The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1952-01-25

native land after he had completed
his last visit to this country IN
1925. The next two years found
Maury profoundly interested in the
action of the tides and winds. IN
his spare time he applied his eager
mind to observations of the iI.tiu-
ences these phenomena had on the
progress of sea craft. He collected
mass of data which proved of
great worth to him and 70 the
world.
His second mishap occurred on
land while he was travelling in
Ohio by stage. Riding on the out
side of the coach, his knee was
seriously injured in an accident,
causing him to walk with limp
for the remainder of his life. He
was much discouraged and feared
he would never be able to continue
his chosen profession. Unable to
take up sea duty, he was made
Superintendent of the Bureau of
instruments and Charts at Wash
ington. This office later developed
into the Naval Observatory.
He delved into the old records
of sea logs and compiled his own
data into useable form. From
these sources over a period of
years he accumulated all sorts of
information as to the influences Of
the currents, tides and winds. He
charted sea lanes whereby seago-
ing craft could take advantage of
the elements, and thus save time
for the seamen and money for the
ship owners. He was surrounded
by many able mathematicians and
the work of the Naval Observatory
grew and prospered.
Using an instrum e n t which
another Naval officer had invent
ed, he measured the depth of the
ocean. He found there is a plateau
between Newfoundland and Ire
land much higher than any other
part of the sea bed of the Atlantic
ocean. 1t was across this plateau
that Cyrus W. Fields laid the ca
BILE that links England and the
North American continent. Fields
said: England furnished the mon
ey, Maury furnished the brains
and. j did the work. -..la..sk
With the coming Of the War Be-
tween the States in 1861 Maury
had friends in many lands Who
feared for the safety of such an
able scientist. He was urged to
leave the state and make his home
in Europe, safe from the destruc-
ton of war. He refused the MANY
invitations saying: "The path If
duty and honor is plain" AS tlu-
tiful son, he went with his state,
Virginia. He resigned his position
in Washington and reported for
duty in Richmond where he was
given the title of Commodore and
the duty of safeguarding the har-
bors and rivers in the South. He
worked at this with a will and
was the first to successfully use
the electric torpedo.
Maury assisted in building and
Quitting the Merrimac. He was
sent to England to create good
will and to buy needed materials.
On his way home he was in the
West Indies when he heard that
General Lee had surrendered, so he
wrote out his own surrender to the
Naval Commander of the Gulf of
Mexico and held himself prison.
err of war under the same terms as
General Lee and his officers.
Following the close of the war,
Maury returned to England where
with his family he spent several
years. He taught school in both
London and Paris, demonstrating
the electric torpedo and wrote
scientific books, as well as a group
of text books. on physical geogra-
ply.
After his sojourn in England,
Maury returned to Lexington, Va,
as professor of physics at the
Virginia Military Institute with an
added commission to make physi-
cal survey of the state of Virginia.
1t was during this period that he
developed his ideas and made sug-
gestions covering establishing of a
weather bureau. 1t was 40 years
before such bureau was estab-
lished.
A couple of days before his
death on Feb. l, 1873, he told his
family doctor not to come to see
him any more but to leave him to
"The Great Physician" His last
request was that his body be kept
in Lexington until spring and
then he said: "Carry me through
Goshen Pass when the. shodendrons
are in bloom" Goshen Pass is a
wild and rugged gorge through
the mountains between Lexington
and Richmond through which
Maury had travelled many times,
always riding on the outside of the
coach to enjoy the beauty of the