COAST AND GEODETIC SURVEY CENTENNIAL 265 



Survey during the Civil War, the speaker referred to the officers of the 

 Survey as early volunteers of their services to the country and to their 

 assistance, which was eagerly sought by generals in the field and admirals 

 afloat. They gave valuable military service during the Civil War, and 

 afterward returned to their regular duties without any of the rewards 

 of rank or pay or pension for themselves or families so freely distributed 

 at this time for military services. In a future war the field force of the 

 Coast and Geodetic Survey will be needed as it was during the Civil 

 War. The Army and Navy are both very short of officers and there is 

 little likelihood of its being otherwise for many years. A trained 

 topographer will always be of value on the staff of a general. In modern 

 war with long-range guns the general must visualize his work by 

 close reference to the map, and a topographer from the Coast Survey 

 would find little training necessary to keep the new features and move- 

 ments of the troops plotted ready for the commanding general. In 

 the Navy a skilled hydrographer would prove a most valuable addition 

 to the staff of an admiral. His power of quickly locating his position 

 on a chart would be of assistance in bombardment, blockading, mining, 

 and countermining. On the practical side, the work of the Survey 

 has been done well and with economy. The Coast and Geodetic Survey 

 charts stand at the head of all others for accuracy of execution and in 

 general usefulness. 



Dr. Otto Hilgard Tittmann, President of the National Geographic 

 Society. The international work of the United States Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey. Speaking of the international work of the Coast and 

 Geodetic Survey done in direct cooperation with other countries, Mr. 

 Tittmann said that it may justly give satisfaction to the members of 

 the Survey that the results of its work are nearly all international in 

 their scope. The hydrographic and tidal surveys are obviously for the 

 benefit of all mankind, because they safeguard the commercial inter- 

 course of nations. Its geodetic work contributes to the knowledge of 

 the Earth's dimensions and constitution. The world's knowledge of 

 terrestrial magnetism would be incomplete without the record of the 

 observation of magnetic phenomena as they occur in the vast territory 

 inhabited by us, and so with those relating to tides. Thus, in the 

 prosecution of its tasks the Survey adds to our knowledge of the planet 

 which we inhabit and thereby furthers the ultimate aim of all civili- 

 zation, the intellectual development of mankind. 



After reviewing briefly the delimitation by the Survey of the Alaska 

 boundary, extending over a length of about 1800 miles, Dr. Tittmann 

 described the part taken by the Survey in the delimitation and remonu- 

 menting of our Canadian and Mexican boundaries, an undertaking 

 which he considered the most striking of the Survey's international 

 accomplishments. He then spoke of the relation of the Survey to the 

 International Geodetic Association and described the Survey's share 

 in the scientific work leading to the establishment of the International 

 Bureau of Weights and Measures. 



