the con-
tinent Of North America. Base your
imaginary planes at points along the
coasts of the continent Now, pin
one end of your string-or place
one point of your dividers-at the
base, and let the length of your
string represent the cruising range
of your best plane. (Be sure that
the strings length is adjusted to
the maps scaleD BY means of
concentric circles you can plot your
air defense system.
Then reverse your procedure and
check the enemy's possibilities of
reaching this continent OF course,
you will know only approximately
about their planes and bases. News
paper stories will give you good tips.
Important Points
Using the miles-per-hou fight
records Of various airplanes, you
can now translate the distances be-
tween important points-say Berlin
and New York or Moscow and
London-into flight hours. BY this
method you can see how distances
are shrinking on this earth.
Most maps will show the usual
lanes taken by ships at sea between
the various continents. Take your
dividers or measuring string and
compute the lengths of these trips.
AS a good map strategist you will
now replan trips between those
points, using air lanes instead OF
ship lanes. keep in mind that
straight line is the shortest distance
between two points) With pencil
and paper, calculate the distance
and time saved by such routes.
Perhaps there is something to the
idea of air-going ships!
TRY to get new concept of land
mass relationships. Lay your string
along the nearest major longitudinal
line running on your map by New
York City. Follow it to the south
and see where the string touches the
South American continent. Do the
same thing for the nearest major
latitudinal line. Note what parts of
Europe and Asia are on line with
our largest city. Repeat with other
points of reference. You'll be sur
prised at how many false ideas
you've had about land-mass re-
lationships.